Wilma Webb

Wilma Webb
First Lady of Denver
In office July 15, 1991 – July 21, 2003
Preceded by	Ellen Hart Peña
Succeeded by	Helen Thorpe
Member of the Colorado House of Representatives from the 8th district
In office 1980–1993[1]
Personal details
Born	1944 (age 79–80) Denver, Colorado, U.S.
Spouse	Wellington Webb (m. 1969)
Children	4

Wilma J. Webb (born 1944) is an American politician who was a member of the Colorado General Assembly from 1980 to 1993. A Democrat, she represented Denver County in the Colorado House of Representatives.^[2] She sponsored dozens of bills including school reform and equality initiatives. She is best known for sponsoring legislation that adopted Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday as a Colorado state holiday before it became the federal Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday, and for her efforts to educate the young about King's legacy.^[3]

Webb was born in Denver, Colorado, to Faye and Frank Gerdine. She attended the University of Colorado Denver without obtaining a degree.^[4] As a state legislator, she attended the Harvard Kennedy School in 1988.^[5]

She married Wellington Webb in 1969. He later became the first African American mayor of Denver, in office from 1991 to 2003.^[5] She was the first First Lady of Denver to have held political office herself.^[6]

During her time in the Colorado House of Representatives, she became the first African-American member of the legislature's Joint Budget Committee (the legislature's most powerful six-member committee), helping write the state's $4 billion budget in 1981,^[1]

She has been recognized by several organizations including the National Education Association. She was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 1991.^[1]

She and her husband have four adult children. She is a member of Zion Baptist Church of Denver, Colorado, and of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority.

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