Mary Wood Swift (September 12, 1841 – April 8, 1927) was an American suffragist and clubwoman, president of the

National Council of Women of the United States The National Council of Women of the United States (NCW/US) is the oldest nonsectarian organization of women in America. Officially founded in 1888, the NCW/US is an accredited non-governmental organization (NGO) with the Department of Public In ...

from 1903 to 1909.

Early life

Mary Angeline Wood was born in New York, the daughter of William Graham Wood and Emily Morrell Wood.

Career

Swift was president of the

from 1903 to 1909. In that role, she led national meetings, and she attended

International Council of Women The International Council of Women (ICW) is a women's rights organization working across national boundaries for the common cause of advocating human rights for women. In March and April 1888, women leaders came together in Washington, D.C., wit ...

meetings, including the 1904 executive meeting in Dresden, the full congress meeting in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, along with

Ida Husted Harper Ida Husted Harper (February 18, 1851 – March 14, 1931) was an American author, journalist, columnist, and suffragist, as well as the author of a three-volume biography of suffrage leader Susan B. Anthony at Anthony's request. Harper also c ...

, and in 1909 in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

. Swift was president of the Century Club in San Francisco. She was also active in the

Women's Relief Corps The Woman's Relief Corps (WRC) is a charitable organization in the United States, originally founded as the official women's auxiliary to the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) in 1883. The organization was designed to assist the GAR and p ...

the California Women's Suffrage Association, the Colonial Dames of America, the Society of the Mayflower, and the national Daughters of the American Revolution. "The Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution should not be devoted to ancestor-worship and to preserving history," she told the organization in a speech in 1906, "but it should bend its energies also to making history and to creating better conditions for posterity." In the same speech, she expressed opposition to immigration into the United States, and her support for

Americanization Americanization or Americanisation (see spelling differences) is the influence of American culture and business on other countries outside the United States of America, including their media, cuisine, business practices, popular culture, te ...

and literacy programs.

Personal life

Mary Wood married American diplomat

John Franklin Swift John Franklin Swift (February 28, 1829 – March 10, 1891) was an American politician and author. Swift was a Republican member of the California State Assembly. He represented the 8th district (County of San Francisco) in 1863 and 1873-75. I ...

. They lived in San Francisco but were often abroad for Swift's work, until he died in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

in 1891. She was left with a significant fortune in widowhood. After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, she moved to

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

, California. She died in 1927, in Berkeley, aged 86 years.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Swift, Mary Wood 1841 births 1927 deaths American suffragists