AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Carrie J. Mays was a trailblazer for Black women across the South.
Born in 1928, Mays became the first woman ever elected to the Augusta City Council in 1970, just a couple years after the Civil Rights Movement. She was also the first Black woman elected to city council in the Southeast.
“She was a trailblazer,” said John Hayes, associate professor of history at Augusta University.
Breaking race and gender barriers
Mays broke both a race and gender barrier by getting elected. She defeated both a white businessman and a prominent Black minister in her race for city council…