Mary Yarbrough Papers Circa 1850-2005

Mary Elizabeth Yarbrough (1904-1984) was one of the first women to receive a graduate degree (M.S. in chemistry, 1927) from North Carolina State College (later North Carolina State University). Mary Yarbrough served on the faculty of Meredith College for many years (1929-1972). In 1941 she received a Ph.D. and Phi Beta Kappa key at Duke University. At Meredith College she headed the chemistry and physics department, and she became an assistant director of the cooperative education program.

Yarbrough was the daughter of Louis T. Yarbrough, who belonged to the first graduating class (1893) from the university. On her mother's side she was the granddaughter of Andrew Jackson Ellis, who owned property near the university and was well known to the college's early faculty and students.

The Mary Yarbrough Papers (circa 1850-2005) contain 24.5 linear feet of correspondence, photographs, publications, music books, news clippings, photocopies, and artifacts. Most of these materials document Yarbrough's life and career, as well as her family history.

The collection contains a significant number of family albums and photographs dating back to the mid-nineteenth century. The books and sheet music (including music books) were part of Yarbrough's collection. The artifacts were part of Yarbrough's family collection, and they include a desk (originally from Holladay Hall on the NC State University campus), a nineteenth century table clock, and numerous pieces of silverplate (candelabra, bowls, serving utensils, etc.). This collection also includes files created by Doris E. King that contain research on Mary Yarbrough.

The photographs, artifacts, family history files, and correspondence were left to Doris E. King according to the will of Mary Yarbrough. Doris King's research files on Yarbrough were created mainly after Yarbrough's death in 1984. In 2015 the entire collection was left to North Carolina State University by the will of Doris E. King.

Materials arranged in the order received. This collection has not yet received full archival processing.

The nature of the NC State University Libraries' Special Collections means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The NC State University Libraries claims only physical ownership of most Special Collections materials.

The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.

This collection may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which North Carolina State University assumes no responsibility.

[Identification of item], Mary Yarbrough Papers, MC 00552, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC

Doris Elizabeth King Papers (MC 00551)

A collection of documents from Mary Yarbrough also exists at the College Archives at Meredith College.

Bequest of Doris E. King, 2015 (Accession 2015.0075)

Processed by: Todd Kosmerick, 2015 April; machine-readable finding aid by: Todd Kosmerick, 2015 April.