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.

Thursday, April 20, 2000

Wilson would help protect environment

Chapel Hill Herald, April 20, 2000 - Letter to the Editor

It seems we've had one environmental disaster after another this year. We need strong leadership in North Carolina to protect our environment for the people of our state. Ed Wilson, candidate for lieutenant governor, will provide such leadership.

For instance, Ed Wilson wants to eliminate hog lagoons. Meanwhile his opponent, Beverly Perdue, not only voted to prohibit local communities from regulating hog lagoons, she also sponsored a bill that would have barred the state's main environmental police from inspecting livestock operations.

Vote for Ed Wilson to represent the environmental concerns of the people of North Carolina over special interests of corporate hog farms.

Joe Herzenberg
Chapel Hill