As a young attorney, Adams was Secretary of the Wake County Bar, and later a committee chair on the N.C. State Bar Association. During the Civil Rights movement, he advocated for African American attorneys and integration of the Wake County Bar Association. He was a partner in Sanford, Adams, McCullough & Beard, one of the first firms in Raleigh to hire African American and women lawyers. The NC Community Action Association recognized his pro bono work for underrepresented citizens with their prestigious Gloria Williams Award.
Adams served with distinction for five terms in the NC House of Representatives, where his advocacy for education laid the groundwork for North Carolina’s educational achievements in the 1980s and 1990s. He championed increases in funding to the NC Arts Council that supported both major public installations and local grass roots organizations. Adams was consistently rated as one of the most effective legislators, and later, as one of the state’s most influential lobbyists. As a lobbyist, he helped secure funds for the NC Museum of History and other cultural cornerstones of our state.
His civic contributions are no less profound. As first Chairman of the Wake County Public Libraries Board, Adams presided over the merger of white and African American libraries to form today’s Wake County Public Library System. As a founding member and Chair of the Estey Hall Foundation at Shaw University, he helped preserve the nation’s first historic structure built for African American women. He was instrumental in founding the Arts Advocates of NC, the Clarence Lightner Youth Leadership Endowment, and the Martin Luther King Resource Center. He chaired the USS North Carolina Battleship Commission, and served on the boards of the NC Symphony Society, Raleigh City Museum, NC Child Advocacy, Opera Company of North Carolina, Wake Technical Community College Foundation, and the Raleigh Civil Service Commission. He was Wake County Democratic Party Chair, and a delegate to the Democratic National Convention. Adams has been a longtime advocate for his alma mater – the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill – serving as Chairman of the Board of Visitors and a member of the UNC General Alumni Association.
In recognition of his many contributions, UNC awarded Al Adams its Distinguished Service Medal for outstanding service to the Alumni Association and the University. Other commendations include the Governor’s Award, North Carolina’s highest recognition for meritorious service, NC Child Advocacy’s Tribute of Appreciation, and the Chief Justice Joseph Branch Professionalism Award, the Wake County Bar Association’s highest honor.
Representative Adams’s abilities, passions and sustained commitment have enriched cultural and educational resources, advanced social justice, and made Raleigh a better place to live. His good works will continue to improve the lives of North Carolinians for generations to come.
