Lillian Exum Clement, called Brother Exum by her fellow legislators, was the first woman in the South to hold legislative office, taking her seat in the North Carolina House of Representatives in 1921.
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In an era when male soldiers and politicians usually dominated, Dolley Madison, First Lady of the United States and Washington socialite, exemplified the dutiful wife and tactful hostess who achieved with charm what her husband accomplished with command.
Famous heroine Flora MacDonald immigrated to North Carolina after her imprisonment in Scotland for her involvement in a plot to help usher Prince Charles Edward Stuart of Scotland to safety after the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745.
Abby House, known widely as “Aunt Abby,” was born around 1796 and lived much of her life near Franklinton. House dedicated herself to care for Confederate soldiers in need during the Civil War. Described by Governor Zebulon Vance as “the ubiquitous, indefatigable and inevitable Mrs. House,” House often paid visits to various leaders of the Confederacy, including Jefferson Davis.
Rose O’Neal Greenhow, a widowed Washington socialite turned Confederate spy, drowned near Fort Fisher.
At a court session in May 1673, Ann Durant became the first woman to act in the capacity of an attorney in North Carolina.
The success of the pottery industry in the area around Seagrove, also known as Jugtown, is largely the result of the work of Jacques and Juliana Busbee.
“Tiny” Broadwick, remembered as the “First Lady of Parachuting,” holds a place in The Guinness Book of World Records for her achievements as a parachutist.
All this month we’re bringing you stories from North Carolina women’s history. Check back here each week day for a new tidbit on the women of our state’s past.
Harriet Morehead Berry, often called the champion of good roads, was born in 1877 in Hillsborough.