Social worker and official of the Consumers League of New Jersey; born Mary Lang Dyckman in 1886 in Minnesota, the eldest child of Francis H. and Louise (Heroy) Dyckman; grew up in Orange, Essex County, New Jersey, where her father (who died in 1904) was a miller and a banker; toured Europe with her family at age 16 (and later spent several months in Italy on at least two occasions); was graduated from Miss Beard's School, Orange, in 1905; while in Boston to study music, trained as a (volunteer) visiting case worker for the Boston Associated Charities, 1909-1911; worked as a case work visitor for the Bureau of Associated Charities in Orange, 1911-1912; attended the New York School of Social Work as a part-time student, 1913-1914, while also working part-time as a visiting case worker in Brooklyn, New York; served as district secretary of the Bureau of Associated Charities in Newark, New Jersey, 1914-1917, as executive secretary of the League for Friendly Service, Bloomfield and Glen Ridge, New Jersey, 1917-1921, and as assistant financial secretary of the New York Charity Organization Society, 1924?-1928?; subsequently worked as a consultant (e.g., with the Brooklyn Bureau of Associated Charities) and was active in the Family Welfare Association of America; wielded local political influence in Orange as Republican County Committeewoman for her district (and was a member of the local, county and state Republican clubs, as well as of the League of Women Voters); retired from compensated professional work in 1936 and began serving on the Orange Local Assistance Board the same year; subsequently also worked as a volunteer for the Consumers League of New Jersey, including service on its executive board (beginning in 1938 or 1939) and as its president (from 1944 to 1956); concentrated on issues relating to child labor (including playing a major role in bringing about the state's Child Labor Act of 1940), migrant labor and worker's compensation, but was also involved with other aspects of the Consumers League's program; during World War II, served on two statewide groups overseeing relaxed child labor laws; died in 1984. Known for part of her early life (e.g., while attending Miss Beard's School) as "Marie."
From the description of Papers, 1903-1982 (bulk 1940-1972). (Rutgers University). WorldCat record id: 69499974
