Not only was funeral home director Carrie J. Mays the first woman ever to serve on the Augusta City Council, she also was said to be the first black councilwoman in the entire Southeast.

She won her second ward seat in October 1970 by carrying six of the city's then eight wards and defeating two male candidates.

"I thought it would be a lot of fun to whip two men," she said with a laugh.

People came to know her sense of humor and her quick wit during her council service (1970-1979), but they also came to know her sense of fairness. She was black, but she didn1t regard herself as a representative of just black citizens.

She was chairwoman of City Council1s Cemetery, Trees & Parks Committee, the mayor1s representative on the Augusta-Richmond County Planning Commission and made history as the first woman acting mayor of Augusta in 1973 when Mayor Lewis A. Newman was in New York City arranging a bond issue.

Jimmy Carter, as governor, appointed her to the Georgia Alcoholism Advisory Committee. Gov. George Busbee nominated her to be the secretary of the Georgia Democratic Party, which she was from 1974 to 1982. She also was a presidential elector and member of the Electoral College of Georgia from 1976 to 1980.

Mrs. Mays encouraged and helped her son, Willie H. Mays III, go into politics. He first served on City Council and then became chairman of the Richmond County Commission. He continued on council after the city-county governments merger.

Mrs. Mays died Nov. 11, 1994. She had suffered a massive stroke in 1975 and hadn't walked for close to 15 years. Her funeral in Paine College's Lambeth Hall was attended by hundreds of average citizens and political movers and shakers.