Laura Smith Ebaugh was born in April 1898 to George Washington and Caroline Griffith Smith Ebaugh. She was a native of Greenville and attended Greenville Woman’s College. She also attended Goucher College, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree, and Columbia University, where she earned her Master’s degree. Ebaugh also conducted further graduate work at Chicago University and the University of North Carolina.
Ebaugh was an Associate Professor of Sociology at Furman University from 1935 to 1963 and was extensively involved in state and local boards and associations. Her activities included president of the Greenville Branch and State Division of the American Association of University Women, second Vice President of the Greenville County Historical Society, member of the Merit Council of the State Department of Public Welfare, member of the Board of the South Carolina Committee on Children and Youth, and was the Adult Education Associate at the Greenville County Library. She died in February 1982 and is buried at Christ Church Episcopal Cemetery.
