Quick Facts
Biography
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.
Lily Morehead attended Peace College (now William Peace University), a Presbyterian girls' school in Raleigh, North Carolina.
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. The queen 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. She was awarded the Cross of Mercy by the King of Serbia for her relief work. She also received a medal of honor from the French government after the war.
Mebane and her husband were registered members of the Conference for Education in the South. In 1930 she organized the first public library in Rockingham County. In 1930, she was considered the "first woman ever to seek public office in Rockingham County" when she filed as a candidate. 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.
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. She died in 1943, aged 74 years. 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. Ten years after her death, Rockingham County celebrated "Lily Morehead Mebane Day" to recognize her founding of the county library system.
The Morehead-Mebane House in Eden, North Carolina, named "As You Like It", was razed following a fire in the 1970s. There is a stained-glass window at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Eden, given by Lily Morehead Mebane in memory of her mother.