Lily Morehead Mebane

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.

Lily Morehead Mebane
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)​
FatherJames Turner Morehead
RelativesJohn Motley Morehead III (brother)
Alma materPeace College

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. https://www.carolana.com/NC/1900s/nc_1900s_house_1931.html
  2. https://www.carolana.com/NC/1900s/nc_1900s_house_1933.html
  3. https://www.carolana.com/NC/1900s/nc_1900s_house_1929.html
  4. https://www.carolana.com/NC/1900s/nc_1900s_house_1935-1936.html
  5. "Minister to Sweden?" Mason City Globe Gazette (March 9, 1933): 18. via Newspapers.com
  6. About page, William Peace University.
  7. "Tells of Visit to Queen Marie" News & Observer (November 13, 1922): 7. via Newspapers.com
  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.com
  10. "Mrs. B. F. Mebane is Decorated" The Danbury Reporter (February 7, 1923): 6. via Newspapers.com
  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.com
  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.
  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.com
  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.com
  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.
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