Dates

• Existence: 1901 - 1991

Biography

Lillian Cecile Moore was born in Rock Island, Illinois on August 22, 1901 to Altheda Jones Moore and William Henry Moore. Moore grew up in Estherville, Iowa and graduated from Estherville High School before continuing her education at Grandview College and Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. She later received her master's degree from the University of Minnesota. Lillian Moore married Emmitt Thomas Scales on January 26. 1921. The couple had two children, Emmitt, Jr. and Martha. The family moved to Des Moines, Iowa in 1928, where Lillian Moore Scales continued to reside until her death, except for a brief interlude to Minnesota, from 1985 to 1991.

While in Des Moines, Scales was employed in the Grandview College Library and served as a substitute teacher in many Catholic schools in the area. She retired as a school psychologist who began her career as a home economics teacher. Scales was very active in the African-American community in Des Moines, Iowa. Scales' activities included the Blue Triangle Branch of the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), the Des Moines City Federation of Colored Women, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. She was also an active member of Visitation Catholic Church, and the Kappa Alpha Psi Silhouettes.

She died on December 23, 1991 at the Riverview Care Center in Des Moines, Iowa at the age of ninety.

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