| Saundra Graham | |
| Birth Date: | 5 September 1941 |
| Term Start1: | 1971 |
| Term End1: | 1989 |
| State House2: | Massachusetts |
| Term Start2: | 1977 |
| Term End2: | 1988 |
Saundra Graham (September 5, 1941[1] [2] – June 23, 2023[3]) was an American independent politician from Cambridge, Massachusetts. She served as a Cambridge City Councilor from 1971 to 1989,[4] and represented the 4th Middlesex district in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1977 to 1988.
In 1968, Graham became a member of the Cambridge Community Center’s board of directors. Two years later, she was chosen as president of the Riverside Planning Team, a group of housing activists in the Cambridge neighborhood of Riverside.[5] In 1970, the Riverside Planning Team interrupted Harvard's commencement ceremony, and Graham stormed the stage and demanded that the university dedicate land in Riverside which had been set aside for a planned dorm to low-income housing.[6] [7] Members of the Harvard Corporation met with Graham and the activists, and after several hours they reached an agreement in which the university would build low-income housing on a different site. The following year, Graham was elected the first African-American woman on the Cambridge City Council, and she went on to become the first Black woman to represent Cambridge in the state legislature.[6] [7]
Graham died on June 23, 2023, at the age of 81.[8]