Fulmer, Willa Lybrand, 1884-1968

Willa Lybrand Fulmer (February 3, 1884 – May 13, 1968) was a farmer, legislative aide, and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as a U.S. Representative from South Carolina from November 1944 to January 1945.

Born Willa Essie Lybrand in Wagener, South Carolina, she attended the Wagener public schools before graduating from Greenville (Baptist) Female College in Greenville, South Carolina, which eventually merged with Furman University. In 1901, at age 17, she married Hampton Fulmer, a successful cotton farmer, merchant, and banker. Hampton Fulmer would eventually serve in the South Carolina state house and then go on to a 23-year career in the U.S. House of Representatives that included the chairmanship of the influential Agriculture Committee. Willa Fulmer worked as an aide to her husband in the early 1930s.

Following her husband's death, Willa Fulmer was asked to run in a special election to fill her husband’s vacant seat in the 78th Congress in order to bolster the Democrats' narrow House majority. While agreeing to seek the nomination, she stated she had no intention of running in the concurrent election for the following Congress. Willa Fulmer was elected unopposed to fill the vacancy caused by his death in 1944, and served from November 7, 1944, to January 3, 1945. After leaving Congress, she engaged in agricultural pursuits until her retirement. She died May 13, 1968 aboard a ship on the North Atlantic Ocean en route to Europe and was buried in Memorial Park Cemetery, Orangeburg, South Carolina.