Brewer, Mary Grey

Mary G. Brewer ran for the New York State Senate as the Socialist candidate from Staten Island. On September 1, 1918, The New York Tribune profiled her in a feature on women candidates in the then-upcoming election. The New York Tribune wrote that, Brewer had "more than a Chinaman's chance" of being elected. Additionally, she had been designated to take the place of George Cromwell. She lost to the Democratic candidate, but received more votes than the Socialist and Prohibitionist candidates. Her only opponent in the primary was another female candidate, Helen F. McKelvey. In June 1918, Brewer participated in a silent protest for suffrage, which had been organized by the College Equal Suffrage League. At this event, which had been organized by graduates of Bryn Mawr College, Brewer joined women from prominent colleges. They donned their caps and gowns and entered the Federal Building, over which Justice Augustus Noble Hand presided. Brewer was also actively for the War and taught citizenship classes in New York City.I Prior to her election, and throughout U.S. involvement in World War I (1917-1918), she worked for the Women's Overseas Hospitals which was supported by the National American Woman's Suffrage Association.