There are many notable woman such as Madam Marie Curie, Golda Meir, Rosa Parks, Helen Caldicott, Ruth Bader Ginsburg , Barbara Walters, and Gloria Steinem to name a few.
There are however many more woman who go unnoticed in the global consciousnesses. Emily King was one of them. I first became aware of Emily as a consequence of my purchase of her car eight years after her death.
While cleaning my newly purchased MG TD Replica I found under the seat the 2014 registration and insurance cards along with an envelope from her insurance agent addressed to her. I had many questions about the origin and assembly of her car, so I decided to try to contact her.
I quickly discovered from her obituary and a separate memorial article that 2014 was the year she died. The car was registered and insured in her name until the day she died. I purchased the car from Gateway Classic Cars in Tampa where the car was described as being in the possession of the same Gainsville, Florida family since it was assembled in 1990.
Putting together all the bits of information I found, it appears that Emily never married. Her niece and nephew managed her estate and were in possession of the car after she died and until sold through Gateway Classic Cars eight years later in 2021.
Emily was a remarkable woman and may have assembled the car herself. Or, it may have been done for her or with her by someone like perhaps her nephew.
This from a memorial article supports the idea that Emily might have been interested in and capable of completing a kit car project.

Garden of Memories

Sometime prior to 1946 when she was 26, and before she moved to Florida, we have this from a memorial article, “Emily moved with some friends to Michigan and under the tutelage of some of the friends from Tennessee who were working as mechanical engineers doing industrial design of tools, dye nd special machines and she went to work with them as the only woman in a work pool of one
hundred and forty men. This was the real beginning of Emily’s unusual life choices.”
This article also offers this observation. “Emily was a giver and an accumulator. She had homes in Gainesville, Tallahassee, a trailer in the country (and a large warehouse-type building full of stuff) outside of Alachua and who knows what else. She owned what could only be described as a fleet of vehicles, dogs, horses, and so on and many, many friends. She gave of herself to her multitude of friends and to the organization she belonged including Altrusa and Altrusa House. She was a talented lady who did amazingly delicate work which belied the image she tried to project.”
This is from her obituary
https://www.legacy.com/…/name/emily-king-obituary…
Emily was born in”1920 in St Louis, MO and raised in Knoxville, TN.
She received a BS from the University of Tennessee and graduate degrees from the University of Florida and University of Wisconsin.
Throughout her distinguished career, Dr Emily King, PhD (known affectionately by all as simply ‘Emily’) served in a variety of roles including:
County Home Demonstration Agent in Hillsborough County, Florida from 1946-1953;
State Girls 4-H Club Leader, Florida State University from 1953-1963;
Florida State University faculty from 1964-1968; and,
University of Florida faculty from 1969-1979 where she retired as Professor Emeritus.
Emily was a pioneer in her field and her many contributions were recognized in many ways over the years. She was named to
Who’s Who in American Universities and Colleges,
Who’s Who in Education, and
Who’s Who of American Women.
She was a member of
Delta Kappa Gamma and
Epsilon Sigma Phi and
was inducted into the State of Florida 4-H Hall of Fame in 2002.
Emily believed the way to enrich her own life was to support others and she left an indelible imprint on the lives of many. She will be remembered for her generosity, innovation, mentorship, sense of humor and optimism. Emily was, and remains, an inspiration and her unique ‘anything-is-possible’ spirit will always be with us.”
I am happy to be the current owner of Emily’s 1952 MG TD Replica. I hope to learn more about this remarkable woman and the origin of her wonderful car. I have enjoyed repairing an maintaining Emily’s beautiful car.