Elizabeth Simpson Drewry was the first black woman elected to the West Virginia legislature in 1950 and was reelected in 1964. A leading advocate for labor and education, she sponsored a bill in 1955 to allow women to serve on juries. Born 22 September 1893, she began teaching in 1910. Drewry also served on the Northfork City Council and was associate chair of the McDowell County Democratic Executive Committee. She died on 24 September 1979.