Oral history interview with Margaret Keesee-Forrester, April 21, 1989
Subtitle: interview C-0065, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)
Contributors: Nasstrom, Kathryn L., 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 legislators; Feminists; Attitudes; Women; Political activity; Politics and government; Republican Party (N.C.)
Other titles: Interview C-0065, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007); Interview with Margaret Keesee-Forrester, April 21, 1989; Oral histories of the American South.
Description: Margaret (Maggie) Keesee-Forrester was born in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1945. During the late 1960s, she became an elementary school teacher after completing her college education at Guilford College. Shortly thereafter, she became involved in local Greensboro politics through the Republican party. At the age of 27, Keesee-Forrester became the first woman from Guilford County elected to the North Carolina General Assembly. She served a total of six terms in the state legislature--from 1972 through the 1980s--and was known for her work across party lines. During her tenure in the state legislature, she was a strong advocate for the improvement of education in North Carolina. During her first term, she faced criticism from conservative Republicans for her support of a bill that sought to end corporal punishment in public schools. Keesee-Forrester also made waves within her party for her strong feminist leanings. Although loyal to the Republican Party, she firmly supported women's rights, including reproductive rights, and she stressed the importance of women's participation in politics. In this interview, Keesee-Forrester speaks at length about her experiences as one of the first women state legislators, her involvement in the women's movement, the response of male legislators to women in politics, her reasons for staying with the Republican Party, her decision to take a "sabbatical" from politics, and her thoughts on the future of women in politics.
Notes: Title from menu page (viewed on June 23, 2008).

Interview participants: Margaret Keesee-Forrester, interviewee; Kathryn Nasstrom, interviewer

Duration: 01:34:08.

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. 132.6 kilobytes, 172 megabytes.

Original version: Southern Oral History Program Collection, (#4007), Series C, Notable North Carolinians, interview C-0065, Manuscripts Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Transcribed by Jovita Flynn. Original transcript: 48 p.

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

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

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