Biographical Text
Professor Emerita of Elementary Education Grace Greene Lilly (January 6, 1912 -), retired college professor, was born in Ronda, North Carolina, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. G.C. Greene. Mrs. Lilly spent her childhood in Wilkes County with her four brothers and one sister, and graduated from the local high school there in 1929. Lilly attended Tennessee Wesleyan College from 1929-1931 before transferring to Appalachian State Teachers College (now Appalachian State University) in 1932. She received her B.S. degree in both English and French in 1936. While at Appalachian she was active in debating and in oratory, having won first place in the Southern Conference speech tournament in 1936 for oratory and for after-dinner speaking. Lilly went back to college in 1939 attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Through summer study, she earned the M.A. degree in English by 1944. Her academic training in reading was pursued additionally during various summers at the University of Chicago, the University of Syracuse, and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. In 1931, Lilly began teaching elementary school children (3rd, 4th and 5th grades) at Clingman Elementary School in Ronda, North Carolina and in 1933 began teaching the primary grades (1st, 2nd and 3rd) at Cranberry Elementary School, also in Wilkes County. After her graduation from Appalachian in the spring of 1936, she accepted her first high school teaching position at Lansing High School, North Carolina where she taught for a year. In 1937-38 she taught English and French at Mountain View High School, Wilkes County. From there, she went to Monticello High School in Guilford County and taught English and French for three years. From 1941 to 1944, Lilly taught 12th grade English and French at New Hanover High School in Wilmington, North Carolina. A break in her career occurred when, in 1944, she was married to Henry T. Lilly. This event she has described as "the greatest thing that ever happened" to her. Henry Lilly served as professor of English at Davidson College from 1926 until his retirement. In 1950, Mrs. Lilly became the director of the reading laboratory at Davidson College. She worked there for seventeen years before moving to Boone, along with her husband, to take a position as assistant professor in the Department of Reading Education at Appalachian State University in 1967. After one year Mrs. Lilly transferred to the Department of Elementary Education. During the last four years of her tenure, beginning in 1973, she served as chairman of that department. She was promoted to full professor at the beginning of her last year of teaching. At ASU Lilly served on the Psychology Advisory Board, the Administrative Council of the College of Learning and Human Development, the Committee on Student Teaching (Ad Hoc), and the Field Advisory Council. Grace Lilly was also a member of the North Carolina Association of Educators, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Association of Childhood Education International, Early Kindergarten and Nursery Education, National Council of Teachers of English, American Association of University Women, Phi Delta Kappa and Phi Delta Gamma. Grace Lilly received the Trustees' Award for Outstanding Teaching for the 1971-1972 academic year at Appalachian State University. Mrs. Lilly was listed in the 1972 edition of Who's Who in American Education. After ten years of service to the University, Grace Lilly retired on June 30, 1977. In her retirement years she is living at her home in Davidson, North Carolina. Sources: Appalachian State University files and personal correspondence. - Dr. Richard D. Howe and Miss J. Beth Carlton
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