Mary Foot Seymour

Mary Foot Seymour
"A Woman of the Century"
Born	1846 Aurora, Illinois, U.S.
Died	March 21, 1893(1893-03-21) (aged 46–47) New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation	businesswoman, journalist, school founder, magazine publisher
Language	English
Nationality	American
Genre	juvenile literature

Mary Foot Seymour (1846 – March 21, 1893) was a 19th-century American businesswoman and journalist. In 1879, in New York City, she started the Union School of Stenography, the first women's secretarial school in the United States.^[1] She also published a magazine devoted to the interest of women. Seymour served as president of the Union Stenographic and Typewriting Association, commissioner of the United States Court of Claims, commissioner of deeds of New Jersey, and notary public of New York County, New York. She served three different terms in as many offices, and handled a large proportion of the writing done for the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Though she preferred journalistic work, she carried on her stenographic establishment as it paid better than correspondence or reporting. She was a member of the Woman's Press Club of New York City and Sorosis.^[2] Seymour died in 1893.