Interview with Annette McGee Cunningham, December 1, 1995

Interview Summary

Annette McGee Cunningham was born on December 15, 1954 in Dayton, Ohio, and is the eldest of two children. Her mother received her B. S. in Library Science from the University of Minnesota in the1940's, and came to Dayton to become a public librarian. Her father was born in West Virginia, came to the Steubenville area in eastern Ohio, and later attended Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio. He graduated from Ohio State University Law School in 1948, and moved to the Dayton area, where he went into private practice. Her father later became active in politics, a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and eventually became the first African-American mayor of Dayton, where he served for eleven years. Cunningham notes that Dayton is possibly the most segregated area in the United States. Her family lived in several areas of Dayton, where she graduated from high school.

Cunningham wanted to attend a black college away from Dayton, and chose Tennessee State University, where she majored in Political Science, with a minor in Education. After graduation, she came back to Dayton and entered the Master's program at Wright University while applying to law school. She and her future husband, Shirley Cunningham, chose to attend the University of Kentucky. She became a member of Phi Alpha Delta, a professional service organization. Cunningham graduated from U.K. in 1980, received a Reggie Scholarship, and took the summer bar exams; she did not pass the first time. She went home to Dayton to live with her parents while she delivered her son Chris, and passed the bar exam three weeks later in June, 1981.

Cunningham talks at great length about her experiences in law school, and says she experienced little negativity but, aware of the "good old boy system" still in place at the time, decided to pursue a career in legal services, where she worked in Lexington from 1981-1986. She discusses the problems that two careers created with the marriage, and notes that she divorced in 1985. Cunningham moved back to Dayton, where she practiced law with her father for six months, worked with a group practice for two years, and eventually chose a career with the juvenile court system. She discusses at length how her experiences with divorce and as a mother have helped her in her law practice.

Interview LC Subject

Cunningham, Annette McGee, 1954- Cunningham, Annette McGee, 1954- --Interviews University of Kentucky University of Kentucky--History

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