Photo of Virginia Arnold (right) is courtesy of the Library of Congress. Photo of Charlotte Hawkins Brown (center) is courtesy of Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum.
In 1980, President Carter issued the first presidential proclamation naming the week of March 8 as National Women’s History Week. The following year, the U.S. Congress passed a resolution establishing a national celebration. In 1987, Women's History Month became a month-long celebration, observed annually, honoring women's contributions to the world.
Check out these exhibits, programs, videos, educational resources, blogs and podcasts the North Carolina Museum of History offers, helping to share the stories, hardships, contributions, and experiences of women in North Carolina!
The Struggle for Women’s Suffrage in North Carolina, a conversation with RaeLana Poteat, Curator of Political and Social History, North Carolina Museum of History
What began in the middle 1800s as a series of public talks that promoted full voting rights for women finally became a national cause during the years leading up to America's involvement in World War I (1917–1918) and after. Although many people today are aware of the radical actions of women in England and in the northeastern United States, museum curator RaeLana Poteat describes a very different, more modest, picture of the suffrage movement in North Carolina and the conservative South in general. Approximate run time: 38 minutes.
Rising to the Challenge: Women in Public Office, a panel discussion moderated by Melissa A. Essary, dean of the Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law, Campbell University, Raleigh
The program highlighted the current status and future for women in public office. Panelists discussed how things have changed over the past several decades and the keys to women's future success. Approximate run time: 1 hour 6 minutes.
North Carolina Women: Their Lives and Times, a conversation with Michele Gillespie, professor of Southern History, at Wake Forest University
Michele Gillespie and her co-editor Sally McMillen of Davidson College have finished the first book in a two-volume set examining important North Carolina women. The books are part of a growing effort to address the scarcity of women in traditional history books and manuscripts. Approximate run time: 30 minutes.
