Major activities and events are listed chronologically. Each item is designated as either primarily national or North Carolina (US or NC).
This timeline provides a chronology of additional national and North Carolina events.
January 1921
The Women's National Republican Club is formed in New York City. (US)
April 19-May 25, 1925
Nell Battle Lewis writes a six-part series "The Woman Movement" in the Raleigh News and Observer. (NC)
1927
The North Carolina Junior Federation of Women's Clubs forms from its parent organization, the North Carolina Federation of Women's Clubs. (NC)
September 1934
Sylvia Crouch and Belle Weaver, two women "communist agitators" are arrested in Gastonia during the southern textile strike. (NC)
December 1937
The National Federation of Republican Women is established. (US)
May 1941
Student Martha Clampitt is selected to hold the post of assistant treasurer of the University Party at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This marks the first time that a female student has held a major office in a campus political party. (NC)
November 8, 1944
The North Carolina Supreme Court rules that women do not meet the constitutional requirements to serve on juries. "The question is not whether women are competent to serve on juries, but whether they are presently eligible to do so." (NC)
January 4, 1945
In his inaugural address, Governor Gregg Cherry recommends to the legislature that it submit for the next general election a constitutional amendment "...whereby women in all respects will have this and all other discriminations as now remain in the Constitution removed so that in all respects they may in fact and in deed enjoy the privileges accorded to the male, unrestricted by Constitutional inhibition." (NC)
March 1, 1945
The North Carolina General Assembly passes a "legislatively referred constitutional amendment" to be voted on during the next general election. The Amendment called for replacing the word "men" with the word "persons." The driving force was to allow women to serve on juries. (NC)
November 5, 1946
In the general election, North Carolina voters ratify Amendment 1. The ballot issue was "For Amendments Making the Constitution Equally Applicable to Men and Women" or "Against Amendments Making the Constitution Equally Applicable to Men and Women." (NC)
July 25, 1948
Velma Hopkins, a Black woman and labor organizer, Mary Price, a white woman, and Mike Ross, a white man, are selected as North Carolina's national committee members for the Progressive Party. (NC)
April 11, 1953
The North Carolina Federation of Republican Women is formed during a meeting in Hickory, NC. (NC)
October 1957
With the rise of the suburban voter, morning coffee meetings held at the homes of precinct committeewomen are becoming the most important campaign venue (as reported by Jon Fasman of The Economist). (US)
February 2-4, 1960
On the day after four black male freshmen from Agricultural and Technical College of North Carolina (now North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University) stage a sit-in at the Greensboro F.W. Woolworth Company. In ensuing days, four Black women, three white women, and twenty-seven Black men join them. (NC)
April 16-17, 1960
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) is founded at Shaw University in Raleigh by Ella Baker, Executive Secretary of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Baker was raised in NC and graduated from Shaw as valedictorian in 1927. (NC)
1966
Pauli Murray, law professor and former resident of Durham, co-founds with Betty Friedan and others the National Organization for Women. (US)
1968
Shirley Chisholm becomes the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress. (US)
February 23-December 9, 1969
UNC-Chapel Hill cafeteria workers, mostly Black females, hold two strikes to protest low wages and poor working conditions. The months-long unrest draws attention to unfair labor practices and brings national attention to Chapel Hill. (NC)
May 6, 1971
North Carolina becomes the forty-seventh state to ratify the 19th Amendment, which passed Congress in 1919 and was ratified in 1920. (NC)
July 10-11, 1971
The National Women's Political Caucus is founded. (US)
1972
Martha Clampitt McKay founds the North Carolina Women's Political Caucus. (NC)
Phyllis Schlafly begins a national campaign against the Equal Rights Amendment. (US)
January 25, 1972
Shirley Chisholm is the first Black woman to run for President of the United States. (NC)
February 1, 1973
The NC General Assembly holds the first of two joint House and Senate Constitution Committees hearings about ERA. (NC)
February 28, 1973
The North Carolina Senate votes down the ERA Amendment, 27-23. (NC)
October 11, 1987
North Carolina women participate in the Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. Its success, size, scope, and historical importance have led to it being called "the Great March." (US)
November 1, 2000
Beverly Collins-Hall, Janice Oxendine, and Christine Locklear form American Indian Mothers, Inc. to promote the welfare of Indigenous people in North Carolina. (US)
2003
The North Carolina Center for Women in Public Service is founded. (NC)
April 25, 2004
The North Carolina Delegation participates in the March for Women's Lives in Washington, DC. The march was organized by women's groups and addressed topics such as abortion rights, reproductive healthcare, and women's rights. (US)
January 2017
Women hold marches in NC cities in solidarity with the Women's March in Washington, DC. (NC)
March 6, 2019
Two bills ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment are introduced in the North Carolina House and Senate. (NC)