Laura Marie Leary

Laura Marie Leary (married name, Elliott), of Vanceboro, Craven County, North Carolina, was the first full-time African-American student to attend East Carolina University. Born Laura Marie Leary, Elliott graduated high school as valedictorian of her class at Pitt County Training School in Calico, NC. An excellent student, Elliot hoped to attend college with one of her older siblings. Unbeknownst to her, she had been chosen for a different path.

Hand selected by Dr. Leo Jenkins and local pediatrician Dr. Andrew Best, she enrolled at East Carolina in the fall of 1962 and attended East Carolina as the only African-American student her first year. Her freshman year, Elliot lived off-campus, first with a local minister and later with her aunt and uncle. She moved into Ragsdale Hall the following year, though she did not share her dorm room. The student assigned to be her roommate requested a transfer. Elliot did not attend sporting events, spend time in the student union, or eat with other groups of students.

A year after her arrival, she was joined by sixteen other African-American students including Vincent Colbert, Bennie Teel, and Paul D. Scott. Years later, she reminisced that the other students regarded the trailblazing Elliot as a “mother hen,” which she found humorous because of the fear she experienced. Originally interested in nursing, Elliot earned her B.S. in business administration in 1966, making her ECU’s first African-American graduate and the university’s first black alumna.

After graduation, Elliott moved to Windsor in Bertie County to teach. She relocated to Washington, D.C. in 1968 and found an auditing position with the U.S. Department of Justice. She met her husband, Allen R. Elliott (1945-2010) after joining a bowling league the following year. The couple married in February 1971, approximately three months after their first date. The Elliotts raised two children, Reginald Allen Elliott and Rachel Marie Elliott. In 2006, Elliot retired as a senior accountant from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, where she had worked since 1987.

Elliott was recognized during ECU’s 2012 homecoming football game. During her visit to campus, she spoke with other alumni and took part in the Homecoming parade. Elliott passed away on Monday, May 6, 2013. She was survived by her two children, her granddaughter, and eight brothers and sisters.

Sources

• Laura Marie Elliott Leary Oral History, https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/61825

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