Born: 30 July or June 1901, Bahamas
Died: 26 March 1982
Country most active: Bahamas
Also known as: May Ingraham
Bahamian suffragist Mary “May” Ingraham was the founding president of the Bahamas Women’s Suffrage Movement, as well as a businesswoman who owned properties and ran a store.
Described as strong-willed and intelligent, Mary became actively involved in politics in the late 1940s. When her husband, Rufus, lost re-election as a member of parliament in 1949, Mary believed his chances of having won would have been much higher if women could vote. With her friend Mabel Walker (the wife of another MP), she began working publicly for women’s suffrage, founding the Women’s Suffrage Movement with Walker, Georgianna Symonette (the organisation’s vice-president and later chairman of the Women’s Branch of the PLP), Eugenia Lockhart, Althea Mortimer and Muriel Eneas in 1950. As a former Daughter Ruler of the Elks of the World and Past Matron of the Order of Eastern Stars, Ingraham was able to use her extensive social connections to rally support for the cause.
Women gained the right to vote and serve in elected office in the legislature in 1962.
On October 10, 2012, the Bahamas Post Office issued commemorative stamps, titled 50th Anniversary of Women Suffrage. Each of the six stamps bore the portrait of a prominent suffragist: Mary Ingraham (15¢),Georgianna Symonette (25¢), Mabel Walker (50¢), Eugenia Lockhart (65¢), Dame Alberta Isaacs (70¢) and Dame Doris Johnson (80¢).