| Scope and content |
Doak's active participation in the N.C. Federation of Women's Clubs constitutes a large part of the collection. Materials include letters, news bulletins reflecting club activities, reports, minutes, constitution and bylaws, financial records, and club history. Letters concerning national issues, many of which were written to Congressman Harold Cooley, discuss the repeal of Prohibition, the League of Nations, the Farm Security Administration, the peacetime draft, and communism. Correspondence regarding North Carolina politics concern Governor Charles B. Aycock, the Socialist ticket in North Carolina, state political candidates of 1932, W. Kerr Scott's campaign for governor, and the 1950 United States Senate race between Willis Smith and Frank Porter Graham. Also includes radio broadcast scripts; personal correspondence concerning conscientious objector status during World War II; subject files pertaining to North Carolina politics, including campaign literature supporting W. Kerr Scott and Terry Sanford, speeches, election results, and radio talks in support of Frank Porter Graham's U. S. Senate campaign; and materials pertaining to Doak's involvement in preserving the birthplace of Governor Charles B. Aycock. Genealogical materials concern the Doak, Renfrow, Sorsby, Paisley, Breckenridge, and Worth families of North Carolina. |
| Biographical note | Frances Renfrow Doak, a native of Nash County, N.C., was active in the North Carolina Federation of Women's Clubs and the North Carolina Democratic Party. She began her career as a stenographer, and later became the first woman radio announcer in North Carolina. She campaigned for numerous Democratic candidates and became the Democratic Party's vice-chairwoman of the Seventh Precinct. She held various government positions, including assistant to Governor Charles B. Aycock. She was also active in Quaker-related activities. Doak was married to Charles G. Doak, baseball coach and athletic director at North Carolina State University. |
