Mary Winton PulleyMary Winton Pulley was born near Pittsboro, in Calhoun County, Mississippi, on January 1, 1885. She was the daughter of Robert Anderson and Mary Lucinda Murphy Pulley, both of Calhoun County, Mississippi. Educated in the schools of Clay and Calhoun counties, Mary also received training and education from the Industrial Institute and College, Mississippi Agricultural and Mechanical College, the University of Mississippi, and Cedar Rapids Business College. She taught school in Pilgrims Rest, Mississippi (1903-1904); Durant, Mississippi (1904-1907); and West Point, Mississippi (1908-1917) where she was both a teacher and a principal for two years.In 1918 Mary Pulley came to Mississippi Normal College as an instructor in penmanship. Over the next ten years she became records secretary (1924) and assistant registrar (1927). Mary received her Bachelor of Science degree from Mississippi Southern College in August of 1929 and became College Registrar in 1931. Mary was active in many professional organizations. She was a member of the American Association of University Women (AAUW); she helped organize the Mississippi Association of College Registrars and served one term as president. She was also active in the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, serving on various committees and appearing on many programs for the association. Mary was a member of Main Street Methodist Church, the John Rolfe Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Daughters of the American Colonists, the Daughters of the Founders and Patriots of America, Delta Kappa Gamma, and the Review Club. She was instrumental in bringing sororities to the campus and was a charter member and first sponsor of Beta Delta Chapter of Alpha Sigma Alpha. For eleven years Mary served on the board of directors of the Forrest County Chapter, American Red Cross, and during World War II she was active in the Canteen Corps at Camp Shelby. In 1953 Mary became Director of Correspondence Study and on June 30, 1953, she worked her last day at Mississippi Southern College. She had been affiliated with the institution for 35 years. She spent much of her retirement with her family and pursued traveling and genealogical interests. Mary Pulley died of heart problems on May 14, 1956, in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. |