Women
Showing results: 1 to 15 out of 17
Annie Lowrie Alexander (1864-1929) Encyclopedia
Annie Alexander has a unique place in history: the first female licensed to practice medicine in the South. Annie was strongly influenced by her father, a physician himself, who determined that she should become a doctor after one of his female patients died after refusing medical attention out of fear of being examined by a man. When Dr. Alexander told his wife of his desire to have Annie become a doctor, Mrs. Alexander fretted over bearing the cost of medical training, only to have Annie marry and forgo a career as a physician. Dr. Alexander’s response was blunt: "She must never marry. She'll serve humanity".
Asheborough Female Academy Encyclopedia
Much scholarly attention has been given to Alexander Murphy’s visions for public education in antebellum North Carolina and to the common school system in mid-nineteenth-century North Carolina; however, private schools existed in the period, too. One such school was the Asheborough Female Academy.Ella Baker ( 1903 - 1986) Encyclopedia
A North Carolina native, Ella Baker played a key role in the Civil Rights Movement and in forming the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee at Shaw University.Edenton Tea Party Encyclopedia
The Edenton Tea Party was one of the earliest organized women’s political actions in United States history. On October 25, 1774, Mrs. Penelope Barker organized, at the home of Mrs. Elizabeth King, fifty-one women in Edenton, North Carolina. Together they formed an alliance wholeheartedly supporting the American cause against “taxation without representation.”Human Betterment League of North Carolina Encyclopedia
Created in Pasadena, California in 1928, The Human Betterment Foundation sponsored and conducted research dealing with sterilization’s physiological, mental, and social effects. Closely aligned with the Human Betterment Foundation, the Human Betterment League of North CarolinaFounded by James G. Hanes in 1947, used mass media and advertisements to promote the implementation of sterilization procedures. In large part because of the League's work, the number of sterilizations in North Carolina increased after World War II.Harriet Jacobs (1813-1897) Encyclopedia
A former North Carolina slave turned abolitionist and author, Harriet Jacobs was born in bondage in Edenton. In her autobiography, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (1861), Jacobs describes the abuse that she endured while a slave and is the best-known autobiography written by an African American woman during the 19th century.Lillian Exum Clement (1894-1925) Encyclopedia
Lillian Exum Clement became the first woman elected to the North Carolina General Assembly and the first woman to serve in any state legislature in the American South.Gertrude D. McKee (1885 – 1948) Encyclopedia
A native of Jackson County, North Carolina, Gertrude D. McKee became the first woman to serve in the North Carolina Senate. Her terms were from 1931-33, 1937-39, and 1943-44. She was known as a “pioneer of welfare programs” in North Carolina that served as models for other Southern states.North Carolina Equal Suffrage Association Encyclopedia
In 1894, the first suffragette organization was founded in North Carolina. It remained almost inactive until the World War I era, when it became a political influence in the Tar Heel State. The association had minimal success in convincing the state legislature to grant women suffrage.Palmer Memorial Institute Encyclopedia
Nineteen-year old Charlotte Hawkins Brown, an African American educator, started the Palmer Memorial Institute in Sedalia, North Carolina in 1902 to educate elementary and high school students in rural North Carolina. Named after Brown’s benefactor and friend, Alice Freedman Palmer, the Institute began in an old blacksmith shed.Sarah Malinda Pritchard Blalock (1839-1903) Encyclopedia
Sarah Malinda Pritchard Blalock is one of only two women known for having served in any North Carolina Confederate regiment.Susie Sharp (1907-1996) Encyclopedia
Judge Susie Sharp was an old school Southern Democrat. She publicly opposed the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) of the early 1970s and even attempted to persuade legislators to vote in the negative. Some have credited her, along with her friend Senator Sam J. Ervin, Jr. (1896-1984), for playing a big part in defeating the ERA in North Carolina.Skimmington Encyclopedia
During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, a common custom was a skimmington. Traditionally, it served as a reminder for spouses to perform certain societal roles and behave within prescribed social boundaries and thereby secure social order. It was also incorporated into colonial political protests.
Kathryn T. Stanley (1903-1985) Encyclopedia
Despite never having been ordained, Kathryn T. Stanley still contributed significantly to the High Point community and the Congregational Christian Church denomination. As her church's "Director of Activities," Stanley was in every practical sense the de facto pastor of Washington Terrace Congregational Church.