Orange County Courthouse Mural

Women’s History

This theme, Women’s History, was easy to create; there are only nine representations of Orange County women in the mural. However, the theme is less straightforward than it may seem because these nine women were not uniformly alike in their experiences. Some were free citizens and some felt the legacy of enslavement. Some supported education for all and some supported education for white individuals. Some championed women’s personal and political rights at the state level. Some are part of women’s history by being a woman with professional achievements. Together, they do not form one linear narrative of women’s history in Orange County, but rather show the milestones of local women who balanced unique intersectional realities.

Several women in the mural are known for their beliefs in education for all students. Frances Hargraves was the first Black teacher of a desegregated classroom in the Chapel-Hill Carrboro school system, and she developed the first local special education program. Karen Lynn Parker was the first Black woman to attend UNC at Chapel Hill, where she pursued both academic excellence and local civil rights activism. Roberta Jackson was the first Black woman professor at UNC at Chapel Hill; she taught English and was involved in national nonprofits supporting families. Each of these women worked to combat the legacy segregation left on Orange County educational opportunities.

Some women from Orange County fought for women’s rights at the state level. Cornelia Phillips Spencer, the daughter of a UNC professor, successfully advocated for the reopening of UNC at Chapel Hill after the Civil War and published pieces in support of white women’s education. Harriet M. Berry, leader of the state’s 20th century Good Roads Campaign, campaigned with the local Equal Suffrage Association for white women’s suffrage. Simultaneous to Berry, Barbara Bynum Henderson, a white graduate of UNC at Chapel Hill, organized the Equal Suffrage League of North Carolina and argued in her written works that women’s suffrage cannot be separated from other societal oppressions. These three individuals did not agree on which women deserved equal opportunities, but they each brought advocacy and advancement to some North Carolinian women.

Finally, although all women represented in this theme were successful, several women are included for their professional achievements in uplifting women’s experiences. Fannie Breeze was a formerly enslaved individual who provided midwifery services to any local woman in need, at a time when the field was becoming increasingly scrutinized by the state. Betty Smith, a white novelist and playwright moved to Chapel Hill in the 1930s and wrote one of her most famous books, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Elizabeth Cotten was a Black musician who wrote the popular folk song “Freight Train”; debuting in her 60s, she became a nationally-recognized name. These three individuals drew attention to the experiences of women through their talents.

The nine women represented in this theme each lived very different lives in Orange County. They are similar in their passion to uplift women’s voices, but differ in which women they thought worthy of rights. Through dedication to their work, these women expanded awareness of gender imbalances in spaces of power and influence: the classroom, the cultural scene, the home and the government.