Mary Foulke Morrisson

Mary Taylor Reeves Foulke Morrisson (November 14, 1879 - March 9, 1971) was an American suffragist and social activist. She was a pioneer in the Women's rights movement and was a prominent member of the Board of Trustees at Connecticut College for 28 years. Morrisson graduated from Bryn Mawr College in 1899, where she studied chemistry, biology, and government. In 1900, she married James William Morrisson, president of Fuller-Morrisson Co., wholesale druggists. Her work at Hull House helped improve job conditions in shops and factories. Morrisson then moved on to the suffrage movement, devoting her career to helping women gain the right to vote. Morrisson was one of the nation's earliest anti-war advocates, as a member of the National Committee on the Cause and Cure of War. The United States government called upon Morrisson to be a spokeswoman at high-level meetings at home and abroad for peace. She moved to Connecticut to start the Connecticut League of Women Voters. Morrisson found herself at home as she started work at "Connecticut College for Women" advancing young women's education. Morrisson joined the Connecticut College Board of Trustees in 1937 and was Secretary of the Board from 1938 to 1965. She also was on the state board of Connecticut at different times and then went onto the Board of Groton and New London Leagues. She was the President of New London League from 1935 to 1944. In 1916, she organized a suffrage parade for the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) through Chicago to that year's Republican National Convention where she obtained the first women's suffrage plank in the G.O.P. national platform. Morrisson, served as recording secretary of the organization and fundraised by speaking at fifty fund-raising occasions in multiple states including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and the Mississippi conference. Morrisson went on to help found the League of Women's Voters in which she then held national, state, and local offices. Then, Morrisson established the Illinois and Connecticut League of Women's Voters, of which she was the president from 1925 to 1928

Honors and awards Morrisson was awarded The Connecticut Medal for Distinguished Civilian War Service in November 1944, The Civilian and Military Certificate of Appreciation for recreation work in Groton, from the U.S. Navy in 1946, Jane Addams Memorial Medal, Morrisson was named an Honorary Alumni at Connecticut College in 1960. The Mary Morrisson School in Groton is dedicated to her because of the immense recreational work she did in Groton, where she lived for 60 years. The Mary Foulke Morrisson House at Connecticut College is named after her because of her dedication to advancing the college. Morrisson also has an annual lectureship with the focal point foreign policy named after her: "Mary Foulke Morrisson Lectureship".