Poet and actor Elmer Nelson Modlin was born on 25 January 1925 in Belhaven, N.C., the son of Queenie Mae Martin and Elmer Nelson Modlin (b. 1904). He attended the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, 1942-1943 and 1946-1950. Margaret Marley Modlin (1927-1998) was born on 5 January 1927 in North Carolina. She attended Peace College in Raleigh, N.C., 1944-1946; received an A.B. from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, 1948; studied at the Los Angles County Art Institute, 1954-1958; and pursued post-graduate studies at Immaculate Heart College, Los Angeles, 1958-1961.
Margaret M. Modlin's paintings and drawings have been exhibited in California, New York, Italy, and Spain. In 1972, she exhibited at Galeria de Luis in Madrid, Spain, and, in 1978, at the Circulo de Bellas Artes, the first foreigner invited to exhibit.
Elmer and Margaret Modlin were married on 20 August 1949. They had one son, Nelson, who was born in 1952. They moved to Madrid, Spain, in 1970.
From the guide to the Elmer N. and Margaret M. Modlin Papers (#4977), 1987, 1996, (Southern Historical Collection)
