Mary Risteau
Mary Risteau | |
---|---|
Maryland House of Delegates | |
In office 1951–1955 | |
Constituency | Harford County |
Maryland Senate | |
In office 1935–1937 | |
Preceded by | Abram G. Ensor |
Succeeded by | J. Wilmer Cronin |
Constituency | Harford County |
Maryland House of Delegates | |
In office 1931–1935 | |
Constituency | Harford County |
In office 1922–1926 | |
Constituency | Harford County |
Personal details | |
Born | Mary Eliza Watters Risteau April 24, 1890 Towson, Maryland, U.S. |
Died | July 24, 1978 Jarrettsville, Maryland, U.S. | (aged 88)
Resting place | William Watters Memorial Church Cemetery |
Political party | Democratic |
Alma mater | Towson University University of Baltimore School of Law (LLB) |
Occupation |
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Mary Eliza Watters Risteau (April 24, 1890 – July 24, 1978) was an
Early life
Mary Eliza Watters Risteau was born in Towson, Maryland on April 24, 1890, to Elizabeth (née Watters) and William M. Risteau.[3][4] She graduated from Towson High School in 1907.[3][2][5] In 1912, she graduated from Towson University (then the Maryland State Normal School).[4] She completed a special advanced course of study in Mathematics at Johns Hopkins University in 1917 before serving as a schoolteacher.[2] In 1938, Risteau received her L.L.B. Degree from the University of Baltimore School of Law.[2][6] In 1917, she moved to Eden Manor, the Watters family dairy farm, a property her mother inherited in Jarrettsville.[4][6]
Political career
In 1921, Risteau, a Democrat, became the first woman elected to the Maryland House of Delegates and served four terms (1922-1926 and 1931–1935) followed by an election to the Maryland Senate in 1935 for a single term.[1][2][7][8] She ran for the Senate first in 1926 but lost to A. G. Ensor.[8][9] She served on several committees while in the Senate, including the Committee on Education and the Committee on Agriculture, during her time in the General Assembly, and she was a strong sponsor of women's rights.[2] She sided with the "wet forces" and served on the Senate Temperance Committee and spoke out against Prohibition.[2][10] In 1944, she ran against incumbent Harry Streett Baldwin for Maryland's 2nd congressional district.[11]
Concurrent to her role as a legislator, she served as the first woman on the Maryland State Board of Education for 16 years.
In 1951, she was elected one final time to the House of Delegates, where she served for another four years.[2][12]
Awards and legacy
In 1987, she was posthumously inducted into Towson High School's Alumni Hall of Fame.[5] In 1988, she was posthumously inducted into Maryland Women's Hall of Fame.[12]
The Mary E. W. Risteau Multi Services Center, a
Personal life
Risteau never married.[4] She was known as "Miss Mary" by contemporaries.[4]
Death
She died on July 24, 1978, at her dairy farm in Jarrettsville at the age of 88.[10] She is buried at William Watters Memorial Church Cemetery in Jarrettsville.[14]
References
- ^ a b "Forgotten Fight (Virtual Exhibit) – 1921/1935". mdhs.org. Maryland Historical Society. Archived from the original on May 8, 2021. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Women Wielding Power-Maryland". National Women's History Museum. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e Maryland Commission for Women. "Mary Riseau". msa.maryland.gov. Maryland State Archives. Retrieved March 22, 2015.
- ^ Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Towson High School - Alumni Hall of Fame". Towson High School. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
- ^ a b c Sturgill, Erika Queensbury (March 9, 2016). "Mary E.W. Risteau was Harford's political trailblazer". Cecil Daily. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
- ^ "Historical List, Senate, Harford County (1838-1966)". Maryland Manual On-Line. Maryland State Archives. September 30, 1999. Retrieved November 30, 2022.
- ^ Newspapers.com.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ Newspapers.com.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Mary E.W. Risteau (1890-1978)". Maryland State Archives. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
- ^ "HARFORD COUNTY, MARYLAND - DISTRICT COURT". Maryland Manual On-Line. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
- ^ a b "Mary Eliza Watters Risteau (1890 - 1978)". mdwomensheritagecenter.org. Retrieved May 8, 2021.