Nancy Graham (1946-) was born Nancy Carol Roskam in Nashville, Tennessee, the oldest of six children in a family she called “dirt poor.” Graham graduated from the University of Florida’s law school in 1981 with honors and the award for Outstanding Law School Senior for Academic and Leadership Performance. She came to West Palm Beach in 1983, where she practiced environmental and land use law. Graham served many civic and business organizations, and in 1988-1989 was city commissioner and vice-mayor for West Palm Beach.
Graham served from 1991-1999 as West Palm Beach’s first elected “strong mayor,” a system in which the mayor has nearly total administrative power without needing approval of the city council. Nicknamed “Iron Lady,” Graham aggressively pursued her goals. She worked to improve the quality of life in inner-city neighborhoods, created an affordable housing program for the needy, and built a community center in the Pleasant City subdivision.
The most significant achievement of Graham’s mayorship was to bring people together in a revitalized downtown. The fountain in Nancy M. Graham Centennial Park on Clematis Street, opened at the City’s centennial in 1994, became a central gathering place. Graham resurrected the Downtown/Uptown project of Henry Rolfs and David Paladino. With the help of the power of eminent domain and a multi-million-dollar loan, the city bought the site and created a competition among national developers to build what became CityPlace, with room left over for the county to build a convention center.
Many organizations have honored Graham for her leadership, such as the American Business Women’s Association, Leadership Palm Beach County, and National Business and Professional Women. After leaving office, Graham said, “I hope my legacy is that I gave them back a sense of community spirit. “