Margaret Durham Robey*
Class of 1968
- President Southern Seminary and Junior College
Education is the key to a successful life.
Margaret Durham Robey was born in 1898 in Gastonia, North Carolina. She took care of her ailing mother while getting an education. She earned an undergraduate degree from Duke University and a master's degree from the University of Virginia.
Having made sacrifices and moves in search of health for her mother, Robey and her father took the opportunity to use borrowed money to buy a small boarding in Buena Vista, Virginia. For years, it was a struggle to build up the school, but Southern Seminary became a fully accredited two-year college for women, with a large endowment and a beautiful campus. In 1942 when her father retired, Robey succeeded him as president of the college, serving for 25 years. Her husband, H. Russell Robey, was treasurer and business manager.
In 1958, the Robeys gave Southern Seminary to a nonprofit board of control and worked for the school for free.