[2] Talley was born Manila Carolyn Davis in Flatwoods, Braxton County, West Virginia.
[3] She attended West Virginia University and later transferred to the New England Conservatory to study piano and drama.
[2] She earned a commercial pilot’s license while working for the company making her the first woman from West Virginia to do so.
[4] In 1941, she became the person to join the Anchorage, Alaska Civil Air Patrol eventually earning the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
[1] Talley's scrapbook, mostly consisting of materials from 1929-1942, is held in the National Air and Space Museum Archives.