Kelly, Sharon Pratt (1944-…), was the first black woman mayor of a major American city. She served as mayor of Washington, D.C., from 1991 to 1995. Kelly became mayor as Sharon Pratt Dixon. She changed her last name to Kelly in December 1991, when she married James R. Kelly III, an American businessman.
A Democrat, Sharon Pratt Kelly replaced Washington Mayor Marion S. Barry, Jr., who near the end of his 12 years in office had been convicted of possessing cocaine. Barry did not run for reelection. Kelly won the election by promising voters that she would “clean house” in the city, a reference to Barry’s scandalous final term as mayor. Barry served six months in prison. In 1992, he was elected to the city council. In 1994, when Kelly ran for reelection, Barry ran against her. Barry won the election.
Kelly was born on Jan. 30, 1944, in Washington, D.C. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Howard University in 1965 and a law degree from Howard in 1968. She entered private law practice in 1971. From 1972 to 1976, she taught at the Antioch School of Law in Washington, D.C. Kelly represented Washington, D.C., on the Democratic National Committee from 1977 to 1990 and served as the committee’s treasurer from 1985 to 1989.
