Education
Clement attended high school in Asheville, North Carolina and then Asheville Business College. She took a job as a deputy sheriff and studied law at night with private tutors.
Clement attended high school in Asheville, North Carolina and then Asheville Business College. She took a job as a deputy sheriff and studied law at night with private tutors.
After earning one of the highest scores on the bar exam among 70 students, she became a criminal lawyer, the first female attorney in North Carolina without male partners. In 1920, the Buncombe County Democratic Party asked the 26-year-old Clement to run for a seat in the North Carolina House of Representatives. In the general election, Clement was elected by a margin of 10,368 to 41.
She served one term in the House (1921).
While in office, she introduced at least seventeen bills, many of which were passed. She died of pneumonia in 1925 and is buried in Riverside Cemetery.
A North Carolina Democratic fund-raising group, founded in 1997, is called "Lillian"s List" in her honor. A state historical marker located at Charlotte Street at College Street, Asheville, North Carolina, honors Exum.
lieutenant reads, "First female legislator in the South.
Elected to North Carolina House, 1920. Her law office was 400 yards west. Home 1/2 mi. North-East."
In 2014 it was announced that "the historic Lillian Exum Clement house at 34 Hollywood Street will be forever protected by a donation of a preservation easement to the Preservation Society of Asheville and Buncombe County.
Wingate Anders of Greensboro, North Carolina, owner of the historic house and widower of Lillian’s only daughter, made the donation of the easement to ensure the protection and preservation of this noteworthy historic site.".