White Home Demonstration Members in North Carolina, 1957

From the North Carolina Home Demonstration study by Gladys Gallup of the USDA, presented at Rural Woman’s Symposium

In 1957, 41,500 white Home Demonstration club members were surveyed. Members were 57 percent farm, 28 percent rural nonfarm, and 15 percent urban.

Of that 57 percent living on farms, only 27 percent said all their income came for farming. Twenty-nine percent said some of their income came from sources other than farming, and 44 percent said NONE of their income came from farming.

Regarding women under 30 years of age, studies made in recent years indicate that this age group does not belong to formal organizations to any extent. Nationally, 90 percent of women 20-29 years of age had children; 38 percent had three or more children; and 11 percent work away from home. Eighty-six percent have high school diplomas. A third of marriages today are of girls 19 years of age and under.

Income of HD women surveyed in NC: 55 percent made less than $2,500; 31 percent made between $2,500 and $5,000; and 13 percent made over $5,000.

You can find more information online in the D.H. Hill Library Special Collections at http://repository.lib.ncsu.edu/collections/handle/1840.6/491