Moore, Elizabeth Vann

Elizabeth Vann Moore, daughter of John Augustus Moore, Sr., and Mabel Vann Moore, was born in Henderson, N.C., on February 3, 1912, and died on January 1, 2010, in Edenton, N.C., where she had lived since 1933. She graduated from St. Catherine's School in Richmond, Va.; attended Sweet Briar College in Virginia in 1929; earned a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1933 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and earned a Master of Arts in English in 1938 from Columbia University. Miss Moore taught English at All Saints' School in Vicksburg, Miss., for four years and subsequently at St. Catherine's School in Richmond. During World War II she worked for the American Red Cross at the Edenton Marine Base.

She was well-known for the accuracy of her research in Edenton and Albemarle-Chowan regional history and genealogy. She worked with many local and state groups on historical projects such as the Edenton Historical Commission, from which she received the Lifetime Service Award; Cupola House Association, from which she received the Lifetime Service Award; Historic Edenton Incorporated; Chowan County Courthouse Research Committee; Queen Anne’s Park development committee; Edenton’s Woman’s Club; the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association; North Carolina Federation of Historical Societies; Carolina Tercentenary Committee; America’s 400th Anniversary Committee; Historic Preservation Society of North Carolina; North Carolina Committee for Continuing Education in the Humanities; North Carolina Confederate Centennial Commission; and was a charter member of the North Caroliniana Society, from which she received its annual North Caroliniana Society Award.

She received numerous awards for her work including the Ruth Coltrane Cannon Cup from the Historic Preservation Society of North Carolina, a Certificate of Award from the Daughters of the American Revolution, Woman of the Year from the Edenton Business and Professional Women’s Club, Lifetime Member of Friends of the Library, and Life Patron membership from The Friends of the Archives. For her contributions to the Edenton community, Nov. 20 was declared as Elizabeth Vann Moore Day. This celebration of her passion for historical research is honored with the Elizabeth Vann Moore Biennial Series for Preservation Studies.

Miss Moore wrote several editions of the Guide Book to Historic Edenton and Chowan County, served as consultant to and editor of A Celebration of Faith: 300 Years in the Life of St. Paul's (concerning St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Edenton), and was instrumental in the development of other published works, including Edenton, An Architectural Portrait. She also was the author of unpublished manuscripts on the Edenton Tea Party, and the colonial gardens of Edenton.