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GREENSBORO — It was 1994, and Claudette Burroughs-White was about to be appointed to the City Council. But first, she had to face leaders in her District 2 — among them Nettie Coad, not one to mince words.

Coad said they grilled Burroughs-White: "Are you going to be a voice for us, or are you just going to be a politician?"

She promised to be a voice for the people, Coad said. And for five terms, she was.

"That voice isn't loud enough," Coad said. "So she lifted it."

Burroughs-White, 67, died Sunday of cancer, which in recent years slowed her activism but failed to curtail it. The former councilwoman served as one of three chairs on the Greensboro Bicentennial Commission, the group assigned to plan the celebration for the city's 200th anniversary.

Funeral details were not available Sunday night.

Her most recent honor came this month: She was named as one of the National Conference for Community and Justice's 2007 Brotherhood/Sisterhood Citation award honorees.

She was appointed as the District 2 councilwoman in 1994, after Alma Adams gave up her seat for the General Assembly.

Burroughs-White served until 2005, when she decided not to run again.

Her biggest regret when leaving office in 2005: She wished she could have brought more jobs and economic development to northeast and east Greensboro.

Her legacy? Closing the White Street Landfill, which sat for 50-some years in the neighborhood in which she grew up. Councilwoman Yvonne Johnson said there was no scientific evidence, but people in that community knew the landfill was causing a higher than average rate of cancer and other diseases.

Burroughs-White organized community meetings so her constituents could tell other council members about their frustrations. And in 2001, the council voted to close the landfill.

"She fought hard to have any alternative to that landfill," Johnson said. "She was a drum major for justice."

Colleagues describe her as forceful but not overpowering, savvy but not cocky.

Mayor Keith Holliday met her in the 1970s when she worked as a juvenile court counselor and served with her on the council until she left in 2005.

"She had incredible wisdom," he said. "She could step back and see the global picture of any one particular issue.

"She didn't speak until she had something specific to say. When she did, it was one of the wisest things you ever heard. It was amazing. This wisdom that spouted out of her."

Burroughs-White is lesser-known as an early civil rights leader. On Feb. 2, 1960 — one day after four black students from A&T refused to leave Woolworth's lunch counter — Burroughs-White brought a group from Woman's College (now UNCG) and joined them.

Johnson joined her that fall, when she became a freshman at Bennett College. The pair were lifelong friends; Burroughs-White was Johnson's Girl Scout leader. They learned to swim together in the lakes of Camp Douglas Long, the Scout camp for African-American girls.

In April, when Johnson announced she was running to become Greensboro's first black mayor, Burroughs-White spoke at a gathering in front of City Hall.

She told the crowd she'd known the candidate for 60 years.

"That gives me some authority to talk about her. I'm not going to tell you everything I know, though," drawing laughter from the audience.

Coad last saw her Thursday, when she brought Burroughs-White her favorite dish — chicken pie. Coad said Burroughs-White was standing, speaking. Her mind was clear, Coad said.

"The last time I saw her, Claudette Burroughs-White was on her feet."

Contact Margaret Moffett Banks at 373-7031 or mbanks@news-record.com

Contact Donald W. Patterson at 373-7027 or dpatterson@news-record.com