May Day at Flora MacDonald College. From the Albert Barden Collection, North Carolina State Archives.May’s arrival has been celebrated for millennia with dancing, food, and exuberance, the earliest known celebrations dating back to Floralia, the Roman celebration of Flora, goddess of flowers. In North Carolina, an institution that carried her name had celebrated the coming of May since its inception.
Topics Related to Women
In 1916, sang & recorded 25 Southern Appalachian ballads for preservation. Songs were foundational for regional culture & music. She lived nearby.
State supervisor of Black elementary schools, 1915-1934. Est. N.C. Congress of Colored Parents and Teachers. Was Gates Co. Jeanes Supervisor, here.
Founded in 1909 by civic-minded African American women. Promoted social causes. Early statewide meetings held here.
Physician; innovator in treatment of tuberculosis. Served in Europe, WWI; operated a sanatorium here, 1908-1918.
First woman elected to N.C. Senate, 1930. Civic leader and clubwoman. Home was 50 yds. west.
Est. in 1925 by Olive D. Campbell and Marguerite Butler, who adapted the Danish folk school model to study of the region.
Social worker. Led N.C. Board of Public Welfare, 1944-63; first Commissioner of U.S. Welfare. Her grave is 1/10 mi. W.
Established in 1887 to educate African Americans in western N.C. Emerged as residential preparatory school for Black women. Was 1/3 mi. E until 1974.
Pioneer Black comedian, social and civil rights activist, 1920’s-1974. Born Loretta Aiken, she grew up 1/5 mi. W.