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Mary Caroline (Parker) Converse
Personal Information
Born: 1872
Died: 1961
Country of Birth: USA
Nationality: USA
Ethnicity: White
Education
US Merchant Marine Academy Second Class Pilot's License; Washington Technical Institute Unlimited Tonnage Masters License 1940
"“Strange as it may seem I have not qualms about setting out on a new adventure alone . . . There are always such conflicting emotions when I decide to travel, because I love my home and hate to leave, but when I hear the call of the sea somehow it drowns out every other sound and I yield and set my course seaward. From mountains to sea – how I love them both.” (historicwomensouthcoast.org); "
— Mary Caroline (Parker) Converse
Professional Life
Field of Study: Naval Navigation
Institution/Corporation: US Merchant Marine
Degrees & Memberships: Member: Boston Chapter American Red Cross, High Altitude Observatory, Marion Women's Club
Awards & Achievements
Awards: Cross of Mercy, King of Serbs, Croats & Slovenes
Achievements: 1940 1st female to earn captains papers in the US Merchant Marines; during WWII taught navigation & seamanship to Naval Reserve officers; helped establish a fund to enable the Boston Opera to provide reduced priced tickets for lower income youths; during WW1 wrote a pamphlet, "A Little American Soldiers' & Sailors' Diary" for US military members (also distributed to 3,000 Serbian troops), helped assemble soldiers' grooming kits, worked to improve conditions for POWs & joined the US Navy ambulance corps; between 1938 & 1940 logged over 33,700 miles at sea as a navigator; wrote "113 Days on Iron Decks, A Voyage of Rediscovery" based on her daily logs of her 1938 journey on the SS Henry S. Grove; wrote "Again We Sail" an account of her 1939 voyage on the SS Lewis Luckenback from New York through the Panama Canal to San Francisco
also known as Captain Mary Parker Converse, was the first woman to be commissioned by the United States Merchant Marine (USMM)
a noted philanthropist
wrote poetry & plays and composed music
Father was lineal descendant of an American Revolutionary War Patriot & victims of the Salem witch trials (Rebecca Nurse, Sarah Cloyce & Mary Easty)
married Harry Converse, her childhood sweetheart, in 1891
Harry worked for his father, President of the Boston Rubber Shoe company (later US Rubber) & very rich
they separated when she was 38 because he was drinking & unfaithful
she & their 5 children moved to Boston & were amply provided for by trust funds Harry established
they never divorced & she inherited his estate when he died in 1920
she wrote the music for Stuart Walker's "Six who Pass While the Lentils boil
taught herself to read & speak Russian
moved to Denver in 1923 & spent 20 years supporting a range of civic, arts & other community organizations including the Denver Symphony Orchestra
attended US Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point NY & earned her 2nd class pilot's license
earned the rank of Captain in the Merchant Marine at age 68
Post-war became interested in astronomy & solar research & became a patron of the High Altitude Observatory (HAO)
donated funds to HAO to provide a room & planned their annual scientific dinners that became known as "Captain Mary Dinners"
1957-60 held the honorary post of research associate at HAO
at one point turned her dining room into a classroom for 125 cadets
by Christmas 1960 had 56 great-grandchildren