Mary Foulke Morrisson

Mary Foulke Morrisson was a suffragist, peace activist and political organizer.

Morrisson was born in Richmond, Indiana, on November 14, 1879, to parents who were also suffragists. Her father, William Dudley Foulke, served as president of the American Woman Suffrage Association from 1886-1890. She married James William Morrisson in 1900 and relocated to Chicago, where she worked with Jane Addams at Hull House and with Carrie Chapman Catt on woman suffrage. She participated in the National American Woman Suffrage Association convention of 1916.

After the Nineteenth Amendment was passed, Morrisson became a strong advocate of educating new women voters on their rights. She helped found the League of Women Voters and traveled around the country trying to recruit new members. She also helped found the Illinois branch of the LWV. During the 1920 Republican National Convention, Morrisson gave the seconding speech for Herbert Hoover’s nomination and, in 1952, campaigned for Dwight Eisenhower.

Morrisson also took an interest in international politics, serving on the American Council of the Institute of Pacific Relations and the Committee on the Cause and Cure of War. As the CCCW’s official representative, she spoke at the signing of the Kellogg-Briand Pact in 1928, an international anti-war agreement. From 1938 to 1965, Morrisson also served as secretary on the Connecticut College Board of Trustees, for which they named a dormitory after her in 1961.

Mary Foulke Morrisson died on March 10, 1971.

Osborne, Mary. “Biographical Sketch of Mary Foulke Morrisson.” Biographical Sketch of Mary Foulke Morrisson | Alexander Street Documents. Alexander Street Database. Accessed February 4, 2020. https://documents.alexanderstreet.com/d/1009639937.