Mary Lee Sargent

Mary Lee Sargent is a professor and feminist activist notable for her direct action political protests on behalf of the Equal Rights Amendment in the early 1980s.

Leadership of Grassroots Group of Second Class Citizens

Sargent was a key member of the feminist group Grassroots Group of Second Class Citizens, an organization that supported the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). Sargent was photographed wearing chains outside the Illinois State Senate by Anne Leibowitz and the photo ran in Life Magazine. Sargent was photographed in 1982 with Sonia Johnson who was on a long term fast for the ERA at the Illinois state house.

Support for LGBT rights In 1979, Sargent participated in the first public march for LGBTQ rights in Washington, D.C.

Women Rising in Resistance Sargent was a co-founder of the notable organization Women Rising in Resistance. The group was known for direct action feminist protests. It was created after the defeat of the ERA in Illinois in 1982. Sargent was a longtime professor of Women's Studies and History at Parkland College in Illinois. In 1984 she ran for a seat on the board of trustees for the University of Illinois.

In the early 1990s she spent a great deal of time in New Harmony, Indiana and was known for her love of prairie plants. Local residents referred to her as "Prairie Mary."