Engstrom, Mary Claire, 1906-1997

Mary Claire Engstrom served as chair of the Historic Hillsborough Commission, Hillsborough, N.C., from 1964 to 1966 and 1976 to 1983.

Mary Claire Randolph Engstrom is best known for the active role she played in the preservation of historic Hillsborough, N.C. Born in Kansas City, Mo., she moved to Chapel Hill to attend the University of North Carolina, earning a Ph.D. in English literature in 1939. In 1959, after she and her husband, Alfred G. Engstrom, professor of French at the university, purchased the historic Nash-Hooper house in Hillsborough, she began to focus on the historical documentation of Hillsborough and its environs. In addition to writing numerous articles on local history, she was instrumental in founding the Hillsborough Historical Society in 1963. She also served as chair of the Historic Hillsborough Commission, 1964-1966 and 1976-1983. Engstrom undertook a major project to document 122 old structures and historic sites in the Hillsborough area for the Historic American Buildings Survey, 1963-1965. Her research helped many of these buildings qualify for listing in the National Register of Historic Places, including the Nash-Hooper House as a National Historic Landmark. It also helped establish two historic districts in Hillsborough and resulted in the restoration of many buildings. Other major documentation projects included a survey of cemeteries and graves in Orange County and a survey of the whole of Orange County for an historical map.

Mary Claire Engstrom (1906-1997), daughter of Lester L. Randolph and Florence Alberta Toynbee Randolph of Kansas City, Mo., served as chair of the Historic Hillsborough Commission, Hillsborough, N.C., 1963-1983, in addition to acting in an official capacity for other Orange County, N.C., historic groups. She received her Ph.D. in 18th-century English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and did postdoctoral research at Harvard and Yale, specializing in 18th-century satire. She was married to Alfred Garvin Engstrom (1907-1990), Distinguished Alumni Professor of French at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Mary Claire Engstrom was born in 1906 in Kansas City, Mo., and moved to Chapel Hill, N.C., to attend the University of North Carolina, earning her Ph.D. in English literature in 1939. After she and her husband, Alfred G. Engstrom, who taught French at the university, purchased the historic Nash-Hooper house in Hillsborough, N.C., she began to focus on the historical documentation of Hillsborough and its environs. She was instrumental in founding the Hillsborough Historical Society in 1963 and served as chair of the Historic Hillsborough Commission, 1964-1966 and 1976-1983. She undertook a project documenting 122 old structures and historic sites in and around Hillsborough and Orange County for the Historic American Buildings Survey, 1963-1965. Her research and documentation helped many of these buildings qualify for listing in the National Register of Historic Places, including the Nash-Hooper House as a National Historic Landmark. She was also involved in a survey of cemeteries and graves in Orange County. Engstrom lived in Hillsborough and continued her historical research until her death in 1997.