On the recordNovember 10, 2015
Mr. President, I have the sad duty to report to the Senate the passing of the first lady of North Carolina, Dorothy ``Dot'' Helms. Mrs. Helms was known to many in this body as the ever gracious wife of my illustrious predecessor, Senator Jesse Helms. In fact, I chose to stand at this desk because it is the desk he stood behind for the many years as he served the United States and the great State of North Carolina in the Senate. For 66 years Dot Helms was the rock upon which the Helms legacy was built. Long before she met her future husband, Dot Helms was a trailblazer in North Carolina. She was the first woman to graduate from the University of North Carolina school of journalism in 1940, where she rubbed elbows with the likes of fellow Tar Heels, Edward R. Murrow and friend and classmate David Brinkley. While a reporter for the legendary owner-editor of the Raleigh News and Observer, Joseph Daniels, she met a young man on the sports desk named Jesse Helms, and the rest is history. Mrs. Helms was a leader in Christian causes, such as her sponsorship of the interdenominational children's camp Willow Run at Lake Gaston. While in Washington, she taught at Gallaudet University and actually wrote a book on great Americans who happened to be deaf. In the Senate, she was the leader of the Senate Ladies Bible Study, the Congressional Wives Prayer Group, and the U.S. Senate chapter of the Red Cross.…





