Interview with Dolores Delahanty, June 4, 2013

Interview Summary

Dolores Delahanty tells how she became involved in the National Student Association while attending college, and how she met her husband through this organization. She also briefly mentions her father's involvement in unions, and how this, and her husband's interests, contributed to her own interest in advocacy. Delahanty tells how her husband, Robert Delahanty, came to be involved in the Anne and Carl Braden sedition case soon after the couple moved to Louisville.

Delahanty tells how she developed an interest in women's rights, and shares some of the ways that she has been discriminated against as a woman. Delahanty discusses feminism in the 1970's, naming prominent works, authors, and other women of note. Delahanty discusses some of her work with the Kentucky Women's Political Caucus.

Delahanty discusses her involvement in several political campaigns, and shares what it was like to be a part of a political campaign before social media and other means of mass communication. Delahanty discusses her campaign for County Commissioner of Louisville, and how push polls are sometimes used to slander rival candidates. Delahanty discusses the small number of female politicians in Kentucky, though she states there are more female judges than other types of public officials. She also talks about former governor Martha Layne Collins, and states that she feels women are not being prepared for higher office.

Delahanty shares her experiences as a part of the civil rights march on Frankfort, Kentucky in 1964. She also talks about other demonstrations she has been a part of. Delahanty discusses the work she did with single mothers in Louisville as a family service consultant, and tells how these mothers became involved in organizations such as the National Welfare Rights Organization. Delahanty discusses the possibility of there being a female president of the United States. She states that she feels the US lags behind other first world countries in women's rights, and mentions several important women in modern politics, including a few moderate Republicans.

Interview Keyword

Democracy--United States Louisville (Ky.) Race discrimination

Interview LC Subject

Braden, Anne, 1924-2006 Braden, Carl, 1914-1975 Feminism Political campaigns Politicians Sex discrimination against women Sexism Women's rights

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Interview Usage

Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.