Eva Clayton

Pictured is Eva Clayton filing for office in North Carolina’s primary elections, on February 25, 1968.

This was Clayton’s first attempt seeking election to congress—an effort encouraged by civil rights activist Vernon Jordan.

She gained 31 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary that year with Lawrence H. Fountain prevailing. Although losing, her bid for a congressional seat mobilized a community and significantly increased Black voter registration.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Clayton continued her work in politics and economic development.

On taking her seat in the United States House of Representatives following a special election in 1992, Clayton became the first African American to represent North Carolina in the House since George Henry White was elected to his second and last term in 1898. In 1901 when a suffrage amendment disenfranchised Blacks in North Carolina.

She was re-elected and served for five terms. In 2003, Clayton vacated her seat and was appointed Assistant Director-General of the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), based in Rome.

She continues work in her community serving on boards focused on state policy, agriculture, and hunger.

Read More about The Honorable Eva Clayton Here:
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Source: NO.2-25-1968
From the News and Observer Negative Collection, State Archives of NC