Finding Aid of the Betty Ann Knudsen Papers, PC.1960

[Identification of item], PC.1960, Betty Ann Knudsen Papers, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, NC, USA.

This collection contains a variety of correspondence, conducted through both regular mail and later email, and is related to various political, community, and personal topics. Mrs. Knudsen corresponded often with politicians; though the letters were primarily campaign related, personal notes were often attached to the generic campaign letter. To some extent, personal correspondence was exchanged and touched subjects beyond strict campaign topics. Included in the letters she mailed to various members of the Democratic Party, there is a letter to President Bill Clinton regarding the sex scandal in which he found himself.

The papers also contain various receipts for charitable contributions, political and non-political. The contributions were often of a monetary nature, but include those given in goods and services.

In addition to political letters related to campaigning and holding office, there is correspondence related to the organization she founded, the Royal Order of the Butterflies. Those papers include the poem from which she got the idea for the group.

Correspondence regarding Mrs. Knudsen's own political and community action spanning the 1970s, through the 2000s can be found within the papers. This includes political and community work and things like speaking engagements and workshops she had at various clubs and institutions. Also included in the collection are newspaper clippings and certificates. The newspaper clippings include News and Observer published letters to the editor, and the "People's Forum," as well as a few pieces done on the Knudsens (such as a 50th anniversary spread) and pieces including interviews. The certificates include certificates of appreciation and certificates of completion, as well as those marking more momentous events.

The collection contains within it unbound copies of her book records of her school visits with the butterflies, and letters from students who enjoyed her presentation.

Personal correspondence in the papers includes Christmas letters, notes, cards, and emails. A portion of the primarily generic greeting cards and messages were not retained with the collection. Those included were deemed as relevant because of references to important life events. Examples include condolences related to her mother's passing; her congestive heart failure; the deaths of two of her brothers; and natural disasters. Additionally there is correspondence with her son, Erik, who worked for a period of time in the Middle East, and, after 2001, comments on the political/war situation as viewed from an American in that region.

Arranged by series, then chronologically therein.

Betty Ann Leonard Knudsen (1926- ) was born to Lester Bolton and Nelle Lloyd Leonard. Like her parents, Betty Ann was a Tennessee native. Her early, formative years, however, were spent with her family in Georgia, in the cities of Savannah and Atlanta. As a young student Betty Ann Knudsen wanted to enter Georgia Technical Institute (as did her brothers), and become an architect. During that era women were not admitted to Georgia Tech, so she chose instead the University of Georgia, majored in psychology, and made a life commitment to speak out with courage and conviction. As a Phi Beta Kappa graduate in 1948, and as an early feminist, Betty Ann proved to be a scholar, personality, and voice of distinction.In 1950, Betty Ann married John Peter Knudsen (1926-2009), and the couple would later have three children together, followed by four grandchildren. Family life did not slow her down as she sought political office, fulfilled political duties, and served on various other boards, councils, and associations dealing with state and local issues, political and non-political. When not busy with her own politics (and even after eventually retiring from politics) she actively assisted numerous women in running for office and learning the ropes of politics. Her belief in the leadership abilities of women, as well as a love of butterflies, led her to, in 1976, create an informal group, The Royal Order of the Butterflies, a metaphor for women coming out of secure cocoons, taking risks, and blossoming into positions of personal power and leadership. Initially members were selected by Mrs. Knudsen and included women politicians and non-profit leaders. Each received a butterfly pin and a poem with the message "you can fly, but the cocoon has to go." The idea for the group came to her during the period that she was running as a Democrat and elected to the Wake County Board of Commissioners, 1976. Following that race, she was named commission chair, the first woman to serve in that capacity in Wake County; after four years she was reelected and served through 1984. The lives of Betty Ann and Pete Knudsen were closely intertwined until his death, January 18, 2009. From the start they were mutually supportive of their careers and various commitments. He had begun his professional career as a professor of physics, then as a research scientist who moved eventually into corporate management. From the mid-1950s, Knudsen spent around twenty-five years with Chemstrand, Inc., and its parent company Monsanto, during which time he was awarded 15 U.S. patents.Pete Knudsen and his family were among the first "technology immigrants" to the Research Triangle are when Chemstrand opened its research facility in 1960 in the recently established Research Triangle Park. He retired from his last Monsanto position in 1981 after declining an offered promotion that would have required relocation to the corporate headquarters. This decision was made to support and to remain with his wife, Betty Ann, who at the time was still serving as a Wake County Commissioner. He then became president and CEO of Quline Corp., a Raleigh company engaged in the manufacture of geotextiles for the railroad and construction industries, until that company was sold in 1986. The Knudsen's love of Lepidoptera (an order of insects including moths and butterflies), nature, and ecology led Pete and Betty Ann to move to Costa Rica in 1988, where they lived for the next seven years. Their large collection of native and exotic butterflies was assembled from specimens obtained there (and from other expeditions taken over time to the tropics of Central and South America, Asia, and Africa). While in Costa Rica, the Knudsens trained the locals in farming butterflies for profit so they could make money from the living rainforest, instead of from a cut forest. Back in the states, Mrs. Knudsen wrote a children's riddle book to teach children about butterflies and their life cycles and entitled it She self-published the book for years, selling copies to schools, parks, museums, and individuals. Mrs. Knudsen also commissioned the creation of a DVD about butterflies to sell to schools when it became too much for her to do her butterfly presentation in person. Over many years, the Knudsens, particularly Betty Ann, took their extensive butterfly and moth collection to schools and groups in the community, where they were known to be local experts. The core of the Knudsen's Lepidoptera collection now makes up the Peter and Betty Ann Knudsen Butterfly Exhibit at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh. Much of Betty Ann Knudsen's community and government service has been recognized through various awards, including that of being one of the first inductees into the Raleigh Hall of Fame, 2005. Among her numerous credits at that time, Mrs. Knudsen was said to have been instrumental in the merger of the Raleigh City and Wake County school systems, the implementation of the Capital Area Transit (CAT) system of public transportation, the establishment of a greenway system, the community use of schools, and scattered site strategy for public housing. In 2009, the Democratic Party of Wake County and its auxiliaries honored her with a public "Tribute to Betty Ann Knudsen." The event featured a screening of a DVD entitled . A documentary by filmmaker Vivian Bowman-Edwards, this DVD encapsulated Betty Ann Knudsen's contributions to grassroots politics, community and women's issues. Sources: Biographical information found within the papers, and placed in Box 1, folder 1.Telephone interview: 29 January 2007: Betty Ann Knudsen interviewed by Fran Tracy-Walls.United States Federal Census, 1930.Obituary of John Peter (Pete) Knudsen, Published online after January 18, 2009, by the Cremation Society of North Carolina.

1. Political and Community Action

2. Correspondence: Political,1978-2005

3. Correspondence: Personal,1978-2005

4. Butterflies,1984-2004

Hunt, James B., 1937-

Knudsen, Betty Ann, 1926-

Perdue, Beverly Eaves, 1947-

Betty Ann Knudsen

Democratic Party (N.C.)

Democratic Party (Wake County, N.C.)

North Carolina Center for Public Policy Research.

Democratic party

Butterflies

Governors--North Carolina--Correspondence

Political campaigns

Politicians--North Carolina--Correspondence

Women authors--20th century

Women politicians--North Carolina

Women--Political activity--North Carolina--History--20th century

Women in politics

Board of Commissioners

Butterflies

Costa Rica

Raleigh (N.C.)

Wake County (N.C.)

Wake County (N.C.)

Raleigh (N.C.)

Given by Betty Ann Knudsen. Received April 4, 2006.

Processed by Ariel Wortham, William Peace University Intern, June 2012; additional processing by Fran Tracy-Walls, June 2013

Finding Aid by Ariel Wortham; additional description by Fran Tracy-Walls, 2013, and updates, June 2019