Year Honored: 1995
Birth: 1921 - 2020
Born in: California
Biography
Mae Riedy Carter earned a bachelor’s in home economics from the University of California-Berkeley in 1943 and during World War II she worked in the defense industry. She later met and married Bob Carter, who worked at a refinery, and the two moved to Delaware. Carter and her husband had two daughters, and Carter took an active role in her children’s PTA groups. She also became heavily involved in the American Association of College Women and helped to organize the Friends of the Newark Library (established 1966). In recognition of her library work, Carter was named one of four “bookends” for the Newark Library.
As her children got older, Carter took a part-time position in 1956 at the University of Delaware Extension Program, where she saw the devesting effects of divorce on women who suddenly had no income and no marketable skills. She successfully lobbied for the university to offer programs to serve the needs of adult women, which became known as the ‘Great Expectations for Women’ Program and focused on small group discussion. This work led Carter into helping to create the University of Delaware’s Office of Women’s Affairs which promoted women’s equality. As one colleague said, “Mae Carter was in it to win it for the women of UD.”
In 1974, Carter was appointed chair of the University of Delaware’s newly formed ‘Commission on the Status of Women.’ She worked with the university president, Edward Arthur Trabant, to become the major force of change. Trabant was sympathetic towards women’s issues, especially as his wife had been denied entrance into graduate school. Together, they mandated the hiring of more woman professors, especially outside the traditional spheres of home economics and education and worked towards the creation of the Women’s Studies Program. Though “women’s studies” were mocked by men in academia, Carter encouraged the English and History Departments to teach classes on women. As had become her formula, she “gathered the facts, determined who held the power, then strategically used those facts to convince those powerful people – preferably over sandwiches – that her views were unassailable.” She also addressed some of the concerns of the women on campus, such as unequal benefits, increased safety measures, and gynecological services at Student Health.
Carter wrote proposals asking for more funding from the university, and eventually was able to create the Office of Women’s Affairs, which remains on campus but is now known as the Office of Equity and Inclusion. She worked as the Assistant Provost in the office. One of her proudest accomplishments was the establishment of the Women’s Studies Department, which took almost 40 years. Carter said, “you need to look in the mirror and know that what you’re doing is what you should be doing.”
Carter’s house was built off her own designs. She and her husband, Bob, traveled to 140 countries, and all seven continents. She has been awarded the University Medal of Distinction (1998), named in the World’s Who’s Who, and a number of scholarships were named in her honor.
When Carter died in 2020, University of Delaware Professor, Anne Boylan remembered her as “a feminist before the term entered common parlance. Her commitment to the advancement of women did not require a name. She believed in women’s abilities and supported their achievements in many areas of endeavor, but especially in leadership roles. Margaret Stetz, the Mae and Robert Carter Professor Women’s Studies at the university, said, “Mae Carter never compromised on her feminist principles [and] always made sure that she was putting women’s interests first. Almost singlehandedly, she raised the profile of UD as a place for cutting-edge scholarship and teaching about women’s issues.”
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Sources and Additional Readings
Friends of the Newark Free Library Records . Manuscript and Archival Collection Finding Aids . (n.d.). Retrieved January 12, 2022, from https://library.udel.edu/special/findaids/view?docId=ead%2Fmss0592.xml%3Bquery
In Memoriam: Mae Riedy Carter. UDaily. (n.d.). Retrieved January 12, 2022, from https://www.udel.edu/udaily/2020/december/in-memoriam-mae-riedy-carter-advocate-for-women/
Mae Riedy Carter Obituary (2021) The News Journal. Legacy.com. (n.d.). Retrieved January 12, 2022, from https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/delawareonline/name/mae-carter-obituary?pid=197414198
Meet mae Carter: UD Magazine: UDaily. Meet Mae Carter | UD Magazine | UDaily. (n.d.). Retrieved January 12, 2022, from https://www.udel.edu/udaily/2020/december/mae-carter-profile/
Richards, R. H. (1976, October 11). Carter, Mae. UDSpace Home. Retrieved January 12, 2022, from https://udspace.udel.edu/handle/19716/20040
University of Delaware. Department of Women and Gender Studies. (2011, July 19). Carter, Mae 2011 July 19. UDSpace Home. Retrieved January 12, 2022, from https://udspace.udel.edu/handle/19716/12704
- Collections: 1995, Delaware Women Firsts