Mary-Cooke Branch Munford

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Mary-Cooke Branch Munford
Photographic print of Mary-Cooke Branch Munford
Born
Mary-Cooke Branch

(1865-09-15)September 15, 1865
Richmond, Virginia, US
DiedJuly 3, 1938(1938-07-03) (aged 72)
Spouse
Beverley Bland Munford
​
​
(m. 1893; died in 1910)​

Mary-Cooke Branch Munford (September 15, 1865 – July 3, 1938) was a Virginia activist for women's rights, civil rights, women's suffrage, and education.

Life

Mary-Cooke Branch was a native of

Confederate Congress, and nephews included the writer James Branch Cabell and the Episcopal preacher Walter Russell Bowie.[3]

Her father drowned accidentally three years after her birth

Beverley Bland Munford, a lawyer who also was active in social issues.[1] With him she would go on to have two children, Mary Safford in 1895 and Beverley Bland in 1899.[3] In the 1890s she also founded a Saturday Afternoon Club, whose weekly meetings attracted women from the upper echelons of Richmond society. Once she saw that their interest was in discussing refined topics rather than problems of civic life she pulled back her involvement.[1]

Educational reform

Education reform was an area of especial interest to Munford, and one to which she devoted much focus over her life. She held various positions of leadership in the Cooperative Education Association of Virginia, founded in 1903, and was one of five women involved in the foundation of the Richmond Education Association,

Hampton Institute.[1]

Munford had been educated in both Richmond and New York, but regretted the fact that she had not been permitted to attend college despite her deep desire. Consequently, she worked to improve access to higher education for women.

the College of William and Mary to open its doors to women in 1918, and in March 1920 she became the first woman to serve on that school's Board of Visitors. The same year she joined the Richmond School Board, becoming the first woman to sit on that body as well.[1] Munford also worked to improve opportunities for teacher training in the Commonwealth.[4] In 1931 she managed to persuade Richmond's school board to reverse its policy discriminating against married women serving as teachers in the city's schools.[7]

Suffrage and civil rights

Besides educational organizations, Munford was a member of many other clubs and civic groups during her career. These included the Woman's Committee of the Council of National Defense, the Equal Suffrage League of Virginia, the National Municipal League, the National Consumer's League, the National Child Labor Committee, the

Fisk College, and was also active as a trustee for the National Urban League.[4] During World War I she also assisted in national defense efforts.[7]

Following her husband's death in 1910, Munford turned more of her attention to the rights of blacks. She became an advocate of interracial cooperation, taking a paternalistic attitude towards African-Americans in line with that adopted by many of her class in the South.

segregation, but nevertheless worked to provide assistance to underfunded black communities and neighborhoods in Richmond.[1]

Death and legacy

Munford's gravestone in Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia, U.S.

Munford died in Richmond and was buried at Hollywood Cemetery, where her grave marker pays tribute to her legacy as an education reformer. Mary Munford Elementary School in the West End neighborhood of her hometown of Richmond, Virginia was named in her honor;[1] a historical marker detailing her contributions to Virginia education currently stands in front of it.[8] Munford Hall on the campus of the University of Virginia was the school's first female dorm, and today houses a portion of the International Residential College;[9] a former residence hall at William and Mary bears her name as well.[10] Her papers are currently held by the Library of Virginia.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Munford, Mary-Cooke Branch (1865–1938)". encyclopediavirginia.org. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Branch, James Read (1828–1869)". encyclopediavirginia.org. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-0-674-62734-5
    .
  4. ^ a b c d "Mary-Cooke Branch Munford". vahistorical.org. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  5. ^ a b "University of Virginia Library Online Exhibits | All the Hoos in Hooville: 175 Years of Life at the University of Virginia". Explore.lib.virginia.edu. Retrieved 2018-01-29.
  6. ^
    ISBN 9780813934303
    – via Google Books.
  7. ^ a b c "Working Out Her Destiny – Notable Virginia Women – Munford". virginia.gov. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  8. ^ "Mary Cooke-Branch Munford (1865–1938) SA-3 – Marker History". Marker History. Archived from the original on 23 April 2015. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  9. ^ "Beyond the Names". uvamagazine.org. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  10. ^ "Dillard Complex". wm.edu. Archived from the original on 26 August 2015. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  11. ^ "Mary-Cooke Branch Munford Papers (Accession 28142) – The Library of Virginia". virginia.gov. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
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