Eliza Hall Nutt Parsley

Eliza Hall "Hallie" Nutt Parsley (August 13, 1842 – June 11, 1920) was an American civic leader and educator. She worked as a school teacher after the American Civil War and established her own school for children in Wilmington, North Carolina, in 1894, four years before the Wilmington massacre. A war widow, she was active in glorifying the Confederacy through her role as a member of the Ladies' Memorial Association, raising money to build Confederate monuments in North Carolina. Parsley became a prominent figure within the United Daughters of the Confederacy, establishing the Cape Fear Chapter in 1894 and the North Carolina Division in 1897. She served as president of the North Carolina Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy for two years, travelling across North Carolina to recruit new members and promote the pseudohistorical narrative of the Lost Cause of the Confederacy. Under her leadership, in 1898, the Cape Fear chapter established the Cape Fear Museum of History and Science.

Early life and family Parsley was born Eliza Hall Nutt in Wilmington, North Carolina on August 13, 1842, to Henry Nutt and Louise Frink Nutt. She was educated at St. Mary's School in Raleigh.

Parsley and her daughters took refuge at Sleepy Hollow in Bladen County and at Floral College in Robeson County. She was appointed as the chairwoman of a committee tasked with inquiring about the purpose of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, and received information, a charter, and authority to establish units in North Carolina from the original chapter in Nashville, Tennessee. The charter was granted and organized with over fifty members. In December 1894, Parsley organized the Cape Fear Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy with twenty-four women applicants, calling their first meeting on December 27. Their first state convention was held in Wilmington on October 3, 1897, with representatives from six chapters in attendance.

A supporter of the dramatic arts, Parsley also arranged and organized productions of amateur plays, pageants, and musicals in Wilmington in the 1890s.

She died on June 11, 1920, and is buried at Oakdale Cemetery.