(Edward) Cecil Tarpley was born August 5, 1902 in Kettle Mills, Tennessee. The family moved to Shelbyville, Tennessee where he attended Dixon Academy, then to Franklin, Kentucky in 1911. In Franklin, Cecil's father, Edward, operated a buggy business which he later converted to a wholesale grocery business.
Tarpley attended the University of Kentucky from 1921-1926 and studied industrial chemistry (chemical engineering). He was active in R.O.T.C. and worked his way through school as a cashier at the university's cafeteria. He met Elizabeth Miller at U.K. and they married in 1927, after which he accepted a position in Pittsburgh conducting chemical testing for the Pennsylvania Railroads. He later worked for the Pittsburgh Bureau of Mines Mining Research Center until his retirement in 1967 and move to St. Petersburg, Florida. Cecil Tarpley died at the age of 90 on January 29, 1993 in Auburn, Alabama.
The Cecil Tarpley and Elizabeth Miller papers include materials documenting their lives from 1921-1993. The bulk of the materials relate to Cecil Tarpley, and date from 1921-1926, the years in which he attended the University of Kentucky.
Elizabeth Miller was born September 6, 1902 in Paducah, Kentucky. She worked at the salad counter in the same university cafeteria as Cecil Tarpley. She received her intermediate certificate through the College of Education in 1926, which entitled her to teach in Kentucky public schools. Tarpley and Miller had one child, Martha Ann. Elizabeth Miller died April 21, 1987 at the age of 84 in St. Petersburg, Florida.
From the description of Cecil Tarpley and Elizabeth Miller papers. (University of Kentucky Libraries). WorldCat record id: 317568404
