The University of North Carolina has catalogued,
to date, about 3 dozen plants collected by Eloise Wicker Knight. Most were
collected in the Chapel Hill area during her undergraduate days and are
signed "Eloise Wicker." A few were collected in Moore County, North
Carolina, where her parents lived. Her father, Rassie
Everton Wicker, collected plant specimens that are held by NCU.
Eloise Wicker was born on 21 September 1922 to Dolly Loving and Rassie
Everton Wicker in Pinehurst, Moore County, North Carolina. She attended
Woman's College in Greensboro, NC (now University of North Carolina at
Greensboro) for two years, then transferred to the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill. She graduated with a B.S. in botany from the UNC-CH
in 1943.
Until 1951, very few women -- and only those
from local families -- were allowed to attend the university as freshmen and
sophomores. The policy wasn't steadfast; it had been removed and reinstated
several times. By 1963, women were free to apply to all departments as
freshmen and sophomores, but they had to abide by many rules regarding
visitation and curfews that did not apply to men. (2)
Eloise Wicker worked in the University of North Carolina Herbarium 1943 -
1944, then earned her teaching certificate from Appalachian State University
in Boone, NC, She returned to Pinehurst and taught in the public school
system for eight years.
On 16 September 1950 Eloise Wicker married Richard
Knight (b. 1919), who earned his degree in Pharmacy from UNC in 1951. The
Knights had two sons and one daughter. Alan Wicker Knight (b. 1958), Kevin
Richard Knight, and Mary Knight O'Donnell (b. 1964).
Like her father, Eloise Wicker Knight was interested in geneology and local
history. She was a charter member of the Moore County Geneological Society,
and served for 15 years as the co-historian of the Community Presbyterian
Church in Pinehurst.
Eloise Wicker Knight and Richard Knight have
been generous supporters of the UNC School of Pharmacy, the University of
North Carolina Herbarium, and the Coker Arboretum.
SOURCES
1.
http://archives.thepilot.com/Obituaries/2004/ob050504Knight.html accessed on
27 August 2007
2. http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/oct97/100.html accessed on 27 August 2007
