Mary "May" Ingraham (30 July ''or June'' 1901 – 26 March 1982) was a Bahamian

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

who, among other things, was the founding president of the Bahamas Women's Suffrage Movement.

Suffragist

Along with Georgianna Symonette, Eugenia Lockhart and Mabel Walker, Ingraham founded the Women's Suffrage Movement. In 1962, women gained the right to vote and serve in elected office in the legislature. By 1967 black women had organized themselves into a strong voting block that contributed to the

Progressive Liberal Party The Progressive Liberal Party (abbreviated PLP) is a populist and social liberal party in the Bahamas. Philip Davis is the leader of the party. History The PLP was founded in 1953 by William Cartwright, Cyril Stevenson, and Henry Milton Tay ...

's win and eventually

Majority rule Majority rule is a principle that means the decision-making power belongs to the group that has the most members. In politics, majority rule requires the deciding vote to have majority, that is, more than half the votes. It is the binary deci ...

Recognition

Mary Ingraham Intergenerational Care Centre – in

Nassau Nassau may refer to: Places Bahamas *Nassau, Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas, on the island of New Providence Canada *Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upper Canada from 1788 to 1792 *Nassau Street (Winnipeg), ...

at St. Vincent Road and Faith Avenue – is named for Ingraham. The centre is under the purview of the Department of Social Services and Community Development within the Bahamas Ministry of Social Services and Urban Development and is operated by the South Bahamas Conference of the

Inter-American Division of Seventh-day Adventists The Inter-American Division of Seventh-day Adventists is a sub-entity of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, which oversees the Church's work in Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and Northern South America. Its headquarters, ...

. The Bahamas Post Office, on October 10, 2012, issued commemorative panes – six different

postage stamps A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the fa ...

per pane, titled ''50th Anniversary of Women Suffrage'' (two rows, clockwise, from the top left):

Mary Ingraham – 15¢
Georgianna Symonette (1902–1965) – 25¢
Mabel Walker (1902–1987) – 50¢
Eugenia Lockhart (1908–??) – 65¢
Dame Alberta Isaacs – 70¢
Dame Doris Johnson (1921–1983) – 80¢

: each of the six stamps bearing the portrait of notable women who influenced

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

in The Bahamas.

Affiliations

In the past Ingraham was a

Daughter A daughter is a female offspring; a girl or a woman in relation to her parents. Daughterhood is the state of being someone's daughter. The male counterpart is a son. Analogously the name is used in several areas to show relations between groups ...

Ruler of the

Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the World The Improved Benevolent Protective Order of Elks of the World (IBPOEW) is an African-American fraternal order modeled on the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. It was established in 1897 in the United States. In the early 21st century, it ha ...

and a Matron of the Order of Eastern Stars.

Family

Mary Ingraham was born in the St. Agnes

Chapelry A chapelry was a subdivision of an ecclesiastical parish in England and parts of Lowland Scotland up to the mid 19th century. Status It had a similar status to a township but was so named as it had a chapel of ease (chapel) which was the communi ...

District,

Nassau, Bahamas Nassau ( ) is the capital and largest city of the Bahamas. With a population of 274,400 as of 2016, or just over 70% of the entire population of the Bahamas, Nassau is commonly defined as a primate city, dwarfing all other towns in the country. ...

, to Ellis Hartman Mason ( Ellis Henry Mason; 1872–1937) and Alice Leanora Bartlett (; died 1942). On December 30, 1919, she married Rufus Harcourt Ingraham (1900–1967) in Grant's Town, one of the Over-the-Hill suburbs south of

. St. Agnes Church (

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

), still in existence, has endured for years. Three of Ingraham's brothers were musicians in the United States:

Norman Mason (1895–1971), a
Dixieland Dixieland jazz, also referred to as traditional jazz, hot jazz, or simply Dixieland, is a style of jazz based on the music that developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century. The 1917 recordings by the Original Dixieland Jass Band ( ...
clarinetist, multi-instrumentalist, bandleader;
Oliver Welock Mason ( 1900; ''d.'' 1961), a trumpeter who, in the 1930s and 1940s, performed with the orchestra for the traveling
minstrel show The minstrel show, also called minstrelsy, was an American form of racist theatrical entertainment developed in the early 19th century. Each show consisted of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music performances that depicted people spe ...
, '' Silas Green from New Orleans.''
Henry Morris Mason ( 1906; ), a trumpeter who, among other things, recorded as a
sideman A sideman is a professional musician who is hired to perform live with a solo artist, or with a group in which they are not a regular band member. The term is usually used to describe musicians that play with jazz or rock artists, whether solo ...
for Fannie Goosby (1928 – Brunswick 7029),
Cleo Gibson Cleo Gibson was a classic female blues singer active in the 1920s. Her full name was Cleosephus Gibson. She recorded two tracks for Okeh Records, "I’ve Got Ford Movements In My Hips" and "Nothing But Blues". Much surrounding her life is a myster ...
(1929 –
Okeh Okeh Records () is an American record label founded by the Otto Heinemann Phonograph Corporation, a phonograph supplier established in 1916, which branched out into phonograph records in 1918. The name was spelled "OkeH" from the initials of Ott ...
8700),
Blanche Calloway Blanche Dorothea Jones Calloway (February 9, 1902 – December 16, 1978) was an American jazz singer, composer, and bandleader. She was the older sister of Cab Calloway and was a successful singer before her brother. With a music career that spa ...
(1931 –
Victor The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...
22866; 1934 –
Banner A banner can be a flag or another piece of cloth bearing a symbol, logo, slogan or another message. A flag whose design is the same as the shield in a coat of arms (but usually in a square or rectangular shape) is called a banner of arms. Also, ...
33304 & 33224),
Leon Abbey Leon Alexander Anthony Abbey (May 7, 1900 – September 1975) was an American jazz violinist and bandleader. Biography He was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 7, 1900, to Luther James Robert Abbey and Eva Lee Alexander. He started his ca ...
(1938 – Sonora Swd 3411 & 3799),
Willie Lewis William T. Lewis ''(né'' Willie Meria Tawlton Lewis; 10 June 1905 – 13 January 1971) was an American jazz clarinetist and bandleader. Career Lewis was born Cleburne, Texas, United States. He grew up in Dallas and played in variety shows as ...
(1941 – Elite Special 4067, 4068, 4069, 4070, 4071), Eddie Brunner (1941 – Elite Special), and Gene Sedric ( 1940s – Collectors Items 017).

Bibliography

Notes

References

* . . ; and * * * * Retrieved January 22, 2021 (subscription required; accessible at many libraries) *

NARA The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It i ...

publication no. T627; digital folder no. 5460974; microfilm image no. 310. * (Note: William-Pulfer, in 2018, completed her PhD at

Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis, commonly referred to as IUPUI, is a public research university in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is a collaboration between Indiana University and Purdue University that offers undergraduate, grad ...

). {{DEFAULTSORT:Ingraham, Mary 1901 births 1982 deaths Bahamian suffragists People from New Providence