Campaign flyer from Joe’s first Chapel Hill Town Council race, 1979

About Joe

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Chapel Hill, N.C., United States
Joe Herzenberg was born June 25, 1941, to Morris & Marjorie Herzenberg. His father owned the town pharmacy in Franklin, N.J., where Joe grew up. After he graduated from Yale University in 1964, Joe went to Mississippi to register voters for Freedom Summer. He joined the faculty of historically black Tougaloo College, where he was appointed chair of the history department. Joe arrived in Chapel Hill in 1969 to enroll as a graduate student in history at the University of North Carolina, and, along with his partner Lightning Brown, soon immersed himself in local, state, and national politics. Although Joe’s first campaign for the Chapel Hill Town Council in 1979 was unsuccessful, he was appointed to the Council to fill a vacant seat and served until 1981. In 1987, he was elected to the Council, becoming the former Confederacy's first openly gay elected official. Joe died surrounded by friends on October 28, 2007. He was 66 years old.

Monday, December 2, 1991

The season for giving thanks

MINUTES OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING OF THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA, MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1991

Mayor Howes called the organizational meeting to order.

Council Members in attendance were Julie Andresen, Joyce Brown, Joe Herzenberg, Nancy Preston, Alan Rimer, Arthur Werner and Roosevelt Wilkerson, Jr. Also in attendance were Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina James G. Exum, Mayor-Elect Kenneth Broun, Council Member-Elect Joe Capowski, Council Member-Elect Mark Chilton, Assistant to the Mayor Lisa Price, Town Manager Cal Horton, Assistant Town Managers Sonna Loewenthal and Florentine Miller and Town Attorney Ralph Karpinos.

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Council Member Preston said she envied the next recipient of cryptic notes from Council Member Herzenberg.

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Item 8 Organizational Business

COUNCIL MEMBER WERNER MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCIL MEMBER BROWN, FOR COUNCIL MEMBER HERZENBERG TO BE APPOINTED AS MAYOR PRO TEM. THE MOTION WAS ADOPTED UNANIMOUSLY (9-0).

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Mayor pro tem Herzenberg said it was the season for giving thanks. He thanked all those attending this evening's organizational meeting. Mayor pro tem Herzenberg also thanked all those who had been instrumental in his re-election to the Council. He said that voters deserved the gratitude of all for achieving the highest voter turnout ever for a local election. Mayor pro tem Herzenberg said this was a good sign for the health of democracy in the Town. He noted that residents of public housing neighborhoods and University students had voted in record numbers. Mayor pro tem Herzenberg said he hoped could live up to the standards of those he represented.

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