By Kathi Santora, Maryland Women’s Heritage Center volunteer

B & O Railroad president John W. Garrett recognized the intelligence and business sense of his daughter, Mary Elizabeth Garrett, early on. Mr. Garrett included her in meetings and world-wide travel. He taught her that philanthropy can effect change. Ms. Garrett funded the Bryn Mawr School for Girls in 1885. With promise of a large donation, she also convinced Johns Hopkins University to admit women to its new medical school in 1893. She then devoted her time and wealth to Baltimore’s suffrage movement for years. Susan B. Anthony and other activists stayed in her Mt. Vernon home when the 1906 National American Woman Suffrage Association met in Baltimore.

A Biographical Sketch of Mary Elizabeth Garrett, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, accessed 01/12/20

Mary Elizabeth Garrett, Wikipedia, accessed 01/12/20

Mary Elizabeth Garrett, Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame, accessed 01/12/20