Carroll McCarty Gundersen '24

Alumnae Achievement Awards 1975

Political Activist, League of Women Voters

Carroll McCarty Gundersen, a political activist and community organizer, graduated from Wellesley College, Phi Beta Kappa, in 1924. Even while at Wellesley, Gundersen was always active. She was a member of the Shakespeare Society, president of the sophomore class, and college government president.

After traveling to Europe in 1939, Gundersen felt an obligation to promote political awareness in the United States. She joined the League of Women Voters in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, and in over three decades of service, she had been local league president (1944-1948), Wisconsin state league president (1952-1954), director of the national board (1954-1960), chairman of the league’s education fund (1960-1968), and national chairman of the 50th anniversary fund drive (1968-1972).

Carroll Gundersen’s other community work included volunteering for the president’s White House Safety Council, the governor’s Citizens Committee on Public School Education, where she worked to increase citizen education and political effectiveness in students, and the governor’s U.N. Day Committee. She was awarded the titles of Man of the Year by the LaCrosse Chamber of Commerce in 1949 and Wisconsin Woman of the Year in 1968.

Gundersen served as a Wellesley College trustee for six years. She died in 1989, leaving behind a son and two daughters who both attended Wellesley.