Maud Leonard McCreery
White woman's face in an oval frame.
Maud Leonard McCreery, from a 1916 publication.
BornFebruary 24, 1883
Wauwatosa, Wisconsin
DiedApril 10, 1938
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)suffragist, labor organizer, newspaper editor

Maria Maud Leonard McCreery (February 24, 1883 – April 10, 1938) was an American suffragist, pacifist, labor activist, educator, and newspaper editor from Wisconsin.

Early life

Maria Maud Leonard was born in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin,[1] the daughter of Dr. Sylvester S. Leonard and Annie Riley Leonard. Her father was a veterinarian.[2]

Career

Maud McCreery was an active suffragist, touring the United States speaking on the topic from 1912 to 1918.[3][4] She did suffrage organizing and lecturing in Iowa,[5] Pennsylvania,[6][7] South Dakota,[8] and Nebraska,[9][10] and was press chair of the Nevada Equal Suffrage Association in 1914.[11][12][13] "Women who are now protesting against the ballot are of the same type who years ago fought against the education of their sex," she told an audience in Olyphant, Pennsylvania, in 1913, adding that "The only real way to find out whether women want the ballot is to give it to them."[14] In 1918, she was legislative chair of the Woman's Party in Milwaukee.[15] "Many people believe that we are bold and unscrupulous," she said of suffragists, countering that "we are just common everyday people working for what we believe is a righteous cause, and we are trying to do it honestly."[5]

McCreery also toured nationally as a speaker for the League to Enforce Peace. In the 1920s she lived in Chicago and worked for the Federated Press News Service; she also worked for the Wisconsin Anti-Tuberculosis Association[16] and Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America in Wisconsin. In 1930, she began editing the women's page at the Milwaukee Leader newspaper. She was editor of the Sheboygan New Deal in 1936.[17] She organized women's auxiliaries for the American Federation of Labor in 1937, and taught at the School for Workers at the University of Wisconsin.[1][2]

Personal life

Maud Leonard married lawyer Rex Irving McCreery in 1902; the marriage ended in divorce in 1918. She married carpenter James Walter Walker as her second husband in 1923; they divorced in 1931.[18] She died in a Milwaukee hotel in 1938, aged 55 years.[2][16] In 1945, the Maud McCreery Lodge was founded in Milwaukee, named in memory of McCreery by the Ladies' Auxiliary of the machinists' union local.[19]

References

  1. 1 2 "Mccreery, Maud [Leonard] 1883 - 1938". Wisconsin Historical Society. 2017-08-08. Retrieved 2019-06-14.
  2. 1 2 3 "Mrs. Maud McCreery is Found Dead in Hotel at Milwaukee". The Sheboygan Press. April 11, 1938. p. 4. Retrieved June 14, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ "Maud McCreery | Photograph". Wisconsin Historical Society. 2003-12-01. Retrieved 2019-06-14.
  4. ↑ "McCreery, Maude M. Leonard (1883-1938)". Jane Addams Digital Edition. Retrieved 2019-06-14.
  5. 1 2 "Urges Men to Become Suffragists" Sioux City Journal (January 20, 1916): 11. via Newspapers.com
  6. ↑ McBride, Genevieve G. (1993). On Wisconsin Women: Working for Their Rights from Settlement to Suffrage. Univ of Wisconsin Press. p. 245. ISBN 9780299140045.
  7. ↑ "Equal Suffrage Meeting at the Home of the Misses Parvin". Reading Eagle. October 12, 1913. Retrieved June 14, 2019 – via Google News.
  8. ↑ "Mrs. M'Creery Donates $400 Hat to Suffrage Cause". Green Bay Press-Gazette. November 20, 1916. p. 3. Retrieved June 14, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "National Suffrage Lecturer to Speak". The North Platte Semi-Weekly Tribune. February 20, 1914. Retrieved June 14, 2019 – via Nebraska Newspapers.
  10. ↑ "Maud Leonard McCreery". The Columbus Telegram. January 30, 1914. p. 7. Retrieved June 14, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ Mead, Rebecca (2006-01-01). How the Vote Was Won: Woman Suffrage in the Western United States, 1868-1914. NYU Press. p. 168. ISBN 9780814759912.
  12. ↑ "Equal Suffrage News". Nevada State Journal. May 18, 1914. p. 4. Retrieved June 14, 2019 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  13. ↑ "Jottings About Town". Reno Gazette-Journal. April 14, 1914. p. 6. Retrieved June 14, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ "Suffragists Hear Talk at Olyphant". The Scranton Republican. September 9, 1913. p. 3. Retrieved June 14, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ "Democrats Scored by Suffragist". The Capital Times. July 15, 1918. p. 3. Retrieved June 14, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. 1 2 "Maud McCreery, Widely Known as Labor Leader, Dies". The Journal Times. April 11, 1938. p. 4. Retrieved June 14, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ↑ "Maud McCreery Resigns; Jeffrey is New Editor". The Sheboygan Press. April 24, 1936. p. 4. Retrieved June 14, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ↑ James, Edward T.; James, Janet Wilson; Boyer, Paul S. (1971). Notable American Women, 1607-1950: A Biographical Dictionary. Harvard University Press. pp. 458. ISBN 9780674627345. Maud McCreery Papers.
  19. ↑ "Officers Installed at McCreery Lodge". Waukesha Daily Freeman. May 31, 1945. p. 8. Retrieved June 14, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
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