Hila Stratton oral history interview, 2003 June 3

Description

Hila Stratton reflects on her life in Charlotte, her community work, and her activist work with the Republican Party. She first moved to Charlotte during World War II with her husband Dr. David Stratton, who was an aviation medical examiner in the U.S. Army. When he was sent overseas, Mrs. Stratton remained in Charlotte, and she describes life there during the war and her experience as an officer's wife at Morris Field Air Base, which became Charlotte Douglas International Airport following World War II. Mrs. Stratton recounts the many community organizations she's been involved in over the years, in particular the local branch of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Mrs. Stratton discusses her involvement in local politics, including her two unsuccessful campaigns for a seat in the North Carolina House of Representatives, detailing what it was like to be a woman running for political office in the late 1960s. Though never elected to office, she continued to play an influential role in local Republican politics, explaining that she was not afraid to take a public stance on the issues and that she considers herself to be a "Progressive Republican." Mrs. Stratton served on the Board of Directors for Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC) for eight years and she talks about her experience there and how the school evolved through the 1970s and 1980s. She reflects on how Charlotte has changed as more and more people from outside the South move to the city, and how life for the city's women has changed.