Year Honored: 1993

Birth: 1937 - 2010

Biography

Ada Leigh Soles graduated from Florida State University in 1957. She taught English for five years then began working at the University of Delaware as an administrative assistant for the Commission on the Status of Women, while also holding leadership roles in the American Association of University Women and as President of the League of Women Voters (978 – 1980). She married University of Delaware Distinguished Professor Emeritus James Soles.

Soles encouraged the participation of women in legislature, living up to those words when she was elected as the State Representative of Newark in 1980. During her twelve-year tenure, Soles was a leading advocate for the improvement of the State Library system. She is a tireless advocate for education and libraries, having been on the Friends of the Newark Library, Chair of the New Castle County Advisory Board, Chair of the Delaware Council on Libraries, and Delaware delegate to the 1991 White House Council on Libraries and information Services.

Soles also served five times on the Joint Finance Committee and as Senior Advisor to Delaware Governor Tom Carper. United states Representative Michael Castle said of her, “as a testament to her distinguished tenure and the esteem in which she was held by her colleagues, Ada Leigh Soles was often regarded as the “conscience” of the Delaware State House of Representatives. [She] played an important role in making our state a better place to live and raise a family.”

Over the years, Soles was awarded the Distinguished Service Citation from the Delaware Library Association (1985); the Good Government Award from the New Castle County Civic League (1987); Distinguished Legislative Service Award from the Delaware State Bar Association (1991); Excellence in Public Service Award from the Democratic Party (1992); University of Delaware Medal of Distinction (1996); American Library Association’s Honor Roll of Library Advocates (2000); and the League of Women Voters of New Castle County Carrie Chapman Award (2004). The Ada Leigh Soles Memorial Professional Librarian and Archivist Incentive program – a scholarship program for those seeking schooling in library and archival degrees – is also named for her.
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Sources and Additional Readings

Amuller. (2010, June 9). Former Delaware Lawmaker Ada Leigh Soles dies June 7th. Green Delaware. Retrieved January 11, 2022, from http://www.greendelaware.org/?p=9835

Governor signs bill creating Ada Leigh Soles librarian scholarship. State of Delaware News. (2014, November 14). Retrieved January 11, 2022, from https://news.delaware.gov/2011/10/18/governor-signs-bill-creating-ada-leigh-soles-ibrarian-scholarship/

Robert J. Voshell Collection of Delaware Political Ephemera Scrapbooks. Manuscript and Archival Collection Finding Aids. (n.d.). Retrieved January 11, 2022, from https://library.udel.edu/special/findaids/view?docId=ead%2Fmss0093_0119.xml%3Btab