To celebrate Women's History Month, Historic Linthicum Walks hosted Mary Margaret Revell-Goodwin, Maryland woman extraordinaire.
Mary Margaret shared some of the highlights of her life. She was diagnosed with Polio early in life. After recovery, she began to swim to build up her strength again and went on to break several records like swimming from Malibu to Santa Monica in just over 8 hours. She swam in the Black Sea and the Straits of Gibraltar and went on to set another record as the first person to swim a round trip across the Straits of Messina.
After a reoccurring bout with Polio, she took to running. She became the first American to run across all 2,000 miles of Japan, north to south. She ran the length of the Himalayan Mountains when she was 48 years old.
Mary Margaret then retired to Queen Anne's County where she is now the CEO and President of the Maryland Museum of Women's History. Mary Margaret shared information about two Maryland women from history.
She spoke about Anna Ella Carroll, a descendant of Charles Carroll of Carrolton, the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence. As an American activist, Anna played a significant role as an adviser to the Abraham Lincoln presidential cabinet during the civil war. It is said that she should be credited with General Grant's plans to attack Fort Henry and Fort Donelson on the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. She, herself, has published books and pamphlets and many books have been written about her.
Mary Margaret also talked about another Maryland women whose life paralleled Anna Ella Carroll's, Mary Edwardine. Mary Edwardine Bourke Emory’s writings helped preserve the legacy and history of Maryland’s Eastern Shore. After losing her family’s historic home, Bloomfield Manor, Emory wrote “Colonial Families of the Eastern Shore History” in 1900. Her book documented the changes, politics, and economy of the Eastern Shore at the time. She was able to earn enough money from her book to regain ownership of her family home from the county.
Emory was not a traditional activist, but at the time, her journey was still new to many women. The example she made of earning her own income, independent from men, to raise a family, and save her home shows the heart of the work we do to allow women to write their own destinies.
