Mary B. Newman

Mary B. Newman
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from the 2nd Middlesex District
In office
1953–1970
Preceded byWalter J. Sullivan (1951–1952)
Succeeded byThomas H. D. Mahoney (1971–1979)
Personal details
BornFebruary 15, 1909
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
DiedDecember 6, 1995
Weston, Massachusetts
Political partyRepublican
SpouseEdwin B. Newman
Alma materSwarthmore College
OccupationPolitician and state government official

Mary B. Newman (February 15, 1909 – December 6, 1995) was an American politician and state government official who was elected to her first term in the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1953. A moderate Republican, she represented the 2nd Middlesex District from 1953 to 1954 and, again, from 1957 to 1970. Appointed to the Massachusetts Parole Board in 1955 after her initial legislative term ended, she held that parole board post until 1957 when she returned to the Massachusetts House.[1] During the early part of that second term, she served on the House's Labor and Industries and Water Supply committees.[2][3][4][5]

The first woman to serve in the cabinet of Massachusetts Governor Francis Sargent, Newman was an early champion of the women's liberation movement, and became known as "the fighting Quaker from Cambridge." Upon learning of her death in 1995, Massachusetts Governor William Weld recalled, "Mary Newman, for years the grande dame both of Cambridge and its Republican party, launched me in politics by serving as chair of my statewide campaign in 1978."[6] In 1984, a reporter for The Christian Science Monitor referred to her as "one of the most highly respected forces on the Massachusetts civic scene for almost four decades."[7]

  1. ^ "Rep. Mary Newman to Address Women Voters." Lowell, Massachusetts: The Lowell Sun, March 20, 1963, p. 20.
  2. ^ Hayden, Irving N. and Lawrence R. Grove. Public Officers of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1953–1954, p. 241. Boston, Massachusetts: General Court, 1953–1954.
  3. ^ Hayden, Irving N. and Lawrence R. Grove. Public Officers of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1961–1962, pp. 247, 352. Boston, Massachusetts: General Court, 1961–1962.
  4. ^ Pidgeon, Norman L. and William C. Meiers. Public Officers of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts 1967–1968, p. 246. Boston, Massachusetts: General Court, 1967–1968.
  5. ^ Pidgeon, Norman L. and Wallace C. Mills. Public Officers of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts 1969–1970, p. 249. Boston, Massachusetts: General Court, 1969–1970.
  6. ^ "Mary Newman, 'fighting Quaker' of the Massachusetts GOP; at 86" (obituary). Boston, Massachusetts: The Boston Globe, December 9, 1995, p. 19.
  7. ^ Merry, George B. "Can GOP 'shadow cabinet' shed light on better ways to run state?" Boston, Massachusetts: The Christian Science Monitor, August 16, 1984.