Mary A. McCurdy

Martha "Mary" A. Harris Mason McCurdy (August 10, 1852 – June 25, 1934) was an African-American temperance advocate and suffragist. She had a career in journalism that included editing the newspaper "Women's World".

Biography McCurdy née Harris was born on August 10, 1852, in Carthage, Indiana. In 1875 she married J.A. Mason with whom she had four children. The couple settled in Richmond, Indiana, and, after eight years of marriage, J.A. Mason died. In 1886 McCurdy moved to Atlanta, Georgia in the American south. In 1890 she married Calvin McCurdy, a Presbyterian minister, and the couple moved to Rome, Georgia. The Reverend McCurdy died in 1905, and by 1910 Mary returned to her family in Indiana. She died in June 1934, in Indiana. McCurdy worked with her contemporaries Janie Porter Barrett, and Adella Hunt Logan to advance the cause of suffrage and in particular involve African-American women in the movement.

When McCurdy returned to Indiana she continued her activism in temperance, suffrage, and politics. In 1913 she attended the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union convention, representing Indiana. McCurdy also represented Indiana in the Women's Division of the National Republican Committee.