Gladys Avery Tillett (1892-1984) was a member of the Class of 1915 at State Normal and Industrial College, now The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She was vice-chair of the Democratic National Committee, 1940-1950; co-director of Frank Porter Graham's senatorial campaign, 1950; United States delegate to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, 1961-1968; proponent of the Equal Rights Amendment; and activist for other political and social causes. Tillett discusses coming to college, her family history and campus life, including the beginning of student government, and the role of literary societies. She talks about leaving college for two years and the impact of the political science/history department. Tillett recalls the influence of administrators and faculty members Viola Boddie, Laura Hill Coit, Harriet Elliott, Edward Jacob Forney, Anna Gove, Eugene Gudger, Sue May Kirkland, Charles Duncan McIver, and Gertrude Mendehhall. She also recounts the effect of the women's suffrage movement on campus and in North Carolina and her political life.
