Nell Whaley was born February 6, 1885 to H. Clay and Matilda Brockway Whaley. Never married, she was well educated and spent her life in service as a teacher and social worker. Miss Whaley graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1906 with a bachelor's and master's degree, and taught Latin at several schools including Transylvania University, Hamilton College, and Collegiate Institute in Mt. Sterling. She probably joined FERA in 1913 at age 28. By 1920, she was working for the American Red Cross and traveled extensively in the Southern United States. Later she worked for the Department of Welfare in social work. She was working for the Unemployment Compensation Commission on November 21, 1946, when she died of a stroke at her desk. She was 61 years old.