Mary Mendenhall Hobbs (August 30, 1852 – July 20, 1930), was an American Quaker advocate for women's education, temperance, and suffrage, based in North Carolina. Her campaigning to improve women's education supported the founding of the

University of North Carolina at Greensboro The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG or UNC Greensboro) is a public research university in Greensboro, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina system. UNCG, like all members of the UNC system, is a stand-al ...

in 1891.

Early life and education

Mary Mendenhall was born near

Jamestown, North Carolina Jamestown is a town in Guilford County, North Carolina, Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is a suburb of the nearby cities of Greensboro, North Carolina, Greensboro and High Point, North Carolina, High Point. The population was ...

, one of the five daughters of Nereus and Oriana Wilson Mendenhall. Her family had a long history as Quaker educators; her father was a physician who was principal at

New Garden Friends School Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte and Raleigh, the 69th-most populous city in the Un ...

Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte and Raleigh, the 69th-most populous city in the Un ...

. Mary completed her formal education at Miss Howland's School on

Lake Cayuga Cayuga Lake (,,) is the longest of central New York's glacial Finger Lakes, and is the second largest in surface area (marginally smaller than Seneca Lake) and second largest in volume. It is just under long. Its average width is , and it is ...

Union Springs, New York Union Springs is a village (New York), village in Cayuga County, New York, Cayuga County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 1,197 at the 2010 census. The name is derived from the mineral springs near the village. Union S ...

.Treva W. Mathis
"Mary Mendenhall Hobbs"
in William S. Powell, ed., ''Dictionary of North Carolina Biography'' (University of North Carolina Press 1996).

Adult life

Mary Mendenhall taught for a few years between school and marriage. She married a childhood friend, Quaker educator Lewis Lyndon Hobbs (1849–1932), in 1880. They had five children together. While raising her children, she remained active in the Quaker community, raising money and advocating for girls' education. Her husband became president of

Guilford College Guilford College is a private liberal arts college in Greensboro, North Carolina. Guilford has both traditional students and students who attend its Center for Continuing Education (CCE). Founded in 1837 by members of the Religious Society of ...

in 1888, and she was busy as the president's wife and hostess of campus events, until his retirement from that position in 1915. Mary Mendenhall Hobbs was active in the

Women's Christian Temperance Union The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization, originating among women in the United States Prohibition movement. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program th ...

. She assisted in editing the state chapter's newsletter, ''The Anchor'', and was state superintendent of the organization's "Department of Hygiene and Heredity." She also lectured and wrote in favor of women's suffrage. In 1921, the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

recognized Hobbs' service with an honorary

Doctor of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Doctor ...

degree, "in recognition of her attainments as a scholar and a writer." She was the second woman to be so honored, the first being Cornelia Phillips Spencer.

Death and legacy

She died in 1930, aged 77 years. Her papers are archived as part of the Friends Historical Collection at Guilford College, with further family papers in the

Southern Historical Collection The Southern Historical Collection is a repository of distinct archival collections at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill which document the culture and history of the American South. These collections are made up of unique primary mat ...

in Chapel Hill. There is a Mary Mendenhall Hobbs Residence Hall at Guilford College. Her first-hand descriptions of a girlhood in the South during and after the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, originally published in 1923 as ''Civil War and Reconstruction through the Eyes of Mary Mendenhall Hobbs'',Mary Mendenhall Hobbs
''Civil War and Reconstruction through the Eyes of Mary Mendenhall Hobbs''
(1923). were reissued in 2012 by the North Carolina Friends Historical Society.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hobbs, Mary Mendenhall 1852 births 1930 deaths American educators American Quakers American suffragists American temperance activists People from Jamestown, North Carolina Quaker feminists