Marion Margery Scranton

Marion Margery Scranton
Born
Marion Margery Warren

April 12, 1884
Scranton, Pennsylvania
DiedJune 23, 1960
Dalton, Pennsylvania
Occupation(s)Suffragette and vice-chair, U.S. Republican Party
SpouseWorthington Scranton (1876–1955)
Parent(s)Everett Warren (1859–1916) and Ellen Hower (Willard) Warren (1861–1949)

Marion Margery Warren Scranton (April 12, 1884 – June 23, 1960) was a 20th-century women’s suffrage activist and leading member of the Republican Party in the United States.[1][2] Known as “the Duchess and the Grand Old Dame of the Grand Old Party,” she was described in Life magazine as “the woman Pennsylvania politicians still remember as ‘Margery,’ and ... the only woman who (in Tom Dewey’s much-quoted phrase) could wear two orchids through a coal mine and get away with it.”[3]

The first female vice-chair of the Lackawanna County Republican Committee, Margery Scranton was also a member of the Pennsylvania Republican State Committee from 1922 to 1934, and served as vice-chair of the Pennsylvania Republican Party from 1926 to 1928. A Pennsylvania delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1928, 1932, 1936, 1940, 1944, and 1948, she was also a Pennsylvania representative to the Republican National Committee from 1928 to 1951—during which time she served as that national committee’s vice-chair from 1936 to 1938.[4][5][6][7]

In 1954, she and her husband, Worthington Scranton, contributed one million dollars to establish the Scranton Foundation (now the Scranton Area Community Foundation), which was launched to support charitable and educational organizations in the city of Scranton.[8]

  1. ^ Carocci, Vincent P. Capitol Journey: Reflections on the Press, Politics, and the Making of Public Policy in Pennsylvania, Chapter 13: “William Warren Scranton II (1963-1967).” University Park, Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2005.
  2. ^ Perlstein, Rick. Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus, p. 275. New York, New York: Hill and Wang, A Division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2001.
  3. ^ White, Theodore H. “Squire Scranton Bides His Time.” New York, New York: Life, February 28, 1964, pp. 63-72 (retrieved online, June 3, 2021).
  4. ^ O’Malley III, Michael J. “The Gentleman from Pennsylvania: An Interview with William W. Scranton,” in Pennsylvania Heritage, Winter 2001. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, retrieved online June 3, 2021.
  5. ^ Baer, John. “An elegant man (and politician) passes: William Warren Scranton was many things rarely seen in politics today.” Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The Philadelphia Inquirer, July 30, 2013 (retrieved online, June 3, 2021).
  6. ^ “Governor William Warren Scranton” (biography), in “Governors.” Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, retrieved online, June 3, 2021.
  7. ^ McNulty, Timothy. “Former Pennsylvania governor William Scranton Jr. dies.” Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 30, 2013 (retrieved online, June 3, 2021).
  8. ^ "W. Scranton Dies in Florida." Hazleton, Pennsylvania: The Plain Speaker, February 14, 1955, p. 20.