Harold Lillard Kennedy, Jr., (1926-2005), a native of Winston-Salem, North  Carolina, graduated in 1942 from Atkins High School. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Virginia State University in 1948. He served in the United States Army from 1945 to 1946, and served in the American Army of Occupation in Germany. He graduated from Howard University School of Law in Washington, D.C. with a Juris Doctor degree in 1951, where he was a member of the Howard University Law Review. He practiced law in New York City from 1952 to 1954. He began practicing law in Winston-Salem in 1955, and actively practiced law in this community for almost 50  years. He was a partner in the law firm of Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy and Kennedy, LP, where he practiced law with his wife, Annie Brown Kennedy, and his twin sons, Harold L. Kennedy, III and Harvey L. Kennedy.

       He was a member of the National Bar Association, North Carolina Bar Association, North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers, Forsyth County Bar Association and Winston-Salem Bar Association. He was inducted into the National Bar Association Hall of Fame in 1992. He was a life-long Episcopalian and was a founding member of St. Anne’s Episcopal Church, where he was a lay reader and former Junior Warden. Before joining St.  Anne’s, he was a member of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, where he was a former Senior Warden.

       Harold Lillard Kennedy, Jr., was a longtime and active supporter of the Democratic Party. He was a member of the North Carolina House of Representatives in 1977 and 1978.

       He was actively involved in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Community. He was a member of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Emancipation Association, where he served as its longtime President. He was the former Chairman of the Redevelopment Commission of Winston-Salem. He formerly served on the Board of Directors of the Boy Scouts of America, the Arts Council, the Experient in Self-Reliance, Inc., the YMCA and the Victory Credit Union where he served as President. He was a life member of the NAACP. He was a member of the Twin City Kiwanis Club, People for the American Way, Crossing 52, Hospice of Winston-Salem, and the Society for the Study of African-American History. He was a member of the Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, where he served as a former Sire Archon for the Gamma Kappa Boule. He was a member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity for more than 50 years, where he served as a former Basileus of the Psi Phi Chapter.