Mary Clare Laurence Brassington (June 5, 1874 – January 6, 1966) was an American suffragist, president of the Delaware Equal Suffrage Association (DESA) from 1915 to 1917.

Early life

Mary Clare Laurence was born in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

Career

Brassington marched with the Delaware Equal Suffrage Association (DESA) in the 1913 suffrage parade in Washington, D.C., and led the "homemakers' section" in Delaware's first large suffrage parade in 1914. She became president of the DESA in 1915, succeeding the association's founding president, Martha Churchman Cranston, and reelected in 1916. She was also one of the state's delegates to the National Equal Suffrage Convention. and a member of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). She was also active in Wilmington's New-Century Club. In 1916, Brassington attended both the

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 ...

in St. Louis and the

Republican National Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the United States Republican Party. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal of the Repu ...

in Chicago, where she literally carried the banner of the Delaware suffragists: a large yellow and white silk banner featuring

Delaware Blue Hens The Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens are the athletic teams of the University of Delaware of Newark, Delaware, in the United States. The Blue Hens compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) of Division I of the National Collegiate Athlet ...

. In 1917 Brassington resigned the presidency because her husband's work would take her out of state. But she returned to Delaware to attend DESA meetings and lobby the state legislature on suffrage. After suffrage was won, Brassington was active in the

League of Women Voters The League of Women Voters (LWV or the League) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan political organization in the United States. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include registering voters, providing voter information, and advocating for vot ...

. She lived in Port Arthur, Ontario and Milwaukee, Wisconsin in her later years, relocating for her husband's work, and in Florida in her own retirement.

Personal life

Mary Clare Laurence married John Robert Wetten Brassington, a British engineer who was born in India. They had two daughters, Marion and Susan. She was a member of the First Unitarian Church in Wilmington. Brassington was widowed in 1946 when her husband died in Milwaukee, and she died in

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, in 1966, aged 91 years.

References

External links

Delaware Women's Suffrage Timeline
compiled by the Delaware Historical Society, edited and updated by Anne M. Boylan * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brassington, Mary Clare 1874 births 1966 deaths Activists from Baltimore Members of the League of Women Voters Suffragists from Delaware