| The conclusion
begins with a discussion of Mary Seman's political career after
she won the election for the Durham City Council. Her involvement
with the precinct meeting, which initiated black voter registration,
inspired suggestions that she run for a council seat. In addition,
groups wanted women to have more of a voice in Durham government,
so Mary and another woman ran for and won seats on the Durham City
Council. Mary and her female counterpart fought hard to keep their
seats among male members who suggested that they "stay home"
during meetings because it made them uncomfortable to discuss issues
with women present. Only a year later she was elected as mayor.
After her mayoral
term was up, she decided to finish her degree and re-enrolled at
Duke University. In 1952, she was selected, as one of five Mothers
of the Year, a nomination that she said was a "wonderful surprise."
The following year, Mary Semans met Dr. James Semans, and they went
on to marry and have four children together. In 1956, Mary's mother
began the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, an enterprise that Mary inherited
after her mother's death. She also inherited responsibility for
the Duke Endowment, a task that engulfed her life to the extent
that her husband later took over the Foundation.
Mary and Dr.
Semans together established several foundations themselves: an art
foundation to promote visual art and help students, a foundation
in Mary's name to help projects that would otherwise be overlooked
by major funders, and the Semans Art Fund at the School of the Arts
to fund students' creative projects. In addition, Dr. Semans funded
a trip abroad for art students to give them a feel for other cultures.
Mary shares
some of the awards that she and her husband received, such as the
Freedom Award from the Hadassa Medical Center, the honorary degree
from the School of the Arts, and the philanthropic award. She talks
about her father's death and how it renewed some of the wounds that
occurred after he left her mother. She also tells a story of bringing
Dr. Semans to meet her father before she married him.
The program
concludes with Mary's explanation of the role of philanthropy and
Duke University in this century. Mary reveals that she hopes Duke's
legacy will be to bring some kind of equality in education between
the rural and urban parts of the state and that the next generation
will care for the underrepresented as she herself has tried to do.
Issues
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