Oral history interview with Martha McKay, March 29, 1974
Subtitle: interview A-0324, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)
Contributors: Riggsbee, Belinda, interviewer; Southern Oral History Program; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Documenting the American South (Project); University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library
Edition: Electronic ed.
Publisher: University Library, UNC-Chapel Hill
Published: 2006
Place of publication: [Chapel Hill, N.C.]
Language: eng
Subjects: Interviews; Women political activists; Politics and government; Women's rights; Equal rights amendments; North Carolina Women's Political Caucus
Other titles: Interview A-0324, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007); Interview with Martha McKay, March 29, 1974; Oral histories of the American South.
Description: Women's rights activist and Democratic Party advocate Martha McKay describes her work with the North Carolina Women's Political Caucus (NCWPC) and its lobby for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in 1973. That year, the ERA went before the North Carolina General Assembly for ratification. Because of the active lobbying campaign of the NCWPC, the ERA was expected to pass through the North Carolina Senate following a vote by Governor James Holshouser that would break an anticipated 25-25 stalemate. McKay describes how Senators Gordon Allen and Mike Mullens changed their votes at the last moment, effectively defeating the ERA that year. McKay also discusses the organization of opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment, focusing specifically on the role of external funding, the influence of Phyllis Schlafly, the position of North Carolina Judges Susie Sharp and Naomi Morris, and the impact of media coverage. Finally, McKay briefly discusses "typical" pro- and anti-ERA women and the impact of the defeat on the NCWPC.
Notes: Title from menu page (viewed on November 28, 2007).

Interview participants: Martha McKay, interviewee; Belinda Riggsbee, interviewer.

Duration: 00:47:05.

This electronic edition is part of the UNC-CH digital library, Documenting the American South.  It is a part of the collection Oral histories of the American South.

Text encoded by Mike Millner.  Sound recordings digitized by Aaron Smithers.

Text (HTML and XML/TEI source file) and audio (MP3); 2 files: ca. 85.5 kilobytes, 86.2 megabytes.

Original version: Southern Oral History Program Collection, (#4007), Series A, Southern politics, interview A-0324, Manuscripts Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Original transcript: 28 p.

Funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services supported the electronic publication of this interview.

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

System requirements:  Web browser with Javascript enabled and multimedia player.