Social Justice Advocate
Mary Bates Griffith, 89, died Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2002, at the Pine Knoll Nursing Center in Lexington, Mass.
Mrs. Griffith was born Jan. 25, 1912, in Webb City, Mo.,daughter of Leslie and Bess Bates. She lived in Riverton and Moorestown , N.J., from 1950 to 1992. In 1999, she moved to an assisted living facility in Nashua, near the homes of two of her sons. In spring 2001, she entered the Pine Knoll Nursing Center, in Lexington, Mass., where she spent her final days.
She was the widow of Tom Griffith, who died in 1964. They married Oct. 11, 1941.
Mrs. Griffith was a lifelong advocate for social justice, affordable housing, racial equality, and international peace.Her involvement in the Kansas City YWCA in her early 20's sparked an interest in the labor movement, which led to a job with a local branch of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union. In 1940, she went to work in the National Office of the YWCA in New York Cty. She was part of a group dedicated to improving conditions for women in the labor force.
She and her husband were active members of the United World Federalists, a group committed to world peace through world law. They assisted in the formation of Human Relations Councils, first in Camden County , N.J., and later in Burlington County, N.J.,
which fought against discriminatory housing practices. In the early 70's, she provided bookkeeping and technical support to a newly formed economic development group that sought to provide housing and work opportunities for inner city families in Camden, N.J.
Mrs. Griffith had a small furniture caning and refinshing business in Moorestown in her later years, and taught these skills in adult education classes. She also had a passion for gardening and the natural world, and especially enjoyed the works or Rachel Carson.
She and her husband helped to establish the Unitarian-Universalist Church in Cherry Hill, N.J. in 1956. She was active in her church and in church-related social justice work for the next 35 years, until her move to New Hampshire. She became an active member of the Unitarian-Universalist Church of Nashua.
Survivors include three sons and their wives, Stanley of Lexingon, Mass., Benjamin of North Hollywood, Calif., and Clarendon (Don) of Merrimack, N.H.; a daughter, Ellen Griffith Cohen of Bethesda, Md., and her husband; a brother, Robert Bates of Kansas City, Mo.; a sister, Emily Hirsch of Millbrook, N.Y.; six grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.
The Devito Funeral Home in Waterown, Mass., is in charge of arrangements.
PAGE