Hope T. Eldridge papers, 1939-1991, bulk 1950-1956

Hope Tisdale Eldridge was born June 18, 1904 in Mobile, Alabama. She received her B.A. in English from Barnard College, where she developed an interest in physical education. After receiving her degree from Barnard she attended the Boston Central School of Hygiene and Physical Education where she trained to become a physical education instructor. Eldridge became a professor of physical education at the Women's College of the University of North Carolina in 1927.

Eldridge held that position until 1938 when she began pursuing a career as a sociologist, both as a research assistant with the sociology department at the University of North Carolina, and through her employment with the North Carolina Works Progress Administration. In 1942 Eldridge took a position with the Census Bureau as a statistician, a post she held until 1947 when she took a position as a statistician for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. In 1950 Eldridge became the editor of the Demographic Yearbook published by the United Nations.

In October of 1952 Eldridge was ordered to appear before the Internal Security Subcommittee of the United States Senate Judiciary Committee where she was interrogated about her political affiliations and those of her associates. She refused to answer questions that may link her of her acquaintances with communist causes, asserting her first and fifth amendment rights. Her refusal to answer these questions led to her dismissal from her position with the United Nations. She and nineteen other applicants petitioned to be reinstated in their positions, a petition that they ultimately won.