Mary Clark Sturtevant

Mary Clark Sturtevant was an author, suffragette, philanthropist, and preservationist. In 1882, she founded the Berkeley Memorial Chapel in Newport. Her father, the Reverend Thomas March Clark, Bishop of Rhode Island (1854-1903), often preached in the chapel and her granddaughter was married there in 1933. Mary wrote a pamphlet titled “An Answer to Common Objections to Woman's Suffrage” in 1913. It was read before the Newport County Women's Suffrage League on March 16 of that year. Two of her daughters, Helena Sturtevant and Louisa Sturtevant, were accomplished artists. Another daughter, Alice Sturtevant Howard, authored The Seaman’s Handbook for Shore Leave in 1920 and organized the American Merchant Marine Library Association the following year.