Mamie White Colvin

Mamie Colvin, wife of D. Leigh Colvin, was President of the National Woman’s Christian Temperance Union from 1944 until 1953.  She was awarded several honorary degrees.
     Mrs. Colvin died suddenly in late 1955, while preparing to speak at a church.  
     She was a long-time WCTU activist.

-- Gammon, 2007, p. 136

Mamie White Colvin was born in Westview, Ohio on June 12th 1883. She was the daughter of Rev. Levi White and Mary Bell Hudleson White. From a young age, she became an advocate for temperance and prohibition, and a skilled orator for the cause. She would become significantly involved in both the Prohibition Party and the W.T.C.U.. In 1906, She married fellow prohibitionist David Leigh Colvin. 
     Mamie Colvin ran for several offices as a Prohibition Party candidate. In 1918, she ran for Lieutenant Governor of New York. She received 48,142 votes (2.32%) and came in 4th place. In 1920, she ran as a presidential elector for the party’s ticket in New York. In 1922, she ran for the House of Representatives in New York’s 21st congressional district. She received 636 votes (0.95%) and came in 4th place. In 1933, she ran as a candidate for delegate to the convention for the 21st amendment, as part of an effort to try to prevent the state from ratifying the 21st amendment (unfortunately it was unsuccessful). 
     She served as national president of the W.T.C.U. from 1945 to 1953. In 1950, she helped to champion support for a congressional bill to ban the interstate advertising of alcohol (which unfortunately did not pass). She also campaigned against the U.S. military giving rations of alcohol to soldiers in the Korean War, and against the promotion of alcohol in entertainment. 
     Mamie Colvin passed on October 30th, 1955. 

Sources:

Hanson, David J. "Biography: Mrs. D. Leigh Colvin (Mamie Colvin)." Alcohol Problems & Solutions. February 19, 2014. Accessed April 24, 2018. https://www.alcoholproblemsandsolutions.org/Controversies/BiographyMrs-D-Leigh-Colvin.html.
"Mamie White Colvin (1883-1955) - Find A Grave..." Find A Grave. Accessed April 24, 2018. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/38672545/mamiecolvin.
“Other Past Candidates: New York”. Partisan Prohibition Historical Society. Prohibitionists.org. Accessed March 29th, 2018. http://www.prohibitionists.org/Candidates/candidates.htm

-- Contributed by Jonathan Makeley

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