Mary A. R. Marshall
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Mary Aydelotte Rice Marshall (June 14, 1921 – October 9, 1992) was an American civic activist, housewife and Democratic politician who represented
Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county ...
in the
Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 16 ...
for more than twenty years.


Early and family life

Born in
Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
, where her father John Andrew Rice was teaching and studying at the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...
, Marion Aydelotte Rice moved with her family to Nebraska, England and finally North Carolina, where her father helped found
Black Mountain College Black Mountain College was a private liberal arts college in Black Mountain, North Carolina. It was founded in 1933 by John Andrew Rice, Theodore Dreier, and several others. The college was ideologically organized around John Dewey's educational ...
in 1933. Mary Rice attended Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, where her mother's brother Frank Aydelotte was president, and graduated with highest honors. She met Roger Dureya Marshall when they were both working for the Alien Property Custodian Office in Washington, D.C. during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. They married in 1944 and had three daughters who survived them.


Career

After moving to Washington D.C. in 1942, Marshall worked as an economist for the
U.S. Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...
until 1946.Washington Post obituary She and her husband settled in Arlington, Virginia in 1953. As a housewife, Mrs. Marshall became politically active in the League of Women Voters, then the local
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...
(which she found conservative but not in lockstep with the Byrd Organization). Marshall consistently opposed the Byrd Organization's Massive Resistance against the Supreme Court's school desegregation decisions in
Brown v. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segrega ...
, and later commented that she was initially one of 17 "liberals" out of 70 local Democratic Committee members. Arlington voluntarily desegregated in February 1959 after Governor J. Lindsay Almond broke with the Byrd Organization and acceded to decisions by a three-judge federal panel and the
Virginia Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Virginia is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It primarily hears direct appeals in civil cases from the trial-level city and county circuit courts, as well as the criminal law, family law and administrativ ...
issued on January 19, 1959. Marshall and a fellow desegregation advocate entertained frightened parents on the day that
Stratford Junior High School Stratford Junior High School is a historic junior high school building located in the Cherrydale neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia. It was designed in 1949, and built in 1950. An addition was built in 1995. It is a two- to three-story, concrete ...
quietly desegregated. Arlington's Democrats elected Marshall as their chairman in 1961 (she won by 2 votes). One of her first acts was to eliminate the Committee's reliance on closed executive sessions, as well as the prior practice of siding with Republicans (led by U.S. Congressman
Joel Broyhill Joel Thomas Broyhill (November 4, 1919 – September 24, 2006) was an American politician aligned with the Republican Party who served as a Congressman from Virginia for 11 terms, from 1953 to 1974. He represented Virginia's 10th congression ...
) in order to defeat "Arlingtonians for A Better County" (ABC) candidates for County offices. This arose in part because the ABC opposed closing schools to prevent their desegregation (part of Massive Resistance, which Broyhill's opponent and ABC co-founder Edmund D. Campbell had fought) and generally progressive positions. Marshall also created a data base (at first manual lists) of Democratic voters and support throughout the County, made sure that voters who paid the $1 poll tax in May also actually registered to vote in the fall elections, and established "
New Frontier The term ''New Frontier'' was used by Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy in his acceptance speech in the 1960 United States presidential election to the Democratic National Convention at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum as the ...
" clubs throughout the county which met monthly to discuss various issues of the day and attracted potential voters. To preserve party unity, Marshall ensured that both Arlington's Democratic state senator, Charles R. Fenwick (who cooperated with the Byrd Organization) and delegate Hank Mann (Fenwick's protege who soon broke with the organization because its apportionment shortchanged northern Virginia) remained on the party's steering committee. Delegate Mann (together with consistently pro-desegregation Arlington delegate Kathryn H. Stone and two other northern Virginia legislators) challenged the Byrd organization's reapportionment following the 1960 census. As a result of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision striking down the previous reapportionment in Davis v. Mann, Arlington received another seat in the General Assembly. However, in 1965 Stone decided against seeking re-election. Marshall defeated Republican Caroline Ogletree and succeeded Stone. She served her first two terms in the
Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-number ...
, from 1966 to 1970, alongside veteran Democrat Hank Mann as well as fellow Democrats Wallace G. Dickson and William M. Lightsey in what was then Virginia's 9th District. Mrs. Marshall joined Marion Galland and
Dorothy Shoemaker McDiarmid Dorothy Shoemaker McDiarmid (October 22, 1906 – June 8, 1994) was a teacher, real estate broker, Quaker activist, and Virginia legislator for nearly 26 years. Early and family life Born in Waco, Texas to U.S. Department of Agriculture employe ...
, both also from northern Virginia, in the
Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 16 ...
. House Speaker Blackie Moore, a lieutenant in the Byrd Organization, assigned all four female delegates to the Education Committee. However, Republicans swept aside all the Democratic candidates in 1970, replacing them with George Mason Green, Jr., Allen H. Harrison, Jr., Henry O. Lampe and George P. Shafran. Virginia Democrats experienced a backlash against the sales tax, as well as a speech by President Richard M. Nixon, who urged people to vote Republican in the New Jersey gubernatorial race, but which had broader effects. Courteous Clive L. DuVal II of Fairfax and Byrd Organization stalwart James M. Thomson of Alexandria were the only Democrats elected to the General Assembly from northern Virginia that year. Mrs. Marshall then helped rebuild the local Democratic party, joking that calling herself a "mere housewife" was the "equivalent of calling yourself a 'simple country lawyer' lluding_to_North_Carolina's_Senator_Sam_Ervin_during_the_Watergate_scandal.html" ;"title="Sam_Ervin.html" ;"title="lluding to North Carolina's Senator Sam Ervin">lluding to North Carolina's Senator Sam Ervin during the Watergate scandal">Sam_Ervin.html" ;"title="lluding to North Carolina's Senator Sam Ervin">lluding to North Carolina's Senator Sam Ervin during the Watergate scandal]. It's a non-threatening phrase that may, or may not indicate you know what's going on." After redistricting following the 1970 census, Arlington lost a seat in the House of Delegates, but in 1972 Marshall again won election to the state house (as did Republican Green) and Democrat John L. Melnick won the third seat in what had become the 22nd Virginia house district. In 1975, Melnick and Marshall and fellow Democrat Warren G. Stambaugh outpolled all the Republican candidates, and Arlington's delegation would remain all-Democrat for years ( James F. Almand replacing Melnick in 1977). After the 1980 reapportionment and advent of single-member districts, the district was renumbered the 48th. Marshall continued to win re-election until 1991 (facing no opposition in 1985, 1987 and 1989), when she announced in April that she would not seek re-election, but rather spend more time with her husband and family. She had also served on the executive committees of the National Conference of State Legislatures and the Southern Legislative Conference. Newspapers at the time noted that her retirement, together with Delegate MacDiarmid's two years earlier, Delegate Stambaugh's demise eight months earlier and Delegate Du Val's retirement announced just three weeks before significantly reduced Northern Virginia's seniority and clout in the General Assembly. Julia A. Connally then won the Democratic primary and the general election, and succeeded Marshal. During her initial stint in the General Assembly, Marshall had helped found the Women's Roundtable. The weekly Wednesday morning meeting when the General Assembly was in session created a network of women legislators and organizations interested in women's issues, and in 1986 also successfully blocked attempts to weaken the state's conflict of interest law. After her re-election in 1972, Marshall rose in seniority and power. She sponsored landmark legislation modernizing state policies concerning the elderly (including equal treatment of widows in inheritance and pension taxes, and rights of nursing home patients), and a variety of issues relating to women and children, mentally retarded persons and libraries. Marshall also sponsored Virginia's first legislation guaranteeing the return of tenants' security deposits and according rights to people displaced by condominium conversions, the first minimum wage law, and the first automobile inspection law. She became chairman of the Cities, Counties and Towns Committee, as well as served on the Privileges and Elections Committee (the first woman to do so, and rising to chair), the Committee on Health Institutions and Welfare, the Roads and Internal Navigation Committee, and Conservation and Natural Resources Committee. Marshall served as president of the Virginia Association for Mental Health and of the Virginia Federation of Democratic Women's Clubs, and also served on the Federal Council on Aging (1978-1981). She also served on the board for the
Library of Virginia The Library of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia, is the library agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia. It serves as the archival agency and the reference library for Virginia's seat of government. The Library moved into a new building in 1997 and ...
and was active in her church (Rock Spring Congregational Church) and
Church Women United Church Women United (CWU) is a national ecumenical Christian women's movement representing Protestant, Roman Catholic, Orthodox and other Christian women. Founded in 1941, as the United Council of Church Women, this organization has more than 1 ...
, as well as with the American Association of University Women and
Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...
.


Death and legacy

Marshall died at Arlington Hospital in October 1992, at age 71, never regaining consciousness after suffering a head injury during a fall at her home while clearing a table. She was survived by her husband, two daughters and two grandchildren. In 2011, Arlington named a senior assisted living facility in her honor. In 2018 she was named one of the
Virginia Women in History Virginia Women in History was an annual program sponsored by the Library of Virginia that honored Virginia women, living and dead, for their contributions to their community, region, state, and nation. The program began in 2000 under the aegis of th ...
by the
Library of Virginia The Library of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia, is the library agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia. It serves as the archival agency and the reference library for Virginia's seat of government. The Library moved into a new building in 1997 and ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, Mary Aydelotte Rice 1921 births 1992 deaths Women state legislators in Virginia Democratic Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates Swarthmore College alumni 20th-century American legislators Politicians from Chicago Politicians from Arlington County, Virginia 20th-century American women politicians 20th-century Virginia politicians