University Library News Release
Date: February 1, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jeanette Smith, NMSU Library, (505) 646-7492, jcsmith@lib.nmsu.edu
Caroline Stras Endowed Fund Created
In November 2005, Edward, Jo Ann and Judith Sears created the Caroline Stras Endowed Fund for the New Mexico State University Library. The gift was established with an initial gift of $20,000, and the endowment will reach $100,000 within five years.
The income will be used to support the acquisition and preservation of collections in women's studies at the NMSU Library in honor of the achievements of Caroline E. Stras. Mrs. Stras was a lifelong resident of El Paso, Texas. She was the first woman vice president of a bank in El Paso beginning in the late 1950s. In many ways, she broke down gender barriers in the banking industry. She retired in 1978 as Senior Vice President of operations and cashier at the Bank of El Paso.
Caroline E. Stras is the daughter of Jouett Fall Elliott and Brant Elliott and the granddaughter of Albert B. Fall. Materials from the Elliotts and the Falls were donated to the Library's Archives and Special Collections Department. Photographs, correspondence and personal papers will remain in the Archives while donated artifacts are in the NMSU Museum. These include a number of clothing and other personal articles which date in the 1890s and early 1900s.
For more information, please contact Connie Loyd, the NMSU Library’s Development Officer, at (505) 646-3642 or the NMSU Library Administration at (505) 646-1508.
-30-