The activist non-partisans: The North Carolina League of Women Voters, 1947--1979

The League of Women Voters has had a limited review in American social and women's historiography. While scholars acknowledge that the League has made some contributions to society, the overall analysis tends towards viewing the organization as "a nice group of ladies who hand out election pamphlets.";This inquiry aims to broaden this analysis by examining the North Carolina League of Women Voters (NCLWV). I will explore the NCLWV's activities from 1947 to 1979, along with the organization's motives in pursuing its many endeavors. My assessment is that the NCLWV followed a reformist agenda that was as much aligned with earlier reform periods such as the Progressive Era as with post-World War II liberalism. The methods used in this study are chronological and topical. I trace the NCLWV's evolution throughout the years while giving due attention to its relations with the National League and North Carolina's local chapters. I employ numerous archival sources in North Carolina along with interviews and secondary references.;This dissertation illustrates that the NCLWV played an important but under-recognized role as a conduit of middle-class female liberal values in the post-World War II South. The League served as a means for social interaction among like-minded women who sought to understand and improve the world around them. In doing so, the women frequently used the League to push for legislation and initiatives often ignored or downplayed by the male body politic. Using a narrative style, the dissertation analyzes the traditions the NCLWV followed and the successes and failures it met.