Mary Elizabeth Williamson Murphy McHenry, Mount Holyoke College graduate and Mount Holyoke College professor of English, was born on January 23, 1933 in Washington DC to Alphonso Williamson, a supply officer at the Library of Congress, and Elizabeth Bennett Williamson, a teacher. She attended high school at the Oakwood School in Poughkeepsie, New York from 1946-1950, Mount Holyoke College from 1950-1954 and graduated with a bachelor's degree in English, received a master's degree in English Literature from Columbia University in 1960 and did graduate work beyond the master's level at George Washington University from 1961-1964. She married Harry Saunders Murphy, Jr. on July 31, 1954 and divorced circa 1959. She married Donald F. McHenry circa 1962 and divorced on August 18, 1976. She had one son with Murphy and two daughters with McHenry. McHenry taught as an instructor of English at Howard University from 1960-1963 and at George Washington University from 1964-1969. She was a Professor of English at Federal City College (now the University of DC) from 1969-1974. McHenry was an English professor at Mount Holyoke College from 1974-1998 and was also a member of the American Studies and the Black (later African-American) Studies departments.
From the guide to the Mary McHenry Papers MS 0845., 1933-1996, 1946-1954, 1972-1993, (Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections)
