Mary Foulke Morrisson

Mary Taylor Reeves Foulke Morrisson (November 14, 1879 - March 9, 1971) was an American suffragist and social activist. She was a pioneer in the Women's rights movement and was a prominent member of the Board of Trustees at Connecticut College for 28 years. Morrisson graduated from Bryn Mawr College in 1899, where she studied chemistry, biology, and government. In 1900, she married James William Morrisson, president of Fuller-Morrisson Co., wholesale druggists. Career Morrisson began civic work in 1904, then started making contributions to women's political advancement starting in 1905 in Richmond, Indiana. She was one of the nation's earliest social workers working with Jane Addams in creating the nation's first settlement house: Hull House in Chicago Illinois. Her work in Hull House helped improve job conditions in shops and factories. Morrisson then moved on to the suffrage movement, devoting her career to helping women gain the right to vote. Morrisson was one of the nation's earliest anti-war advocates, as a member of the National Committee on the Cause and Cure of War. This committee was the largest American women's peace group in the 1920s. The United States government called upon Morrisson to be a spokeswoman at high-level meetings at home and abroad for peace. A highlight of her peace work came when Morrisson represented the United States at the Conference on the Cause and Cure of War at the signing of the Kellogg Briand Peace Pact at the Paris Conference in 1928. This pattern of civic work, suffrage movement, and anti-war activism that Morrisson followed was common among upper and middle class women, directly linked to family responsibilities. She moved to Connecticut to start the Connecticut League of Women Voters. Morrisson found herself at home as she started work at "Connecticut College for Women" advancing young women's education. Morrisson joined the Connecticut College Board of Trustees in 1937 and was Secretary of the Board from 1938 to 1965. She also was on the state board of Connecticut at different times and then went onto the Board of Groton and New London Leagues. She was the President of New London League from 1935 to 1944. Career in the suffrage movement Morrisson began her work in the suffrage movement by working formally with Carrie Chapman Catt, president of the American Woman Suffrage Association. Morrisson was named the Secretary of the Chicago Women's Suffrage Assn. from 1912 to 1915, then President from 1915 to 1919.