Oral history with Mrs. Leila Lyle Wilkinson Underhill

              Oral history with Mrs. Leila Lyle Wilkinson Underhill
F341.5 . M57 vol. 748, pt. 2
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Biography
Born in Shelby, Mississippi, on July 29, 1919, to William Thomas Wilkinson and Leila Lyle Martin Wilkinson, Mrs. Leila Lyle Wilkinson Underhill was one of four siblings in a family who has lived in Bolivar County for eight generations. When she was growing up, her father owned a general store, and they lived beside the Mississippi River in Gunnison, Mississippi. Her childhood was a happy one even though she was living during the Great Depression. Her family never lacked food; she attended learning- to- dance parties, and was a member of the Cotillion Club. During the flood of 1927, she remembers her father driving on the railroad track to get a look at the flood waters. During World War II, Mrs. Underhill's brother was killed, and every family in her community lost loved ones, as well.
Mrs. Underhill earned her B. S. from Delta State Teachers College from which she was graduated in 1940. From 1940 to 1943 she taught school in Drew, Mississippi; from 1943 to 1944, she taught school in Benoit; from 1948 to 1949 she taught school in Greenville. She earned her master's degree at Mississippi State and taught in Tupelo and Cleveland, Mississippi. In 1967, she became a mathematics instructor at Delta State University where she taught until her retirement in 1983.
In 1938 and 1939, Mrs. Underhill was vice president of the State Methodist Student Conference, and in 1939 and 1940, she was president. She is currently a member of First United Methodist Church. Her major interests are the DAR, DSU Alumni, DSU Golden Fifties of which she was the first president, and the Wesley Foundation. She is an avid fan of Delta State University sports as is evident by her record of attendance at DSU Homecoming; she has not missed Homecoming since she was graduated in 1940.
On April 19, 1944, she married George Aubrey Underhill, in Gunnison, Mississippi.
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