(1870-1960)
« return to database listHope Summerell attended the Nash & Kollock School in 1884. She was an author later in her life, writing histories of North Carolina and musing on southern life in Salisbury during the nineteenth century. Hope was also the granddaughter of Elisha Mitchelll for whom Mount Mitchell was named.
G. Hope Summerell was born in Salisbury, NC in 1870. She went by her middle name, Hope, her entire life. Hope was the youngest child of Ellen Mitchell and J. J. Summerell; her father was a physician in Rowan County, and her mother was from an old New England family dating back to pre-colonial times. Hope’s maternal grandfather,Elisha Mitchell, was a well known professor at UNC as well as a geologist and the namesake of Mount Mitchell.
Hope Summerell attended the Nash & Kollock School at age 14 in 1884 before pursuing literature and language studies at Augusta Female Seminary in Staunton, Virginia. The death of Hope’s mother prevented her from continuing her studies further.
In 1891, Hope married Joseph Redington Chamberlain, a professor at the North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. He was a graduate from Cornell. After marrying Hope, Joseph accepted a position with a fertilizer manufacturing company and later became president of said company. Together the couple had four children: Mary Mitchell Charmberlain Moore, Jesse Mark, John Summerell, and Joseph Redington Jr.
Hope Summerell Chamberlain held many administrative jobs in the civic world of Wake County. She worked on the Council of Defense during WWI, as food administrator of Wake County, and as the adviser of students at Pegram Hall at Duke. Mrs. Chamberlain later retired in Chapel Hill where she began her writing career, publishing three volumes of history and reminiscences on southern life in the nineteenth century.
During her retired life, Hope took up a great deal of civic duties. She served on a number of boards for various women’s clubs and societies, was the vice-president of the NC Literary and Historical Association for a time, and sewed for the Red Cross during WWII. Mrs. Chamberlain was a dedicated student of literature as well as a practicing artist; she did all the illustrations for her books, and enjoyed oil painting, hooking rugs, process-etching, and other artistic pursuits.
Hope Chamberlain passed away in Chapel Hill and was buried with her late husband in Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh [1].
Hope G. Summerell was born on June 21, 1870, in Salisbury, NC. She died on May 23, 1960, and was buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Raleigh, NC.
[2], Mary Mitchell [2] and Margaret Eliot Mitchell [2].