Margretta Dietrich

Margretta Dietrich was an American suffragette and activist. She served as resident of the Nebraska Woman's Suffrage Association in 1919 and Chairman of the Nebraska State League of Women Voters in 1920. Following the ratification of the 19th amendment, she went on to advocate for the rights of Indigenous Americans in New Mexico. She was the president of the New Mexico Association of Indians Affairs for more than 20 years and helped found and was the trustee for several organizations that advocated for Native Americans.

Personal life Born Margaretta Stewart in November 1881 in Philadelphia to Dr. William Shaw Stewart and Delia Stewart. but she was Margaretta and Margretta Stewart in public records, newspapers, and other sources. |name="Surname not Shaw" Her sisters were Mabel, Delia, Gertrude Dietrich, the daughter of Charles Henry Dietrich, also attended Bryn Mawr. They lived in Hastings, Nebraska. Dietrich died on January 13, 1961. Her home in Santa Fe, El Zaguan, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Suffrage Dietrich was elected President of the Nebraska Woman's Suffrage Association in 1919 and became Chairman of the Nebraska State League of Women Voters in 1920. She reported in the November 1920 Alumnae Quarterly that she "was one of the Suffrage Emergency Corps to visit Connecticut in May," alluding to the unsuccessful campaign to get the state to ratify the 19th Amendment. Dietrich served as President of Nebraska Women's Suffrage Association from 1918 - 1920. which had been restored by Kate Chapman. Chapman restored and enlarged the house, including the addition of three cottages. She raised funds for the New Mexico Association of Indians Affairs and developed programs to help Native Americans in the state. The association sponsored the Santa Fe Indian Club during World War II. Dietrich produced a newsletter to inform troops about their fellow New Mexican soldiers and what was happening on the home front, sent packages to the soldiers for Christmas, and generally sought to improve morale and support the Native American troops from New Mexico.

Through careful study she [Margretta Dietrich] has made herself familiar with Pueblo and Navajo Indians and their interests and problems. Her judgment could always be relied upon. She was always alert and active in promoting the good of all the Indian people, and particularly of the Southwest Indians whom she knew so well.|Lawrence E. Lindley, General Secretary, The Indian Rights Association, Philadelphia She amassed 234 Native American paintings by 104 artists and representing 15 tribal divisions. Her collection was shown at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and other museums and galleries. She was a patron for Native American art students of Dorothy Dunn (at the Santa Fe Indian School).

Of a proposed dam site on Native American lands, she wrote:

Publications Dietrich published three books in her lifetime and one was published posthumously. Nebraska Recollections, self-published Vegara Printing Company, 1957 The Dorothy Newkirk Stewart Memorial Collection, Museum of New Mexico Library, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1957 New Mexico Recollections Part I, self- published Vegara Printing Company, 1959 New Mexico Recollections Part II, Vegara Printing Company, Santa Fe NM, 1961, Editor Sylvia Loomis