Lily Morehead Mebane

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Lily Morehead Mebane
LilyMoreheadMebane1921.tif
Lily Morehead Mebane, from a 1921 publication. She dressed in traditional Romanian embroidered fabrics, during her time as a relief worker based at Bucharest.
Member of the
North Carolina House of Representatives
from Rockingham County[1][2]
In office
1931–1935
Serving with Hugh Nelson Binford
Preceded byPrice Henderson Gwynn
William B. Wray[3]
Succeeded byHarry R. Lindsey
Thomas Clarence Stone[4]
Personal details
Born(1869-08-13)August 13, 1869
Spray, North Carolina, U.S.
DiedJune 15, 1943(1943-06-15) (aged 73)
Spouse(s)
Benjamin Franklin "Frank" Mebane Jr.
​
​
(m. 1893; died 1926)​
Parent(s)
  • James Turner Morehead (father)
RelativesJohn Motley Morehead III (brother)
Alma materPeace College

Lily Connally Morehead Mebane (August 13, 1869 – June 15, 1943) was an American relief worker during World War I who was decorated by France and Serbia for her work. She later served in the North Carolina state legislature for two terms, in the 1930s.

Early life[]

Lily Connally Morehead was born in Spray, North Carolina, the daughter of James Turner Morehead and Mary Lily Connally Morehead. Her father, a textile manufacturer, was a veteran of the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. Her grandfather, John Motley Morehead, was governor of North Carolina. Her younger brother, John Motley Morehead III, was a founder of Union Carbide and the United States Ambassador to Sweden in the early 1930s.[5]

Lily Morehead attended Peace College (now William Peace University), a Presbyterian girls' school in Raleigh, North Carolina.[6]

Career[]

After World War I, Lily Morehead Mebane worked in Romania with the Committee for Devastated France, and in her work met Marie of Romania.[7] Queen Marie of Romania gave Mebane a traditional embroidered "peasant" costume from her personal collection. "The queen deeply deplored the loss of the exquisitely spun fabrics, the bright-hued embroideries and the other hand work that was peculiarly the work of the Roumanian peasants," she wrote of their acquaintance and a friendship began that lasted until the Queen's death in 1938.[8] She was awarded the Cross of Mercy by the King of Serbia for her relief work.[9] She also received a medal of honor from the French government after the war.[10]

Mebane and her husband were registered members of the Conference for Education in the South.[11] In 1930 she organized the first public library in Rockingham County.[12] In 1930, she was considered the "first woman ever to seek public office in Rockingham County" when she filed as a candidate.[13] In 1931, Lily Morehead Mebane was elected to the North Carolina state legislature. She served two terms, after being re-elected in 1933, and chaired the Committee on Public Welfare in the state house of representatives.[14]

Personal life[]

Lily Morehead married Benjamin Franklin "Frank" Mebane Jr. in 1893. Frank Mebane was a textile industry executive with her father. She was widowed when Frank died suddenly in 1926.[15][16] She died in 1943, aged 74 years.[17] Her diary and other notes are archived in the Morehead-Mebane Collection at Rockingham Community College, which also holds a parasol belonging to Lily Morehead Mebane.[18] Ten years after her death, Rockingham County celebrated "Lily Morehead Mebane Day" to recognize her founding of the county library system.[19]

The Morehead-Mebane House in Eden, North Carolina, named "As You Like It", was razed following a fire in the 1970s.[20] There is a stained-glass window at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Eden, given by Lily Morehead Mebane in memory of her mother.[21]

References[]

  1. ^ "North Carolina State House of Representatives - 1931".
  2. ^ "North Carolina State House of Representatives - 1933".
  3. ^ "North Carolina State House of Representatives - 1929".
  4. ^ "North Carolina State House of Representatives - 1935-1936".
  5. ^ "Minister to Sweden?" Mason City Globe Gazette (March 9, 1933): 18. via Newspapers.comopen access
  6. ^ About page, William Peace University.
  7. ^ "Tells of Visit to Queen Marie" News & Observer (November 13, 1922): 7. via Newspapers.comopen access
  8. ^ Betty Shannon, "A Royal Business Woman" Independent Woman Magazine (June 1921): 18-19.
  9. ^ "Mrs. B. F. Mebane Wins Decoration" The Bee (March 14, 1922): 1. via Newspapers.comopen access
  10. ^ "Mrs. B. F. Mebane is Decorated" The Danbury Reporter (February 7, 1923): 6. via Newspapers.comopen access
  11. ^ Proceedings of the Eighth Conference for Education in the South (1905): 256.
  12. ^ Rachel Wright, "Underfunding Libraries Hurts Our County's Image, Future" News & Record (May 25, 2005).
  13. ^ "Woman Seeks Seat in N. C. Assembly" Index Journal (April 13, 1930): 1. via Newspapers.comopen access
  14. ^ Dolley, Aurora (1961-02-03). "Women's Entry into Politics Posing a Debatable Problem". The High Point Enterprise. p. 4. Retrieved 2019-09-28 – via Newspapers.com.open access
  15. ^ Brenda Marks Eagles, "Benjamin Franklin Mebane Jr." in William S. Powell, Dictionary of North Carolina Biography (UNC Press 1991).
  16. ^ "Col. Mebane Dies in N. Y." The Bee (June 15, 1926): 1. via Newspapers.comopen access
  17. ^ "Mrs. B. Frank Mebane" New York Times (June 16, 1943): 21.
  18. ^ Morehead-Mebane Collection, Rockingham County Historical Collections, Rockingham Community College, Gerald B. James Library.
  19. ^ "Rockingham County to Hold Observance Honoring Mrs. Mebane" The Bee (February 12, 1953): 22. via Newspapers.comopen access
  20. ^ South Elevation, Morehead-Mebane House, Historic Architecture Research. Project Records (UA110.041), Special Collections Research Center at NCSU Libraries.
  21. ^ Resurrection window, St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Eden, North Carolina.

External links[]

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