William Gilmore "Bill" Enloe (June 15, 1902 – November 22, 1972) was an American businessman and politician who served as the Mayor of Raleigh, North Carolina from 1957 to 1963.

Considered a moderate on civil rights, Enloe criticized black demonstrators and resisted efforts to integrate the theaters he managed, but he eventually compromised and appointed a committee to oversee the desegregation of Raleigh businesses.

[7] In the spring of 1956 he was appointed to chair the "Let's Talk Sense Fund" to raise money for Adlai Stevenson II's presidential campaign.

A United Press International report brought the event national attention, and Enloe received letters from across the country both praising and criticizing the council's action.

[3] In January 1963 he declared with "mixed emotions" that he would not seek reelection to the city council in May and thus not continue to serve in his "strenuous and time-consuming" role as Mayor.

[16] In the spring of 1963 he led a successful lobbying effort in the North Carolina House of Representatives to defeat a bill that would require the state to observe daylight saving time.

In response, Enloe convened an extraordinary session of the City Council to consider an ordinance that imposed restrictions on picketing, commenting that some demonstrators had been blocking the sidewalks in the downtown.

[28] Enloe, wanting to "avoid another Birmingham", appointed a biracial "Committee of One Hundred" to resolve the city's civil rights issues.

[30] Among the targets of some anti-segregation demonstrators were cinemas owned by North Carolina Theatres, which were designed to accommodate Jim Crow-era segregation with separate seating arrangements.

The decision generated criticism from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and from historian Timothy Tyson, who emphasized that desegregation had been achieved with much difficulty in Raleigh and cited Enloe's statement on the participants in the Greensboro sit-ins as evidence.

The editorial board of The News & Observer, Raleigh's daily newspaper, called the label "entirely unfair," reasoning that "[t]he mayor declined to get out too far ahead of his white constituents as attitudes and practices evolved, but he did his part to facilitate change."

The editors also stated that Enloe "was just the sort of moderate leader who helped the city navigate those treacherous times, when the push for integrated public facilities came to shove.

"[40] Historian Jim Leloudis characterized Enloe as a "moderate" who, though having to be pressured to implement integration, abstained from using strict measures to control civil rights protesters.

[38] Margiotta subsequently asked another member of the school board, John Todesco, to research Enloe's stances on civil rights.

[41] Meanwhile, several Enloe High School students and alumni who disapproved of the board proposal created a Facebook group that opposed a name change, garnering the support of over 800 people.