This collection contains 7 scrapbooks and one notebook listing articles. It is unclear as to which Peacock created them, as both Dred and Ella had strong ties to the main subjects: Greensboro Female College and Trinity College (now Duke University). The scrapbooks include the Ethel Carr Peacock Memorial bookplate and consists largely of clippings and event programs as they pertain to both colleges. There are also clippings related to topics such as the American Civil War and local news and dignitaries. These volumes are fragile and should be handled with care. The notebook contains a list of newspaper and magazine articles on North Carolina history compiled by Dred Peacock and at least one other individual, possibly Charles Lee Raper.
Dred Peacock was born in Wilson County, North Carolina in 1864 to C. C. Peacock, MD and Eva Heath Peacock. He received the following degrees from Trinity College (Randolph County, N.C.): A. B. (1887), A. M. (1888), Litt. D. (1899). On June 9, 1887, the day of his graduation, he married Ella Carr (born in 1865), daughter of Trinity College professor O. W. Carr. She graduated from Greensboro Female College when she was 18 years old, and her father was a member of its Board of Directors. Dred became a professor at Greensboro Female College in 1888, teaching Latin and German, as well as physics and chemistry. In 1894, he became its President. He served in that role until 1902, when he resigned for health reasons. He continued his relationship with the college by serving its Board with his father-in-law.
During his tenure as President, the Peacock's daughter, Ethel Carr Peacock, died at the age of 6. In her memory, the Peacocks endowed the library at Greensboro Female College, eventually accumulating over 7,000 volumes. When it appeared the College would close due to financial problems, and in accordance with a resolution passed by the College's Board, the Peacocks gifted their library to Trinity College (now in Durham County, N.C.) as the Ethel Carr Peacock Memorial Collection.
Dred Peacock died at Duke Hospital in 1934. Ella Carr Peacock died in 1947. Both are interred in the Trinity Cemetery (Trinity, N.C.).
Processed by Kimberly Sims, January 2012
Encoded by Kimberly Sims, February 2012
Updated by Tracy M. Jackson, January 2016 (addition of Scrapbook 7)
Accession UA2012-0036 is described in this finding aid.
