Fanny Yarborough Bickett | |
|---|---|
 | |
| President of the North Carolina Railroad | |
| In role 1929–1933 | |
| Governor | Oliver Max Gardner |
| Succeeded by | Cora Lily Woodard Aycock |
| Wake County Superintendent of Public Welfare | |
| In role 1924–unknown | |
| Head of the Infant and Maternal Welfare Bureau of the State Department of Health | |
| In role 1922–1924 | |
| Governor | Cameron A. Morrison |
| First Lady of North Carolina | |
| In role 1917–1921 | |
| Governor | Thomas Walter Bickett |
| Preceded by | Annie Burgin Locke Craig |
| Succeeded by | Angelia Lawrance Morrison |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Fanny Neal Yarborough October 11, 1870 Louisburg, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Died | July 3, 1941 (aged 70) Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Resting place | Oak Lawn Memorial Cemetery |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Thomas Walter Bickett |
| Children | 3 |
| Parent(s) | William Henry Yarborough Lucy Massenburg Davis |
| Residence | Executive Mansion (official) |
| Education | Louisburg College St. Mary's Junior College University of Chicago Harvard University UNC Chapel Hill Wake Forest University |
| Occupation | social worker, political hostess, lobbyist, lawyer |
Fanny Neal Yarborough Bickett[a] (October 11, 1870 – July 3, 1941) was an American social worker, public official, lawyer, and lobbyist. She served as the First Lady of North Carolina from 1917 to 1921, as the wife of Governor Thomas W. Bickett, and used her influence in his administration to enact social reforms and support women's suffrage. During World War I, she maintained a victory garden at the North Carolina Executive Mansion and promoted home gardens to support the war effort. Bickett was the commandant of the Southeastern District of the U.S. Training Corps and visited American troops in France as a representative of the YMCA.
After serving as first lady, Bickett served in various civic roles, including as a member of the board of governors of the North Carolina School for the Blind and Deaf, as the Head of the Infant and Maternal Welfare Bureau of the North Carolina State Department of Health, and as the Superintendent of Public Welfare for Wake County. In 1929, she was appointed by Governor O. Max Gardner as the first woman president of the North Carolina Railroad. She was a national officer of the Colonial Dames of America and an active member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the United Daughters of the Confederacy. In her later life, she earned a law degree from Wake Forest University and passed the state bar.
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