Dr. Isabella Walton Cannon, 97, former mayor of Raleigh and one of North Carolina’s most distinguished leaders, died Feb. 13 at Raleigh Community Hospital.
Involved in public service most of her life, Cannon made history in 1977 when, at age 73, she became the first woman elected mayor of Raleigh. Known as the “little old lady in tennis shoes,” she had never run for office before her election. Her success received extensive international media attention, including segments on “60 Minutes” and “Donahue” and coverage in Time and Newsweek magazines. Working 16-hour days and using a sensible, no-nonsense style, she developed a comprehensive plan that still guides the growth of the city.
Born May 12, 1904, in Dunfermline, Scotland, Cannon emigrated with her family to the United States at age 12. She graduated from Winecoff High School in Concord, N.C., before graduating from Elon College (now Elon University) in 1924. She was awarded an honorary doctor of laws degree from Elon in 1978.
She married Claude Cannon, Elon’s registrar and business manager, in 1924. His subsequent career in diplomatic service took the couple around the nation and the world. They lived in Liberia, West Africa, and Iraq before returning to Raleigh, where Claude Cannon died in 1954. During her life, she traveled extensively, visiting Romania, Kenya, Tanzania, Russia and Scandinavia. She was in China during the Tiananmen Square uprising in 1989.
Cannon held jobs in a variety of fields related to education and community service. She was a teacher at Elon College High School and Burlington Business College, served as assistant registrar and manager of the bookstore at Elon College, and was a bookkeeper and payroll manager at WRAL radio station in Raleigh. She also worked in Washington, D.C., as a supervisor with the French Supply Council and as an interviewer with the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. From 1955-1970, she was an administrator in the library at North Carolina State University in Raleigh.
A loyal and supportive member of the Community United Church of Christ in Raleigh, she was active in numerous organizations, including the League of Women Voters, the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce, the Research Triangle International Visitors Center steering committee, and the Women’s Forum of North Carolina. She was a charter member of the Wake County Democratic Women and an associate member of the Wake County Young Democrats. A fierce advocate for neighborhoods, Cannon served as president and organizer of the University Park Homeowners Association in Raleigh in 1981. She also served on the Hillsborough Street Task Force and was a member of the Chancellor’s Committee at N.C. State University, which recommended policies and programs for the university neighborhood.
She was devoted to her alma mater and served Elon in many ways. In 1999 her $1 million gift endowed the Isabella Cannon Centre for International Studies at Elon, which offers extensive study abroad opportunities for students and recruits international students and visiting scholars to campus. Another gift in 2001 funded construction of the Isabella Cannon International Studies Pavilion, one of the first buildings in the University’s new Academic Village. She also endowed two scholarships; the Isabella Cannon Room, which serves as the university’s art gallery and formal meeting space; and the Isabella Cannon Leadership Fellows program, which identifies and prepares students to share their leadership skills with others. She received Elon’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 1983 and was awarded the Elon Medallion in 1991.
She was a frequent visitor to Elon and loved to meet students and talk about their life plans. She often reminded Elon students that while she had no biological children of her own, she thought of them as her children. Standing only four-foot-eight, her energy, wit and charm endeared her to all groups of people, but especially to young people. In 2000, at age 96, she delivered the commencement address at Elon, reflecting on her life’s experiences. She asked graduates to think globally and act locally, becoming involved in their communities and neighborhoods.
Cannon used her commencement remarks to urge graduates to take risks. “You may think you have your future planned. So did I,” Cannon said. “I expected to be a teacher and a Southern housewife. I urge you, take risks, believe in yourselves. If you do, I can promise you that your life will never be dull.”
“Isabella Cannon’s life and spirit were remarkable,” says Leo M. Lambert, Elon president. “From her arrival in the United States early in the 20th century as an immigrant from Scotland, to her election as mayor of Raleigh, to her delivery, at age 96, of one of the most inspirational and poignant commencement addresses of all time, she consistently lived her ideals, and encouraged others to become involved in their communities and neighborhoods, and to make a difference. She was deeply loved and admired by hundreds of Elon students, whom she considered her symbolic children. While she will be missed, her life will continue to inspire us.”
Cannon was preceded in death by her husband, C.M. Cannon, and a brother, James Walton, Jr. She is survived by her sister, Helen Hughes of Yorktown, Va.; four nephews, James Walton, III and his wife, Susan, of Elon , N.C.; John Walton and his wife, Susan, of Elon, N.C.; Steve Walton of Burlington, N.C.; Dr. J.M. Hughes, II of Fredericksburg, Va.; and two nieces, Deane Bender of Palm Coast, Fla., and Sandra Shackleford of Hayes, Va.
Visitation will be 5-8 p.m. Friday at Brown-Wynne Funeral Homes, 300 St. Mary’s St., Raleigh. The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Community United Church of Christ, 814 Dixie Trail, Raleigh. Interment will be at 11 a.m. Sunday at St. Mark’s Cemetery, Claremont, N.C.
Memorial contributions should be made to the Isabella Cannon Leadership Program or the Isabella Cannon Centre for International Studies, Office of Institutional Advancement, Campus Box 2600, Elon University, Elon, N.C. 27244; or to the Arboretum, Department of Horticultural Science, North Carolina State University, Box 7609, Raleigh, N.C. 27695-7609.