During World War II she was active in the war effort, promoting victory gardens across the state and establishing one at the governor's mansion, christening liberty ships including the SS Zebulon B. Vance and the SS Donald W. Bain, and donating rubber to the armed forces.

[1] A member of a prominent Raleigh family, Broughton was privately tutored and received music lessons at home with a German musician.

[1] In order to help her youngest son with the move, Broughton converted one of the rooms on the third floor of the mansion into a clubroom for his Boy Scouts troop.

[1] She commissioned a new silver service for state functions, designed and engraved by silversmiths Fred Starke and Clarence Bowman.

[3] Her portrait, taken by Wynn Richards for the November 1943 issue of Vogue, was the ninth part of a series of costumes created by American designers showcasing First Ladies of various states.

[1] As First Lady, Broughton assisted in the war effort, promoting victory gardens across the state and tending to one at the governor's mansion.

[1][4] Accompanied by a reporter and a photographer from the Raleigh Times, Broughton attempted to donate the rubber to the collection center.

[8] Broughton was one of three wives of former United States Democratic senators from North Carolina who co-chaired the Ladies For Jessie Club, supporting Republican Jesse Helms in his 1972 election and his 1978 re-election.

[10] In the summer of 1946 Broughton and her husband visited Inglis Fletcher at Bandon Plantation in Chowan County after attending a production of The Lost Colony in Manteo.

[1] Upon her husband's death, Broughton moved from Washington, D.C. back to her home in Hayes Barton Historic District, an upper-class neighborhood in western Raleigh.

[1] In April 1951 she attended a joint session of the United States Congress where General Douglas MacArthur gave his farewell address before retiring from military service.

[8] A funeral service was held at Edenton Street United Methodist Church, after which she was buried in Montlawn Memorial Park next to her husband.

[1][8] She had set up trust funds and stock gifts, including interest in the Wake Memorial Association, for her grandchildren.