Helen G. Quigless, 59, noted librarian and poet in Tarboro, NC, Succumbs

Jet, Feb 23, 2004

Funeral services were held at Calvary Episcopal Church in Tarboro, NC, for Helen Gordon Quigless, a noted librarian and poet. The first cousin of Mrs. Eunice W. Johnson, secretary-treasurer and director of EBONY Fashion Fair, Quigless was 59.

Quigless, who was also a well-respected Edgecombe County community leader, died of complications from rheumatoid arthritis.

Born in Washington, D.C., and reared in Tarboro, Quigless was the president of the Phoenix Historical Society of Edgecombe County and the co-founder of the Association of African-American Bibliography, an organization of writers, readers and librarians. She helped to build the library collections at the University of District of Columbia where she was a librarian.

Her poetry appeared in such anthologies as Black Southern Voices, For Malcolm, The New Black Poetry and Today's Negro Voices.

Afflicted with rheumatoid arthritis at the age of 19, Quigless was the daughter of one of the first Black doctors in Edgecomb County, the late Dr. Milton D. Quigless.

She was preceded in death by her father in 1997.

In addition to Mrs. Johnson, Quigless's survivors include her mother, two siblings and other relatives and friends.