Biographical Note

Laura Lu Scherer Copenhaver was born in Columbus, Texas, to John Jacob Schere and Elizabeth Katharine Killinger Scherer in 1868. Her father, a Lutheran minister, took his family back to Southwest Virgnia in 1871 and in 1873, founded the Marion Female College. Laura attended the college, graduting in 1884. In 1886, she began teaching English there, remaining on the faculty for more than twenty years. In 1895, she married Bascom Eugene Copenhaver and together, they had five children. Copenhaver spent her life involved in Lutheran lay work, including writing and publication of literature for the church and missionary efforts in Appalachia and Southwest Virginia especially. By the early 1920s, Copenhaver had also developed an interest in aiding and improving the local agricultural economy, turning her home, Rosemont, into a place for women to produce textiles and other home goods, giving them an opportunity to earn money. Rosemont Industries continued under her supervision until her death in 1940, at which point it was taken over by her sister, and later, the next generation of the family. It continued as "Laura Copenhaver Industries, Inc." from the early 1960s until 2010.

Citation:

Marianne E. Julienne,"Laura Lu Scherer Copenhaver (1868–1940)," Dictionary of Virginia Biography, Library of Virginia (1998– ), published 2006 (http://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/dvb/bio.asp?b=Copenhaver_Laura_Lu_Scherer, accessed Setpember 4, 2019).

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