BURLINGTON -- Bertha M. Holt, a former state House member from Burlington who was a pioneer for women in the legislature and a fiery liberal presence, died Friday. She was 93.
Holt, who was known as "B," had a stroke this week and died at her home.
A lawyer, Holt was appointed to fill a vacancy in the House in 1975, then served until her retirement in 1994. She carried the standard for the unsuccessful fight to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment and led the effort to change the state's marital rape law, which had said that husbands couldn't be charged with raping their wives. The law was repealed in 1993.
"I've been a staunch Democrat from birth, I guess," Holt said in a 1999 interview with The News & Observer. "I figure the best thing I can do is stay in and try to work towards change, and I have seen lots of change."
Holt was a budget writer in the House and was active in politics long after her retirement. Two years ago, she endorsed then-Treasurer Richard Moore for governor and didn't mind picking on Gov. Bev Perdue for what Holt said was a lack of women in her administration.
"I am saddened today by the death of B Holt," House Speaker Joe Hackney said in a statement Friday. "During her nearly 20 years in the North Carolina House of Representatives, she proved to be a dedicated and highly competent lawmaker and a pioneering female lawyer who mentored many of the women who followed her into the legislature."
In the 1999 interview, Holt said that in the struggle for equality, women could be their own worst enemies.
"The women finally had the vote and then didn't take advantage of it for ages," she said. "And so, I have said this so much till it's almost trite, but tradition tells us who we are. And so often, the women have let tradition tell them who they are. And it's hard to break with tradition."
Holt was born in Eufaula, Ala., the oldest of five girls. Her father, grandfather and great-grandfather were lawyers, and she earned her law degree in 1941. She worked in Washington during World War II, married a lawyer, W. Clary Holt, and settled in his hometown, Burlington.
Clary Holt died in 2003. She is survived by a daughter, Harriet Whitley of Burlington, and two sons, Jefferson Holt of Chapel Hill and Merrill Holt of San Francisco.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Monday in the Episcopal Church of the Holy Comforter in Burlington.
