Mary McClure Hutchinson Martin
An Unusual Humanitarian
Photo Collection
Windolph was born on May 7, 1912 in Berlin, Germany. When he was born, his father was living in the United States, so he was raised by a German family. He had primary and secondary education as well as special training as a locksmith. In 1942, Windolph was taken prisoner by German forces as a civilian internee. During that time he was trained as a plumber, carpenter, and mechanic. Though he had many skills and much training, Windolph was not a farmer and he was a single man. These factors set him apart from those Mary Hutchinson chose to sponsor.
Alois Mayer was born on November 13, 1895. He fought in World War I, where he was taken prisoner by Russian forces.
The Kosinska Family1
Stanislaw Kosinska was born in Zelaskow, Poland on November 30, 1919. He was taken prisoner by German forces in 1944.
The Mayer Family2
Hans Fr. Windolph3
Hutchinson Farm House 5
The Hutchinson farm house was located twelve miles north of Columbus, in Lowndes County Mississippi. The home was built around 1826 by Taylor Nelson. Much of the land that belonged to the Hutchinson family was taken over by the United States Air Force when the Air Corps Advanced Flying School, now Columbus Air Force Base, was built in 1941.
Tatiana Kosinska was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia on December 23, 1924. She spoke seven languages and taught English in various displaced persons camps.
George Kosinska was two years old when he came to the United States with his parents and fourteen month old sister Irene, in 1951.
Beatrice Mayer was born on September 24, 1899. She and Alois had three children that she cared for.
Stephanie Mayer was born on December 4, 1933. She had an eighth grade education and her mother had taught her housekeeping.
It is harder to tell the Mayer family's story simply because there is less information. They seem like a family that would make it through Mary Hutchinson's vetting system, but they are only recorded in two letters and no replies from Hutchinson are on record.
The Kosinska family represent what seems to be a perfect fit for Mary Hutchinson. Stanislaw Kosinska's father was a farmer, and Stanislaw himself had studied agriculture in college. Tatiana Kosinska was a highly educated teacher and found much common ground with Hutchinson. However, for some reason that is not explicit in their correspondents, the Kosinska family ended up at Reed Farm in Valley State, New York
Little is known about the Ecker family. Mary Hutchinson did not believe she could care for a family of this size and therefore did not sponsor their entrance into the United States.
The Ecker Family4
Benno Ecker is pictured here with his wife. They were experienced dairy farmers living in a displaced persons camp in Germany with two of their four children.
The Ecker's two oldest children, four and a half years old and fifteen months old. The family's two youngest children were not living with them at the time these photographs were taken.
1. “Letters Concerning Displaced Persons: Kosinska Family 1950,” Manuscript, MS 459 Mary McClure Hutchinson Martin Letters, 1945-1954, Billups Garth Archives, Columbus-Lowndes Public Library (Miss.).
2. “Letters Concerning Displaced Persons: Mayer Family 1950-1951,” Manuscript, MS 459 Mary McClure Hutchinson Martin Letters, 1945-1954, Billups Garth Archives, Columbus-Lowndes Public Library (Miss.).
3. "Letters Concerning Displaced Persons: Hans Fr. Windolph 1950," Manuscript, MS 459 Mary McClure Hutchinson Martin Letters, 1945-1954, Billups Garth Archives, Columbus-Lowndes Public Library (Miss.).
4. "Letters Concerning Displaced Persons: Ecker Family 1950,"Manuscript, MS 459 Mary McClure Hutchinson Martin Letters, 1945-1954, Billups Garth Archives, Columbus-Lowndes Public Library (Miss.).
5. "Source Material or Mississippi History Lowndes County Volume 44 - Part I," 68.
*All photos courtesy of the Local History Department at the Columbus-Lowndes Public Library