Mary Harriman Rumsey
Encyclopedia
Mary Harriman Rumsey was the founder of The Junior League for the Promotion of Settlement Movements, later known as the Junior League of the City of New York of the Association of Junior Leagues International Inc
Junior League
The Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc. is a non-profit organization of 292 Junior Leagues in Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom and the United States. Junior Leagues are educational and charitable women's organizations aimed at improving their communities through volunteerism and...

. Mary was the daughter of railroad magnate, E.H. Harriman and sister to W. Averell Harriman
W. Averell Harriman
William Averell Harriman was an American Democratic Party politician, businessman, and diplomat. He was the son of railroad baron E. H. Harriman. He served as Secretary of Commerce under President Harry S. Truman and later as the 48th Governor of New York...

, former New York State Governor and United States Diplomat.

Early life

Mary Harriman Rumsey was born on November 17, 1881, the oldest of six children to railroad industrialist, E.H. Harriman and his wife Mary Averell Harriman. Mary attended Barnard College
Barnard College
Barnard College is a private women's liberal arts college and a member of the Seven Sisters. Founded in 1889, Barnard has been affiliated with Columbia University since 1900. The campus stretches along Broadway between 116th and 120th Streets in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in the borough...

 where she specialized in Sociology.

The Junior League

Inspired by a lecture on the settlement movement, Mary along with several friends began volunteering at the College Settlement on Rivington Street in New York City's Lower East Side
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....

, a large immigrant enclave. Through her work at the College Settlement, Mary became convinced that there was more she could do to help others. Subsequently, Mary and a group of 80 debutantes established the Junior League for the Promotion of Settlement Movements in 1901, while she was still a student at Barnard College. The purpose of the Junior League would be to unite interested debutantes in joining the Settlement Movement in New York City.

Realizing their lack of experience in dealing with the issues that faced people seeking help at the settlement house, Mary and League leaders brought together experts on the Settlement Movement to provide lectures and instruction to Junior League members. With better preparation came greater engagement leading to increased interest in membership by women notable in New York society; members would come to include Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an international...

, Dorothy Whitney Straight
Dorothy Payne Whitney
Dorothy Payne Whitney was an American-born social activist and philanthropist and a member of the prominent Whitney family.-Biography:...

 and Ruth Draper
Ruth Draper
Ruth Draper was an American actress, dramatist and noted diseuse who specialized in character-driven monologues.-Early life and family:...

.

As word of the work of the young Junior League women in New York spread, women throughout the country and beyond formed Junior Leagues in their communities. In time, Leagues would expand their efforts beyond settlement house work to respond to the social, health and educational issues of their respective communities. In 1921, approximately 30 Leagues banded together to form the Association of Junior Leagues of America to provide support to one another. With the creation of the Association, it was Mary that insisted that although it was important for all Leagues to learn from one another and share best practices, each League was ultimately beholden to their respective community and should thus function to serve that community’s needs.

As the twentieth century progressed, more Junior Leagues were formed throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom. Now known as the Association of Junior Leagues International Inc. (AJLI), the organization encompasses 292 member Leagues with over 160,000 members committed to continuing the legacy established by its founder.

Career

In 1933, then President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...

 appointed Mary to chair the Consumer Advisory Board (CAB) of the National Recovery Administration
National Recovery Administration
The National Recovery Administration was the primary New Deal agency established by U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933. The goal was to eliminate "cut-throat competition" by bringing industry, labor and government together to create codes of "fair practices" and set prices...

 (NRA), the first government consumer rights group.

Despite her inexperience, Mary's work with farming cooperatives and belief in the power of cooperation would come to be her greatest assets. Mary would promote the formation of consumer groups across the nation and encouraged these groups to report their grievances to her office. Mary Rumsey's work as chair of the CAB was short-lived as she died on December 18, 1934 from injuries sustained a month earlier in a horseback riding accident.

Mary Rumsey's legacy to New Deal reforms would be continued by her younger brother, W. Averell Harriman
W. Averell Harriman
William Averell Harriman was an American Democratic Party politician, businessman, and diplomat. He was the son of railroad baron E. H. Harriman. He served as Secretary of Commerce under President Harry S. Truman and later as the 48th Governor of New York...

. Averell was encouraged by his older sister to leave his finance job and join her and their friends, the Roosevelts, to advance the goals of the New Deal. Averell joined the NRA, marking the beginning of his political career.

Family life

Mary married sculptor and polo player, Charles Cary Rumsey
Charles Cary Rumsey
Charles Cary Rumsey was an American sculptor and an eight goal polo player.Born in Buffalo, New York, Charles Rumsey was the son of Laurence Dana Rumsey, a successful local businessman. His mother, Jennie Cary Rumsey, was the sister of sculptor, Seward Cary...

, in 1910, shortly after the death of her father. Rumsey had been working at Arden House, creating one of the principal fireplace surrounds as well as other decorative sculpture. Together they had three children, a daughter and two sons. Charles was killed in a car accident in 1922.

Sources

  • Lillian Holmen Mohr. Frances Perkins. North River Press. 1979.
  • Nancy Beth Jackson, Ph. D. . The Junior League: 100 Years of Service. FRP. 2001.
  • Janet Gordon & Diana Reische. The Volunteer Powerhouse. Rutledge Press. 1982.
  • http://www.ajli.org/?nd=history
  • http://www.ajli.org/?nd=famousmembers
  • Barnard College Archives: Notable Alumnae. http://www.barnard.edu/archives/alumnae.html#RUMSEY
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