Biographical Notes
Houston L. Maples
Houston Ledbetter Maples was born on March 4, 1896, in Scottsboro, Alabama, to William Caswell Maples (1859-1919) and Sephronia Starkey (1867-1965). He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1917 and was ordered to duty in Rhode Island with the Atlantic Fleet in World War I. He married Marjorie Ann Brewer on July 9, 1924. They had two children, Houston L. Maples Jr., and Anne Louise Maples. He became a rear admiral in the United States Navy and the naval attaché to Moscow from April 1945 to June 1947. He retired from the military in 1948 and died in Scottsboro on February 15, 1980.
Houston L. Maples Jr.
Houston L. Maples Jr. was born in Annapolis, Maryland, on December 7, 1927. He traveled often because of his father's career and later worked in the State Department's Moscow Office of Information and Culture. He earned his bachelor's degree from George Washington University in 1950 and a master's degree in library science from Catholic University of America in 1951. He married Mary Lee Palmer on January 14, 1959; they had two children, Alan W. Maples and Arthur B. Maples. Houston L. Maples Jr., had a 38-year career in the D.C. public library system, including serving as director of automated services. Additionally, he was a music collector and wrote on post-war Soviet ballet and opera. He died in Chevy Chase, Maryland, on December 11, 2007.