Honorable Wilma J. Webb

The Honorable Wilma J. Webb is a lifetime public servant and leader who served the nation with distinction, respect, and admiration, by successfully delivering caring substantive law and committed service and leadership to people. She dedicated her life to helping all people by giving of herself as a six-term Colorado State Representative who was the first woman to represent House District 8 in the Colorado General Assembly, serving from 1980-1993; and, the first woman United States’ Department of Labor, Region VIII, Secretary’s Representative, serving from 1997-2000, appointed by President William Jefferson Clinton and U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman. Region VIII includes the States of Arizona, Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. She is the first woman to provide an active role as Denver’s First Lady, serving from 1991-2003. As an exemplary accomplished political force, she is the first and only African American woman who has served in all three levels of our government and it continues to be her hope that more women exceed her record in this major achievement. 

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About

Wilma J. Webb was born in Denver, Colorado, to Frank W. and Faye E. Gerdine, and resides in Denver with her husband, former Denver Mayor Wellington E. Webb, and they have four adult children, Anthony, and Stephanie; and, Keith and Allen, Sr., both of whom are deceased. She is also a grandmother. Over the years, she has been active in many organizations and served on many boards and commissions. She is a devoted member of long standing of the Zion Baptist Church, and a member of the beloved international professional organizations of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, where she was inducted in as a member in 1988 at its Diamond Jubilee Anniversary Celebration held in San Francisco, California, and she was inducted into The Links, Incorporated
in 1995 in Denver, Colorado. She has served people and continues to serve where there is a need for human progress to occur.

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Education

Her Education includes The University of Colorado Denver, Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government, an Honorary Doctoral Degree of Humane Letters from the University of Northern Colorado, an Honorary Doctoral Degree from The Arts Institute of Colorado, and she is a proud graduate of Manual High School in Denver

 

State Representative of the Colorado House of Representatives

Wilma Webb's remarkable record includes her successfully carrying legislation to establish the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday in Colorado, and, along with Mrs. Coretta Scott King, Dr. King’s widow, and Governor Richard D. Lamm, founding the Martin Luther King, Jr. Colorado Holiday Commission in 1985, where she served as its first Chairman and President for 18 years. She successfully carried a bill granting the Colorado Civil Rights Commission and Division the authorization to invoke Subpoena Power in cases charging discrimination. She, along with other national leaders, carried bills to impose sanctions on businesses that did business with apartheid South Africa until political prisoner Nelson Mandela, who fought for the freedom of everyone in his native South Africa, was released from prison, the apartheid system was abolished, and he later did become the first Black President of the newly established government of South Africa. She carried legislation when it was not popular to do so, to disallow discrimination against any person because of sexual orientation. She fought for the rights of women, for inclusion in business opportunities for minority and women businesses, and fought to disallow discrimination against physically challenged people. She also successfully carried out a bill to enact the first and only Comprehensive Anti-Drug Abuse Program in Colorado, providing drug treatment to people who are afflicted with substance addiction. As the first minority woman from the House to serve on the Colorado Joint Budget Committee, the State’s most powerful six-member committee, she participated in writing Colorado’s multi-billion-dollar budget, influencing and impacting financial policy and decisions for Colorado’s 20 Departments of Government. She successfully carried many other significant bills which became law. She created legislative bills to enhance Education. She was also the first Colorado State Representative to carry legislation to provide for Compulsory Full Day Kindergarten since World
War II, where full-day kindergarten was discontinued sacrificially because of that war. She also carried legislation to provide for education to be mandatory in Colorado from grades kindergarten through 12th grade to prevent School Drop Out occurrence which affects everyone in a regressive way. 

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Accomplishments as First Lady

As Denver's First Lady for twelve years, she performed all First Lady duties, where she devoted much time and energy to anti-drug abuse programs, youth, and family issues. She, as a patron and advocate for the Arts, and, as Chairperson of the Mayor’s Commission on Art, Culture, and Film, led the efforts in developing Denver’s Vision for the Arts and created and developed Denver’s Process for the Procurement and Accession of Public Art. Additions to the People’s Art Collection include Borovsky’s The Dancers, Colorado’s Portrait of President Barack Obama, Fernando Botero’s Man and Woman, Irving Watt’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Colorado Portrait, and Ed Dwight’s I Have A Dream Sculpture, accentuated by Frederick Douglass, Rosa Parks, Mahatmas Gandhi, and Sojourner Truth and The Walk of Mayor Wellington E. Webb Monument. She also continually and consistently involved herself in many meaningful civic concerns. She co-hosted, along with former United States First Lady Hillary R. Clinton and former Colorado First Lady Bea Romer, worldwide national first ladies of The Summit of The 8, including The First Ladies of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, and the United Kingdom, as well as her hosting First Ladies of Ghana and First Ladies of other cities and countries on other occasions. She also greeted and was hostess to Pope John Paul II, during World Youth Day which was held in Denver in 1993. She also represented the City of Denver on foreign missions of goodwill. She envisioned the creation and was a major force in the development of Denver’s Centennial Park and the placement of Denver’s Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library in Five Points, Denver. She and her husband, Former Mayor Wellington E. Webb’s lives’ works are permanently exhibited in the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, in Washington, D.C. As an active First Lady, her duties ranged from chairing governmental bodies and managing
personnel; researching, authoring, and delivering public speeches and statements; convening press and media events and delivering public statements on issues of importance to the public. 

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Role in U.S. Department of Labor

As the Secretary’s Representative for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Region VIII, her responsibilities included administration and enforcement of all federal statutes which govern workplace activities, and incorporated oversight of Region VIII’s portion of the $40.0 billion national budget implemented by 18 varied Labor Department agencies.

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Honors and Accolades

Her Honors Are Numerous and Far-Reaching, where she has served with distinction, respect, and admiration as an elected official, a Presidential Appointee, and a First Lady, she is a civil rights advocate, a voice for the voiceless, a worldwide diplomatic traveler who has traveled to some 40 countries on missions of diplomacy, business, and goodwill, an advocate for equity in Education, and a patron of the Arts and Humanities.

She is Chairperson Emeritus of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Colorado Holiday Commission established by Governor Richard D. Lamm, along with the advocacy and encouragement from Mrs. Coretta Scott King and herself. She is an Appointee by Governor Jared Polis to the Colorado Women’s Vote Centennial Commission, and, Founder and Chairperson of The DM 42 Foundation, LLC, a legacy non-profit organization. She is also a well-known Colorado philanthropist.

Wilma Webb is the honoree of several hundred commendations, including the National Humanitarian Award, The National Human Rights Award, The National Education Association Carter G. Woodson Award for Human and Civil Rights, the Association for Retarded Citizen’s Legislator of the Year Award, Induction into the Women’s Hall of Fame in 1991, and induction into the Blacks in Colorado Hall of Fame, The Colorado Banking Association’s Political Award, and the Colorado Governor’s Citizenship Medal presented by Governor Jared Polis.

She has been honored by awards being named for her, including the Mountain Region Black Economic Summit WiLMA award (Women in Leadership and Management Award). This award was presented to four successful Black women in the areas of Education, Business, Community Service, and Politics. The Denver Art Museum recognized her contributions to the arts community by placing a bas-relief sculpture of her in its museum. Blair Caldwell African American Research Library recognized her contributions to the Denver Public Library Community by naming its archives room as the Wilma J. Webb Research and Archives Room.