Year Honored: 1985

Birth: 1860 - 1925

Born in: Pennsylvania

Biography

Mary H. Askew Mather was born in Pennsylvania in 1860 to Joseph M. Mather, an insurance agent, and Frances E. Askew Mather, the daughter of a prominent Delaware Physician. Mather graduated from the all-women Smith College in 1883. By all accounts she was a popular student and an avid tennis player.

In 1885, Mather moved to Wilmington and became increasingly involved in various activist and educational movements. She was involved in the Temperance Movement, the local Young Women’s Christian Association, and the Citizen’s Committee, an organization that taught English to immigrants.

Mather became very involved with the New Century Club, who stood by their motto of ‘not for ourselves alone,’ advocating for advancements in education, healthcare, and environmental conservation.” Mather served as President of the Organization from 1896 to 1898. The New Century Club was also an advocate for suffrage. Mather composed the music for a song titled ‘The Little Yellow Rose of Equal Suffrage,’ referencing the movement’s adoption of yellow as their symbol, and specifically the jonquil and yellow rose. In an interview with the Wilmington Morning News, Mather said of her reason for wanting suffrage, “I believe in women’s suffrage first because I am an American. I love my country and my country’s flag. I pick up the greatest document in the land and I have no rights under it. I am an alien in Pennsylvania, the state of my birth, where the declaration of Independence was adopted.”

During this time, Mather also met her lifelong partner and fellow activist, Alice P. Smyth. Together, the two women strongly campaigned for the funding to support a Women’s College at the University of Delaware through the Delaware Association of College Women, of which Mather was a founder and the first President. After funding was approved in 1914, Smyth and Mather donated a large collection of books for the Browsing Room, funded the Mather-Smyth Scholarship for incoming freshmen, as well as provided for an instructor of art history for a year. In recognition of their contribution’s, Smyth Hall at the university is named for Alice.

Mather’s greatest contribution was arguably that of funding for multiple libraries around the state. She funded the Acorn Libraries at various rural schools, the Voyager’s Library in the state prison, traveling libraries, and the Lantern Library. When Mather died in 1925, Alice Smyth dedicated the New Castle Free Library to her partner as a memorial.
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Sources and Additional Readings

Biographical sketch of Mary H. Askew Mather. Biographical Sketch of Mary H. Askew Mather | Alexander Street Documents. (n.d.). Retrieved January 10, 2022, from https://documents.alexanderstreet.com/d/1009860187

"The little yellow rose of equal suffrage" [sheet music]. music by Mary H. Askew Mather; music by E. Rose Reese Ort. copyright E. Rose Reese Ort, 1916. inscribed by the composer, "compliments of E.R.R.O., August 15, 1915." courtesy of delaware historical society. Votes for Delaware Women. (n.d.). Retrieved January 10, 2022, from https://exhibitions.lib.udel.edu/votes-for-delaware-women/exhibition-item/the-little-yellow-rose-of-equal-suffrage-sheet-music-music-by-mary-h-askew-mather-music-by-e-rose-reese-ort-copyright-e-rose-reese-ort-1916-inscribed-by-the-composer/

New Century Club. Delaware Public Archives - State of Delaware. (2020, August 1). Retrieved January 10, 2022, from https://archives.delaware.gov/historical-markers-map/new-century-club/

The New Castle County Free Library 1927 – 1933 (Barbara Walker Baumgartner; Excerpt from Delaware History, Vol XIIII, 1986. Pages 46-56)

Songs . Votes for Delaware women. (n.d.). Retrieved January 10, 2022, from https://exhibitions.lib.udel.edu/votes-for-delaware-women/home/4-getting-the-message-out/4b-songs/

U.S Find a Grave Index, 1600s - Current. Join Ancestry. (n.d.). Retrieved January 10, 2022, from https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/434603:9080?pid=&queryId=92b672c04173b8984566d7fbe136b480&_phsrc=THt47&_phstart=successSource

The University of Delaware: A history – chapter 7. University Archives and Records Management. (n.d.). Retrieved January 10, 2022, from https://sites.udel.edu/uarm/the-university-of-delaware-chapter-7/