Mary Shotwell Ingraham


Mary Shotwell Ingraham was an American social reformer and the founder of the United Service Organizations. She was the first woman to receive the Medal for Merit award.

Early life

Ingraham was born in Brooklyn, New York, on January 5, 1887. She was daughter of Henry Titus Shotwell and Alice Wyman Shotwell.

Mid life and education

Ingraham attended and graduated from Vassar College in 1908 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. She received the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from Wesleyan University in 1958 and also from Columbia University in 1961.

Awards

Ingraham was the president of the Brooklyn Young Women's Christian Association from 1922 to 1939. She was president of the National Board of the YWCA from 1940 to 1946 and involved with the YWCA's war work and interracial efforts. Ingraham was founder in 1941 of the United Service Organizations, more often referred to as the USO. She inspired and promoted USO shows and entertainment for service people during World War II. She was given the United States Medal for Merit in 1946 by President Harry Truman for her work, the first woman to receive this award. The award is the highest Presidential award given to civilians for outstanding service related to the military.

Family

Ingraham married Henry Andrews Ingraham, a lawyer, on October 28, 1908. They lived in Brooklyn, New York. One of their children was Mary Alice Ingraham Bunting-Smith, also known as "Polly", the first woman to be appointed to serve on the United States Atomic Energy Commission. The other children were Henry Gardner Ingraham, Winifred Andrews Ingraham and David Ingraham.

Religion

Ingraham was a Quaker from an ancestral line of Quakers.

Death

Ingraham died in Huntington, Long Island, New York, on April 16, 1981.