North Carolina Women: Making History

by Margaret Supplee Smith, Doris Betts, Emily Herring Wilson

For generations, books on North Carolina history have included the names of only a few women. But in addition to such well-known and legendary figures as Queen Elizabeth I and Virginia Dare, a multitude of other women influenced the making of North Carolina. These women's stories have rarely been told, in part because their contributions tended to occur in the relative privacy of their families and communities.

This lively and comprehensive volume finally accords North Carolina women their long-awaited place in history. Margaret Supplee Smith and Emily Herring Wilson bring together a wealth of materials to demonstrate how North Carolina women lived, from the days of early native settlements to the end of World War II. Filled with names, places, colorful anecdotes, and more than two hundred photographs and documents that bring to life important moments in history, North Carolina Women establishes the critical influence of women in shaping the character and economy of the state and the values of its citizens.

The narratives embedded in women's history, presented chronologically, create an enormous landscape across time--broadly analyzed and meticulously detailed. By considering the particular contours of gender, race, class, religion, and geography, the authors reveal the diversity and complexity of women's lives and experiences. Interspersed throughout the book are biographies of twenty-two North Carolina women, from Cherokee Beloved Woman Nanye'hi and frontierswoman Rebecca Bryan Boone to civil rights scholar and priest Pauli Murray and political activist Gladys Avery Tillett.

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This lively and comprehensive volume accords North Carolina women their long-awaited place in history. Margaret Supplee Smith and Emily Herring Wilson bring together a wealth of stories and pictures to demonstrate how North Carolina women lived, from the days of early native settlements to the end of World War II. Covering women from all 100 North Carolina counties, the book also includes 22 biographies of notable women, from Cherokee Beloved Woman Nanye'hi and frontierswoman Rebecca Bryan Boone to civil rights scholar and priest Pauli Murray and political activist Gladys Avery Tillett. Filled with names, places, colorful anecdotes, and more than two hundred photographs and documents that bring to life important moments in history, North Carolina Women establishes the critical influence of women in shaping the character and economy of the state and the values of its citizens. A pleasure to read, this book is also a wonderful teaching resource.
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Hardcover

First published April 26, 1999

About the author

Margaret Supplee Smith is Harold W. Tribble Professor of Art Emerita at Wake Forest University.

Reviews

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful historical lesson on the leaders from our past. Of course I am thrilled that they featured Rhoda Strong Lowry, Lumbee rebel. I loved this book and would buy it as a gift in the future.