Mary Ingraham

Bahamian suffragist

For the American social reformer and the founder of the United Service Organizations, see Mary Shotwell Ingraham.

Mary Ingraham

Bahamas postage stamp,
issued October 10, 2012

Born|

Mary Naomi Mason

(1901-06-30)June 30, 1901

Nassau, Bahamas

Died| March 26, 1982(1982-03-26) (aged 80)

Nassau, Bahamas

Nationality| The Bahamas
Occupation| Suffragist
Spouse| Rufus Harcourt Ingraham

Mary "May" Ingraham (30 July or June 1901 – 26 March 1982) was a Bahamian suffragist who, among other things, was the founding president of the Bahamas Women's Suffrage Movement.[1]

## Suffragist

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Along with Georgianna Symonette, Eugenia Lockhart and Mabel Walker, Ingraham founded the Women's Suffrage Movement.[1][2]

In 1962, women gained the right to vote and serve in elected office in the legislature. By 1967 black women had organized themselves into a strong voting block that contributed to the Progressive Liberal Party's win and eventually Majority rule.[1]

## Recognition

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Mary Ingraham Intergenerational Care Centre – in Nassau at St. Vincent Road and Faith Avenue – is named for Ingraham. The centre is under the purview of the Department of Social Services and Community Development within the Bahamas Ministry of Social Services and Urban Development and is operated by the South Bahamas Conference of the Inter-American Division of Seventh-day Adventists.

The Bahamas Post Office, on October 10, 2012, issued commemorative panes – six different postage stamps per pane, titled 50th Anniversary of Women Suffrage (two rows, clockwise, from the top left):

1. Mary Ingraham – 15¢
2. Georgianna Symonette (1902–1965) – 25¢
3. Mabel Walker (1902–1987) – 50¢
4. Eugenia Lockhart (1908– ??) – 65¢
5. Dame Alberta Isaacs – 70¢
6. Dame Doris Johnson (1921–1983) – 80¢

...  each of the six stamps bearing the portrait of notable women who influenced women's suffrage in The Bahamas.[3]

## Affiliations

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In the past Ingraham was a Daughter Ruler of the Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the World and a Matron of the Prince Hall Order of the Eastern Star.

## Family

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Mary Ingraham was born in the St. Agnes district of Nassau, Bahamas to Ellis H. Mason and his wife Alice Leanora (née Bartlett).

Three of Ingraham's brothers were musicians in the United States:

* Norman Mason (1895–1971), a Dixieland clarinetist, multi-instrumentalist, bandleader;
* Oliver Welock Mason, a trumpeter who, in the 1930s and 1940s, performed with the orchestra for traveling ministrel shows; and
* Henry Morris Mason, a trumpeter who recorded as a sideman for Fannie May Goosby, Cleo Gibson, Blanche Calloway, Leon Abbey, Willie Lewis, Eddie Brunner, and Gene Sedric.[4]

On December 30, 1919, Mary married Rufus Harcourt Ingraham[1] (1900–1967) in Grant's Town, one of the over-the-hill suburbs of Nassau.

## Bibliography

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### Notes

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1. ^ a b c d Hinsey.
2. ^ Williams-Pulfer, p. 1483.
3. ^ Tribune, The, October 9, 2012.
4. ^ Lord, Tom (ed.).

### References

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* Abbott, Lynn (born 1946); Seroff, Doug (2007). Ragged but Right : Black Traveling Shows, 'Coon Songs', and the Dark Pathway to Blues and Jazz. American Made Music Series (1st ed.). Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. p. 382. Retrieved January 22, 2021 - via Google Books.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) OCLC 793384482. LCCN 2006-15009. ISBN 978-1-6170-3645-3, 1-6170-3645-5, 978-1-6047-3148-4; and ISBN 1-6047-3148-6
* "Charles Collier and the Silas Green Company ...". Pittsburgh Courier (newspaper advertisement). Vol. 31, no. 52\. December 28, 1940. p. 22. Retrieved January 22, 2021 - via Newspapers.com....&rft.volume=31&rft.issue=52&rft.pages=22&rft.date=1940-12-28&rft_id=https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=4695150&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Mary+Ingraham" class="Z3988">
* Hinsey, Shananda M. "Women Suffrage: Suffrage Women". LibGuides (Libraries' Research Guides). Nassau: University of the Bahamas. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
* "Honouring the Heroes of Suffrage". The Tribune (newspaper). Nassau, Bahamas. October 9, 2012. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
* Lord, Tom (ed.). "Henry Mason". Jazz Discography, The (online ed.). Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada: Lord Music Reference Inc. OCLC 690104143. Retrieved January 22, 2021 (subscription required; accessible at many libraries)
* 1940 United States Census (May 20, 1940). "Mason, Oliver W.". Age: abt. 40 → place of birth: Bahamas → residence: Georgia → Chatham County → Savannah, Tract 7 → 25–8 Militia Districts 13–17 → Enumeration district 25-8 → sheet 24-B → household ID 11 → online image-page no. 48 (of 56) → line 69. Records of the U.S. Census Bureau, record group 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved January 21, 2021 - via FamilySearch.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) NARA publication no. T627; digital folder no. 5460974; microfilm image no. 310.
* Williams-Pulfer, Kim (June 2016). "When Bain Town Woman Catch a Fire, Even the Devil Run". Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations. 27 (3). Springer Science+Business Media: 1472–1493. doi:10.1007/s11266-015-9630-y. ISSN 1573-7888. JSTOR 43923239. OCLC 1186439078 (all editions) (Note: William-Pulfer, in 2018, completed her PhD at Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis).