Maria Maud Leonard McCreery (February 24, 1883 – April 10, 1938) was an American suffragist, pacifist, labor activist, educator, and newspaper editor from Wisconsin.

Early life

Maria Maud Leonard was born in

Wauwatosa, Wisconsin Wauwatosa ( ; colloquially Tosa) is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 48,387 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Wauwatosa is a suburb located immediately west of Milwaukee and is part of the Milwa ...

, the daughter of Dr. Sylvester S. Leonard and Annie Riley Leonard. Her father was a

veterinarian A veterinarian (vet) or veterinary surgeon is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, veterinarians also play a role in animal r ...

Career

Maud McCreery was an active suffragist, touring the United States speaking on the topic from 1912 to 1918. She did suffrage organizing and lecturing in Iowa,"Urges Men to Become Suffragists"
''Sioux City Journal'' (January 20, 1916): 11. via

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Pennsylvania, South Dakota, and Nebraska, and was press chair of the Nevada Equal Suffrage Association in 1914. "Women who are now protesting against the ballot are of the same type who years ago fought against the education of their sex," she told an audience in

Olyphant, Pennsylvania Olyphant is a borough in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is northeast of downtown Scranton, on the Lackawanna River in the heart of the anthracite region of the state. Its main source of employment was the mining and shipping ...

, in 1913, adding that "The only real way to find out whether women want the ballot is to give it to them." In 1918, she was legislative chair of the Woman's Party in Milwaukee. "Many people believe that we are bold and unscrupulous," she said of suffragists, countering that "we are just common everyday people working for what we believe is a righteous cause, and we are trying to do it honestly." McCreery also toured nationally as a speaker for the

League to Enforce Peace The League to Enforce Peace was a non-state American organization established in 1915 to promote the formation of an international body for world peace. It was formed at Independence Hall in Philadelphia by American citizens concerned by the outbr ...

. In the 1920s she lived in Chicago and worked for the Federated Press News Service; she also worked for the Wisconsin Anti-Tuberculosis Association and

Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America (ACWA) was a United States labor union known for its support for "social unionism" and progressive political causes. Led by Sidney Hillman for its first thirty years, it helped found the Congress of Indus ...

in Wisconsin. In 1930, she began editing the women's page at the ''

Milwaukee Leader The ''Milwaukee Leader'' was a socialist daily newspaper established in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in December 1911 by Socialist Party leader Victor L. Berger. The paper continued in operation until January 1939, when it was succeeded by the ''Milwau ...

'' newspaper. She was editor of the ''Sheboygan New Deal'' in 1936. She organized women's auxiliaries for the

American Federation of Labor The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutual ...

in 1937, and taught at the School for Workers at the University of Wisconsin.

Personal life

Maud Leonard married lawyer Rex Irving McCreery in 1902; the marriage ended in divorce in 1918. She married carpenter James Walter Walker as her second husband in 1923; they divorced in 1931. She died in a Milwaukee hotel in 1938, aged 55 years. In 1945, the Maud McCreery Lodge was founded in Milwaukee, named in memory of McCreery by the Ladies' Auxiliary of the machinists' union local.

References

1883 births 1938 deaths Suffragists from Wisconsin American newspaper editors People from Cedarburg, Wisconsin {{DEFAULTSORT:McCreery, Maud Leonard