Anna Langford

Who was Anna Langford?

Anna Langford was an American politician and lawyer who served on the Chicago City Council in Chicago, Illinois. Langford became the first African American woman elected to the Chicago City Council in 1971. She ultimately served three nonconsecutive terms on the council.

Anna Langford was born in Springfield, Ohio to an African-American father and a white mother. Both of her parents died when she was young. The racial discrimination leading to her mother's death impacted Langford's life and her involvement with the Civil Rights Movement. Her mother, who was white, was taken to an Ohioan hospital while suffering from appendicitis. However, when her children, including Anna, who were biracial, came to visit their sick mother, the hospital immediately ordered her transferred to another hospital for African Americans. Langford's mother suffered a burst appendix while en route to the second hospital and did not survive.

Langford moved to Chicago after the death of her parents. She graduated from Hyde Park High School and Roosevelt University. She enrolled at John Marshall Law School and became a lawyer in 1956.