Education
Inglis Fletcher (1879 – 1969)
1866-1915
Born in Illinois, Inglish Fletcher first visited North Carolina in 1934 researching her genealogy in the Tyrrell County historical records. She published her most prominent novel, Raleigh’s Eden, in 1941, and it detailed the Albemarle plantation culture in colonial North Carolina. Dedicated to research and historical accuracy, Fletcher published a twelve volume historical fiction set entitled the Carolina Series. The novelist moved to Edenton in 1941 where she became a prominent citizen who helped start the North Carolina Writers Conference and the Elizabethan Gardens on the Roanoke Island.
Lee Smith (1944 – )
Smith has earned recognition as one of the most important writers of southern and Appalachian literature. A recipient of many awards, she was inducted into the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame in 2009.
“Whistler’s Mother,” Anna McNeill Whistler
After the Virgin Mary herself, Anna McNeill Whistler may be one of the most recognizable mothers in all of art history. The Wilmington native is also one of the most famous moms to call North Carolina home.
Second-to-the-Last in Freedom (for Women)
In 1971 the North Carolina legislature ratified an amendment to the U.S. Constitution giving equal voting rights to women. Not the Equal Rights Amendment! The Nineteenth Amendment of 1920.
Anna Julia Cooper (1858 – 1964)
Anna Julia Cooper was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1858. It is believed she was the daughter of her enslaver, Fabius J. Haywood. Cooper was emancipated when she was nine years old and in 1867 enrolled in Saint Augustine’s Normal and Collegiate Institute in Raleigh with the aid of the Freedmen’s Bureau. At Saint...
Penelope Barker (1728 – 1796)
Penelope Barker (1728–1796) was a remarkable woman. She is known for organizing what is called the Edenton Tea Party. On October 25, 1774, she persuaded fifty women to support fellow colonists in their resistance to British taxation. In a formal statement, the 51 ladies promised not to drink tea or wear English linen.
Inglis Fletcher’s Novels Offered Entertaining Perspective Of Early N.C. History
Maybe more so than any other novelist below the Mason-Dixon line, including the 19th-century William Gilmore Simms of South Carolina, Inglis Fletcher of North Carolina painted the most comprehensive, historical portrait of the land on which she lived.
Mary T. Martin Sloop (1873 – 1962)
Mary T. Martin Sloop was a physician and educator from Davidson, North Carolina. She played an instrumental role in educational efforts and reform in western North Carolina. In particular, she established the Crossnore School for mountain children.
Cornelia Phillips Spencer (1825 – 1908)
Cornelia Phillips Spencer was not only a North Carolina poet, historian, and journalist but also a leader in the reopening of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill after it survived five, dormant years during Reconstruction.
Frankie Silver Murder Case of 1833
On July 12, 1833, Frankie Silver was hanged for the murder of her husband. Nearly 10,000 people traveled to Burke County to witness her execution. She was the first woman executed in North Carolina by hanging. Numerous ballads, articles, and documentaries have added to Silver’s myth and legend.
Flora MacDonald (1722 – 1790)
The subject of Scottish folklore and myth, Flora MacDonald assisted Prince Charles Stuart in his escape from King George II. In 1774, she moved to North Carolina, where her Loyalist husband and son fought in the Battle of Moores Creek.
Inglis Fletcher (1879 – 1969)
Born in Illinois, Inglish Fletcher first visited North Carolina in 1934 researching her genealogy in the Tyrrell County historical records. She published her most prominent novel, Raleigh’s Eden, in 1941, and it detailed the Albemarle plantation culture in colonial North Carolina. Dedicated to research and historical accuracy, Fletcher published a twelve volume historical fiction set entitled the Carolina Series. The novelist moved to Edenton in 1941 where she became a prominent citizen who helped start the North Carolina Writers Conference and the Elizabethan Gardens on the Roanoke Island.
Ava Gardner (1922 – 1990)
Born in Johnston County in 1922, Ava Lavinia Gardner became one of Hollywood’s most popular starlets in the 1940s and 1950s. She attended Rock Ridge High School and Atlantic Christian College (now Barton College), and in 1939 her big break in film occurred. While visiting her sister in New York a photographer took several pictures of Gardner who later sent them to the MGM talent office. MGM signed Gardner to a seven-year contract and her acting career began.