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. The collection contains over 2,000 images created or collected by Mary Claire Engstrom, 1930-1979, documenting the Hillsborough and Orange County, N.C., area. There are images of historic individuals and families, including Governor Abner Nash; Governor William A. Graham; William Hooper, signer of the Declaration of Independence; and Thomas Ruffin, chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. There are also images of historically significant homes, churches, and other locations, including the Bingham School; the Alexander Dickson House, used as a headquarters during the Civil War; the Hillsboro' Military Academy; the Nash-Hooper-Graham House, home of William Hooper; and the Nash-Kollock School. Also included are images of cemeteries, among them the Chapel Hill Memorial Cemetery, the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery, the Hillsborough Cemetery, the Hillsborough Old Town Cemetery, the West Hillsborough Cemetery, and church and family cemeteries.
