Mary Ellen Padin was born on April 29, 1925 in New York City. Her parents were Manuel Padin, an exporter, and Mary Elizabeth Lindsay Padin. She attended the Ursuline School in New Rochelle, New York, and graduated in 1943. In September 1943, she entered Mount Holyoke College, where she majored in physics. While at Mount Holyoke College, she played volleyball and sang in the choir and Glee Club. She was also involved in the Physics Club and founded and led the Camera Club. After graduating from Mount Holyoke in 1947, she enrolled in the Columbia School of Library Science at Columbia University. She received her B.S. in Library Science in 1948 and received a M.S. in Library Science in 1954 from Columbia University. She worked as a librarian at the New York Public Library (1948-1940), at Sam Tour and Co. in New York, the U.S. Naval Ordinance Test Station in China Lake, California (1954-1944), at Dunlap and Associates, Inc. in Stamford, Connecticut, and at IBM. She has been an avid traveler throughout her life. She toured Europe extensively for business and pleasure, and visited family in Spain numerous times. She has been active in the local Embroiderer's Guild during her retirement in New Milford, Connecticut.
From the guide to the Mary Ellen Padin Papers MS 0826., 1943-(present, 1943-1947, (Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections)
