Local figure
Lucy Straley
Lucy Straley, a longtime member of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, took part in the anti-Vietnam War vigil in front of the Chapel Hill post office, which the town's plaque calls the nation's longest, and protested US intervention abroad until her death. Chapel Hill named her at Peace and Justice Plaza in 2009.
Orange County Indexed has not yet linked an indexed work directly to Lucy Straley. The biography and the dated events on this page provide sources about Lucy Straley’s life and work. If you know a useful source, tell us.
Life and Orange County connections
Dated events connected with this person, earliest first. See these 4 dated events in the chronology →
- Joe and Lucy Straley receive the first Charles M. Jones award of the local ACLU The Chapel Hill-Carrboro chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union gave Joe and Lucy Straley, both 79, its Charles M. Jones award for their work for peace, social justice and racial integration. The award, begun that year, recognizes contributions to civil liberties and civil rights in Orange and Chatham counties. People: Joe Straley, Charles M. JonesSearch the index · North Carolina Newspapers: The Daily Tar Heel, November 22, 1993, page 2
- Bill Thorpe petitions the council to name the post office plaza for local activists Council member Bill Thorpe presented a petition to rename the Franklin Street post office plaza for Charlotte Adams and Joe and Lucy Straley, an idea born at Joe Straley's memorial service. The council chose to hold a public hearing, and its naming committee proposed naming the plaza for an ideal with plaques for local peace and justice activists. People: Joe Straley, Lucy Straley, Charlotte AdamsSearch the index · North Carolina Newspapers: The Daily Tar Heel, March 29, 2006, page 3
- Chapel Hill names the post office plaza Peace and Justice Plaza The Town Council named the space in front of the Franklin Street post office Peace and Justice Plaza, after a petition to honor Charlotte Adams and Joe and Lucy Straley. Lucy Straley, then 92, told the Daily Tar Heel the plaza had long been the couple's main backdrop for protest. People: Joe Straley, Bill Thorpe, Charlotte AdamsSearch the index · North Carolina Newspapers: The Daily Tar Heel, September 13, 2007, page 3
- Chapel Hill dedicates the Peace and Justice Plaza marker The town unveiled a granite marker at Peace and Justice Plaza, in front of the old post office on Franklin Street, naming nine local activists: Charlotte Adams, Hank Anderson, James Brittian, Joe Herzenberg, Mildred Ringwalt, Hubert Robinson, Joe Straley, Lucy Straley and Gloria Williams. The Town Council had named the plaza in 2006 and set criteria for later honorees. People: James Brittian, Mildred Ringwalt, Hubert Robinson, Joe Straley, Lucy Straley, Gloria Williams, Charlotte AdamsSearch the index · Town of Chapel Hill (Internet Archive copy, October 17, 2020): Peace and Justice Plaza
Places in this person’s story
Buildings, schools, churches and other sites named in the dated events on this page, the most often named first. The map shows them all.
Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Site locations from the N.C. State Historic Preservation Office survey, Open Orange and OpenStreetMap; town and community pins mark the middle of their mapped buildings.
- Chapel Hill Post Office and Peace and Justice Plaza Public buildings and services · Chapel Hill · 3 events here
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Books about Lucy Straley
More catalogs that show where copies are
- Chapel Hill Public Library (opens in a new tab) Public library in Chapel Hill
- Durham County Library (opens in a new tab) Public library next door in Durham
- UNC Libraries (opens in a new tab) University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Duke Libraries (opens in a new tab) Duke University, Durham
- NC Cardinal (opens in a new tab) The State Library of North Carolina and public libraries across the state
Photographs, papers, and newspapers
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Research sources
Additional research sources
Other catalogs to search and local organizations that can help.
- Read contemporary evidence: DigitalNC newspapers: 21 Orange County pages naming Lucy Straley DigitalNC Searchable pages from historic Orange County newspapers
- Search beyond the index: NC LIVE: prepared search for Lucy Straley NC LIVE An advanced search of the state’s shared databases already scoped to Orange County’s places and this subject; edit it freely, and sign in through your North Carolina library to read
- Ask locally: Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection, Orange County Public Library Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection (OCPL) The county library’s local-history room at the Main Library in Hillsborough: books, journals, maps, and microfilm of county records from 1752
- Ask locally: Local History Help Hours and request form OCPL Local History Liaison The library’s Local History Liaison helps in person most Mondays, 12 to 3, at the Main Library, or by the online request form
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