The Life of LAURA COWLES SELF TALLY
Laura Cowles Self Tally (December 9, 1921 – August 28, 2012) was a politician and educator from North Carolina, who served five terms in the North Carolina House of Representatives and six terms in the North Carolina Senate. She was a graduate of Duke University and holds a Master’s degree from North Carolina State University. The Laura S. Tally Center for Leadership Development is based at Methodist University in Fayetteville, NC.
Laura Self was born in Statesville, North Carolina to Robert Ottis and Sarah Cowles Self on December 9, 1921, and she grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina. She attended Peace College for two years before transferring to Duke University, where she graduated with a degree in English in 1942. While at Duke, she met her future husband, J.O. Tally, Jr. of Fayetteville, NC, who would go onto become that city's mayor.
After raising two sons, she returned to school at N.C. State University, where she received a Master’s degree in Education. In 1972, she ran for a seat in the North Carolina General Assembly, and she became the first woman ever elected from Cumberland County. After five terms in the House, she ran for N.C. Senate in 1982. She served in the Senate for 12 years, serving as the Chair of the Education Committee and the Committee on the Environment. She retired from the legislature in 1994, as the longest-serving female legislator in state history. Tally continued to serve the state at the N.C. Museum of Natural History until 2003. Methodist University honored Senator Tally by naming its Center for Leadership Development after her.