Kristin Cooper

Kristin Cooper
First Lady of North Carolina
Assumed role
January 1, 2017
Governor Roy Cooper
Preceded by Ann McCrory
Personal details
Born Kristin Bernhardt
(1956-07-19) July 19, 1956
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s) Roy Cooper
Children 3
Residence Executive Mansion (official)
Education University of Oklahoma
Campbell Law School (JD)
Occupation

Kristin Bernhardt Cooper (born July 19, 1956) is an American lawyer who has been First Lady of the state of North Carolina since January 1, 2017.

Raised in Oklahoma City, Cooper moved to North Carolina to earn a Juris Doctor from Campbell Law School in 1982. After serving as a staff attorney with the North Carolina General Assembly, she married Democrat Roy Cooper, who was elected governor in 2016. She has worked professionally as a guardian ad litem for foster children since 2003.

Cooper expanded the administrative office of North Carolina First Lady and has brought up children's issues such as poverty, literacy, hunger, and abuse. Another of her goals as first lady is to visit all hundred of the state's counties.

Early life and education

Cooper was born on July 19, 1956,[1] to Geri Bernhardt, an artist; and Sam Bernhardt, a physician and Vietnam veteran and physician. She grew up with her three younger sisters in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, attending public schools.[2]

She received an undergraduate degree from the University of Oklahoma in Norman. In North Carolina, she graduated with a Juris Doctor from Campbell University's Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law in 1982. She later said that law school was the only multipotential educational path that combined her interests in reading, writing, and history without her becoming a professor.[3]

Cooper worked as a staff attorney with the Oklahoma Legislature and the North Carolina General Assembly.[4] She was a member of North Carolina's committee on inaugural ceremonies and attended the 1997 North Carolina Secretary of State swearing-in of her Campbell Law School classmate Elaine Marshall, who had become the first woman elected to a North Carolina statewide office. In 2017, she called Marshall her "favorite woman leader" and said the "freezing January morning" inauguration was "very affecting".[5]

Starting in 2003, Cooper has served as a guardian ad litem representing Wake County foster children.[6] Cooper has pointed to neglect as what pushes children into the foster system, which she said itself stems from poverty, and that from illiteracy; she also said that children should enter schooldays ready and well-nourished.[4] "A problem I encountered with foster children," she later remarked as first lady, "is that the subsidy they receive simply doesn't allow them to buy enough food to eat."[7] She has added, "So many of these issues are easier to address—and change is easier to implement—when they are young children rather than waiting until later."[4]

Family and personal life

Roy Cooper, Governor of North Carolina, in 2017

In a committee meeting about salvage titles at the North Carolina General Assembly where she was practicing law, Kristin Bernhardt met Roy Asberry Cooper III (b. 1957), an attorney and state legislator.[8] They married and raised three children, Hilary, Claire, and Natalie, in Rocky Mount, Nash County.[2] All three daughters graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.[9]

Roy Cooper was first elected as a state representative and then appointed to the state senate, eventually becoming Democratic majority leader. From 2001 to 2017, he was North Carolina Attorney General.[8][10] The Cooper family moved to Raleigh, the state capital, after Hilary's high-school graduation to be closer to the Attorney General's office.[2]

In Rocky Mount, Cooper and her three daughters starred in a production of the musical Camelot, and in Raleigh she and Claire took lead roles in the plays The Diary of Anne Frank and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.[11] Cooper has also made various theatrical-production objects,[4] and attended weekly drama lessons at Raleigh Little Theatre (RLT) where another trainee described her "a witty gal" who "could laugh at herself, genuinely compliment others and self-deprecate with the best." Cooper served two years on the board of the North Carolina Arts Council, which provides grants across the state. In 2017, she entered her second year on the RLT board, having previous experience on the board of the North Raleigh Arts and Creative Theater (NRATC).[11] As first lady, Cooper moderated a panel discussion with female Wake County youth leaders after RLT's October 2017 premiere of Grace for President.[12][13]

Cooper calls herself an amateur gardener and birdwatcher; she said she cultivated a birding interest during the 1996 weather event that snowed her in with three toddlers, binoculars, and a field guide. She and the state Audubon society organized a renovation the Executive Mansion's garden.[5][14] Cooper has also led a knitting circle, a hobby her great-grandmother enjoyed.[11] The first family has several pets: rescued cats Adelaide and Alexei and Hilary's dog Ben. Their dog Chloe died in May 2017 at sixteen years of age.[11][15] Their praying mantis Fred died in June 2017 and was replaced by the orchid mantis Daisy.[16]

First Lady of North Carolina

In 2016, Cooper's husband ran for Governor of North Carolina and was elected over Republican incumbent Pat McCrory.[10] He assumed the governorship on January 1, 2017.[17] Cooper held a Bible under the governor's hand when he was ceremonially sworn in January 6.[18] Her blue floor-length taffeta gown for the inaugural ball, designed by C.J. Bostrom of Charlotte, was by custom donated to the North Carolina Museum of History.[19][20]

Writer Leah Whitt called Cooper's character as first lady "a blend of the proper Southern hostess and a rebel".[3] Cooper set a goal to make meaningful visits to all 100 counties of North Carolina by 2020 and, as she has said, delivered advice back to her husband.[21][22] In an interview with Spectrum News in September 2017, the first lady was asked about her legacy. "I hope they remember that I genuinely care about this state," she said. "I don't want to be remembered as somebody who stayed up in Raleigh and went to parties. I want to meet people, and see what interests them ... and what challenges they face. I am finding out that we are more alike than different."[23] In 2017, she made visits to 27 counties and planned to see 25 more in 2018, at each stop taking questions from local officials and the public.[24]

Under Cooper's direction, the first lady's administrative office expanded its scope to draw attention to issues such as the arts, foster care, and child literacy, hunger, abuse and neglect.[3] First Lady Cooper's general goal has been addressing child poverty, and she has visited public schools, participating in story-time, seeing new programs, and supporting gardens as part of this mission.[5][25] "While [political] parties may disagree on spending to support families," Cooper said at a stop in Alamance County, "things like encouraging kids to read and teaching parents how to parent costs practically nothing, and has a huge impact".[24]

When parents read to children such as with Reach Out and Read, Cooper has said, children's literacy can easily begin to be developed.[3][4] In her first month as first lady, Cooper supported and was a celebrity reader at the launch of the Wake Up and Read book drive for low-income children.[26][27] She has praised the Dolly Parton's Imagination Library initiative, which sends new books monthly to children under five, and which the General Assembly gave $3.5 million in 2017. In November 2017, she and celebrity chef Vivian Howard hosted a lunch in Kinston to raise funds for the program.[4][28]

The first lady joined the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina to establish the Stop Summer Hunger program which helps sustain about 300,000 children when school is out of session.[3] She has visited several food service sites in Advance and the Triangle,[29] and has seen several North Carolina public schools that provide breakfast to students.[25][30]

In August 2018, Cooper commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of North Carolina's welcome centers at an event at the Interstate 95 southern welcome center. The first lady said, "a big smile and a warm welcome continue to be the hallmark of North Carolina's famous hospitality".[31]

References

  1. ↑ @FLONC (July 19, 2017). "It's FLONC's bday! We're celebrating by listening to music from 1956. Yes, that's really the year she was born!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. 1 2 3 "N.C. First Lady Kristin Cooper will be 2017 commencement speaker". Saint Mary's School. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Whitt, Leah (July 7, 2017). "The First Lady". Campbell University. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Douglass, Laura (November 3, 2017). "Kristin Cooper Wants to Teach — and Keep Learning". The Pilot. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 Lindenfeld Hall, Sarah (October 8, 2017). "5 favorite things with N.C. First Lady Kristin Cooper". WRAL-TV. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  6. ↑ Davis, Corey (August 7, 2018). "Service project aids foster kids". Rocky Mount Telegram. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
  7. ↑ Conrad, Annika (February 24, 2017). "First Lady Kristin Cooper discusses child hunger". North Carolina Insight. North Carolina Center for Public Policy Research. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  8. 1 2 Jarvis, Craig (October 8, 2016). "Cooper's course aimed at governor for long time". The News & Observer. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  9. ↑ Colvard, Bill (June 9, 2018). "Franklin grads, NC first lady reconnect". The Mt. Airy News. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  10. 1 2 Fausset, Richard (March 19, 2017). "In North Carolina, Governing With a Punch and a Handshake". The New York Times. Retrieved August 12, 2018: (Summary of Roy Cooper's career)
  11. 1 2 3 4 Watson, Kate Turgeon (February 1, 2017). "The Scoop on Mrs. Cooper". Raleigh Magazine. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  12. ↑ Lindenfeld Hall, Sarah (October 7, 2017). "'Grace for President:' RLT family show offers inspiration, education, panel with N.C.'s First Lady". WRAL-TV. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  13. ↑ "Photo Flash: First Look at Grace for President, Opening Tonight at Raleigh Little Theatre". Broadway World. October 13, 2017. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  14. ↑ Bargmann, Joe (October 30, 2017). "North Carolina's Governor and First Lady Put Native Plants in the Spotlight". National Audubon Society. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  15. ↑ Campbell, Colin (May 16, 2017). "Gov. Roy Cooper's dog Chloe dies at age 16". The News & Observer. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  16. ↑ Cioffi, Chris (June 6, 2017). "Fred, the "First Mantis of NC," has died". The News & Observer. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  17. ↑ Robertson, Gary D. (January 1, 2017). "North Carolina governor takes office minutes into new year". The News & Observer. Archived from the original on January 2, 2017.
  18. ↑ Jarvis, Craig; Iszler, Madison (January 6, 2017). "Cooper celebration goes on despite impending snowstorm". The News & Observer. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  19. ↑ Bolling, Cristina (December 6, 2016). "Who's designing the inaugural gown for new N.C. governor Roy Cooper's wife? A Charlottean". The Charlotte Observer. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  20. ↑ Laurel, Anna (January 4, 2017). "What will North Carolina's First Lady wear to the inaugural ball?". WTVD. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  21. ↑ Morgan, Debra (July 11, 2017). "First lady focusing on NC children". WRAL-TV. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  22. ↑ Bellamy, Cammie (March 27, 2018). "NC's first lady visits Belville Elementary". Star-News. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  23. ↑ Blair, Caroline (September 18, 2017). "In Depth: NC First Lady Kristin Cooper" (video). Spectrum News North Carolina. 2:30–3:10. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  24. 1 2 Elliott, Adelaide (January 31, 2018). "Kristin Cooper, N.C. first lady, visits Alamance County". The Times-News. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  25. 1 2 Brigman, Lauren (March 20, 2017). "Governor Cooper's wife visits Reynolds High School". WLOS. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  26. ↑ Hui, T. Keung (January 20, 2017). "NC first lady to help kick off book drive to help Wake children". The News & Observer. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  27. ↑ "NC first lady Kristin Cooper hosts family reading session, sets priorities". WRAL-TV. January 21, 2017. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  28. ↑ "Kristin Cooper, Vivian Howard partner with children's literacy campaign". WITN-TV. November 2, 2017. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  29. ↑ Elliott, Amy (July 11, 2018). "NC first lady Kristin Cooper visits feeding sites in the Triangle". Spectrum News North Carolina. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  30. ↑ Wolf, Marin (July 11, 2018). "First Lady Cooper visits Durham camps that feed N.C. children's minds and bodies". The Daily Tar Heel. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  31. ↑ Sinclair, Tomeka (August 8, 2018). "NC celebrates welcoming spirit". The Robesonian. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
Honorary titles
Preceded by
Ann McCrory		 First Lady of North Carolina
2017–present		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
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