Year Honored: 1981

Birth: 1920 - 2006

Biography

President of the Mancus Foundation for more than 50 years, co-founder Mary Ann Wright was said to have embodied its vision of helping those with disabilities help themselves. Since she founded the organization in 1948 with Agnes Peronne, Wright was the driving force behind fundraising efforts to buy, renovate, and maintain the building used as a permanent center for the foundation.

The Mancus Foundation provides guidelines for other disability rights groups to plan for removal of architectural barriers into buildings for the handicapped, as well as offering classes in its specially equipped kitchen, bingo, and square dancing.

Wright had cerebral palsy, and never walked. The Mancus Foundation, along with the Governor’s Committee for Employment of People with Disabilities, of which Wright was a member, was a pioneer in the field of specialized transportation. By providing specially equipped vans with hydraulic tail gates for wheelchair users, Wright was able to help hundreds of Delawareans with physical disabilities travel for business, school, and pleasure. In addition, Wright chaired the Architectural Barrier Task Force and worked under five Delaware governors as a champion for people with disabilities.
Wright was also a charter member of the Insurance Women of Delaware, and the Delaware Association of Independent Insurance Agents, where she held a successful insurance career.

For her leadership in passing legislation requiring the removal of architectural barriers, Wright received numerous awards; the 1953 Who’s Handicapped Award for outstanding adjustment to a severe disability; the first ever Women of Achievement Award given by the Delaware Federation of Business and Professional Women in 1962; named one of ‘Delaware Today’s’ “30 Most Important Women in 1973; and in 1977 was selected for ‘The News Journals, “10 Most Distinguished Delawareans.”
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Sources and Additional Readings

Delaware Commission for Women. (2006). Twenty-Fifth Anniversary: Hall of Fame of Delaware Women: The Legacy Endures.

Our founders • The Mancus Foundation of Delaware, Inc. The Mancus Foundation of Delaware, Inc. (n.d.). Retrieved October 7, 2021, from https://mancus.org/our-founders/.