Carlton, Mary Holt Woolfolk, papers A Guide to the Mary Holt Woolfolk Carlton papers, 1969-1983 M 11 A Collection in Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University, Collection
number M 11.
Mary Holt Woolfolk Carlton was born March 6, 1915, the daughter of Algar Woolfolk and Louise McCarthy Woolfolk. A Richmond
native, she is the granddaughter of Carlton McCarthy, once mayor of Richmond. She attended Westhampton College of the University
of Richmond and received a Bachelors degree in Social Science from William and Mary in 1955 and a Masters in Social Work in
1961 from Richmond Professional Institute (now VCU). She worked as a family counselor. She was married to Louis C. Carlton.
Carlton became active in women's issues in 1969. She was a charter member and treasurer of the Virginia Women's Political
Caucus and co-founded, along with Zelda Nordlinger, the Richmond Chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW). She
chaired NOW's Women in Religion National Task Force and was active in advocating increased involvement of women within the
church and of elimination of sexism found in biblical literature. She was an active member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church.
Carlton also served on NOW's Compliance and Enforcement Task Force and corresponded with various businesses on their employment
policies regarding women. She was also a member in the Ginter Park Garden Club and the Ginter Park Woman's Club.She participated
in the integration of Thalhimer's Men's Soup Bar in August of 1970 and of the Miller & Rhoades Tea Room a year later. Throughout
the 1970s, she gave speeches advocating the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment and corresponded with numerous legislators
about the matter. She frequently wrote letters expressing her opinion on women's issues to both Richmond newspapers, the Richmond
Times-Dispatch and Richmond News-Leader, various magazines, columnists, and broadcasters. Carlton and other activists have
been credited in convincing Richmond Newspapers Inc. to end their segregation of their want-ad job classifications by gender
in 1973.
The collection documents Carlton's activities as an activist in the emerging women's movement of the 1970s and includes correspondence,
newspaper clippings, publications, and other materials dating mostly from the 1970s. Much of the correspondence includes copies
of the letters Carlton sent and the replies she received. One of the most significant portions of the collection pertains
to Carlton's activities, and those of other local supporters, regarding passage of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), including
correspondence with fellow activists and with state and national elected officials. Various publications, from newspaper clippings
and journal articles to pamphlets and leaflets, are also included in the collection. Materials relating to Carlton's interest
in the changing role of women in the church, both within the Episcopal church and in other denominations in general, is also
represented. Her involvement within Richmond's St. Paul's Episcopal Church is documented and includes correspondence with
controversial Episcopal Bishop John "Jack" S. Spong. Carlton also served on NOW's Compliance and Enforcement Task Force, and
the collection includes correspondence between Carlton and various businesses, both locally and nationally, on their employment
policies regarding women.
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