She was a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from the 31st District, serving from 1995 to 2005.
She was elected to the State Legislature in 1995, the first Black woman from Spartanburg County to serve.
She served with numerous organizations, including the Urban League of the Upstate, the President's Advisory Committee of Wofford College, and the Spartanburg Development Council.
[2] In 2019, Lee invited Presidential candidate Kamala Harris to South Carolina, and endorsed her.
[4] Lee, along with co-authors Jim Neighbors, and Betsy Wakefield Teter, wrote the book North of Main: Spartanburg's Historic Black Neighborhoods of North Dean Street, Gas Bottom, and Back of the College, released in 2024.