Mary McClure Hutchinson Martin
An Unusual Humanitarian
Mary Annette McClure was born to William and Annie McClure on January 22, 1891 in LaGrange, Georgia. When McClure was a young girl her family moved to Shuqualak, Mississippi.2 In 1907, she graduated from Industrial Institute and College (now Mississippi University for Women, MUW) in Columbus, Mississippi with a Bachelor of Arts Degree and a Music Diploma.3 Mary McClure married William Nelson Hutchinson on November 10, 1910 and became Mary McClure Hutchinson;4 they had four children: William Nelson Hutchinson Jr. (1911-1991), James Dudley Hutchinson (1913-1967), Mary Evans Hutchinson (1914-1997), and May Overbey Hutchinson (1916-1998.)
Despite being married, Mary Hutchinson continued to have a professional career, and even obtained a Master's degree in education from Columbia University. Her husband died in 1942, but Hutchinson had already established herself as a pillar of the community and a dedicated professional educator by then. Through the 1920s and 1930s, she held positions in primary schools and universities and proved herself a leader in local and regional education policy.5 In 1942, Hutchinson was faced with a dilemma. She inherited a 600-acre farm after her husbands death. She could not possibly keep the farm operation by herself, and she believed the work of local African American sharecroppers to be unsatisfactory.6 This prompted Hutchinson to sponsor displaced persons from Europe. From 1949 to 1951, Hutchinson was in contact with at least nine families and individuals from Czechoslovakia, Germany, Austria, and Poland among others. Hutchinson began welcoming families in October 1949. The families planted crops, cared for livestock, and generally managed the farm. While this short portion of Mary Hutchinson's life may seem insignificant, it was likely one of her most influential times; it meant a new life to the families she sponsored.
Mary Hutchinson's life after she sponsored displaced persons continued much as it had before. She remained active in the education community and in Columbus, though not as active as she had once been. On April 3, 1965, at seventy-four years old, Hutchinson married James A. Martin Jr. of Biloxi, Mississippi. Mary McClure Hutchinson Martin died on March 16, 1972 and is buried in Friendship Cemetery in Lowndes County, MS.7
Mary McClure Hutchinson Martin, 1891-1972
Sources
1. Mary McClure Hutchinson Martin. Local History Vertical Files. Billups-Garth Archive, Columbus-Lowndes Public Library (Miss.).
2.Ibid. Vertical File
3.“1900 United States Federal Census,” database, Ancestry, accessed November 5, 2017, entry for Mary Hutchinson, Columbus, Lowndes, Mississippi.
4. Mississippi. Chancery Court (Lowndes Co.). General Docket Records. Case #4043. Billups-Garth Archive, Columbus-Lowndes Public Library (Miss.).
5. Ibid. Vertical File.
6.“Letters Concerning Displaced Persons: Zadurowicz Family 1949,” Manuscript, MS 459 Mary McClure Hutchinson Martin Letters, 1945-1954, Billups-Garth Archives, Columbus Lowndes Public Library (Miss.).
7. Control File, MS 459 Mary McClure Hutchinson Martin, 1950s, Billups-Garth Archive, Columbus-Lowndes Public Library (Miss.).
*All photos courtesy of the Local History Department at the Columbus-Lowndes Public Library
1
Mary Annette McClure at six months old. Circa 1891.
Mary McClure at sixteen years old. Circa 1907.
Mary McClure Hutchinson at thirty-four years old. Circa 1925.