# Marjorie Bell Chambers

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{{Short description|American educator, historian, and politician (1923–2006)}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Marjorie Bell Chambers
| image              = <!-- filename only, no "File:" or "Image:" prefix, and no enclosing [brackets](/source/brackets) -->
| alt                = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software -->
| caption            = 
| birth_name         = Marjorie Bell
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1923|03|11}}
| birth_place        = [New York City](/source/New_York_City), NY
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|2006|08|25|1923|03|11}}
| death_place        = [Los Alamos](/source/Los_Alamos%2C_New_Mexico), NM
| other_names        = 
| education          = [Mount Holyoke College](/source/Mount_Holyoke_College), [Cornell University](/source/Cornell_University), [University of New Mexico](/source/University_of_New_Mexico)
| occupation         = historian, politician
| years_active       = 1975-1990
| known_for          = first woman to run for [Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico](/source/Lieutenant_Governor_of_New_Mexico), national president of the [American Association of University Women](/source/American_Association_of_University_Women), president of [Colorado Women's College](/source/Colorado_Women's_College) and [Colby-Sawyer College](/source/Colby-Sawyer_College)
| notable_works      = 
}}
'''Marjorie Bell Chambers''' (March 11, 1923 &ndash; August 25, 2006) was an American educator, historian, and politician. She was the first woman to run for [Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico](/source/Lieutenant_Governor_of_New_Mexico), a national president of the [American Association of University Women](/source/American_Association_of_University_Women), and the president of two colleges ([Colorado Women's College](/source/Colorado_Women's_College) and [Colby-Sawyer College](/source/Colby-Sawyer_College)).<ref name="obit">{{cite news |title=Marjorie Bell Chambers Dead at 83 |url=https://www.abqjournal.com/news/state/apmarjorie08-25-06.htm |accessdate= December 3, 2019 |work=Albuquerque Journal |agency=Associated Press |date= August 25, 2006}}</ref>

==Biography==
Chambers was born on March 11, 1923, to Kenneth and Katherine Bell (née Totman) in [New York City](/source/New_York_City).<ref name="AAUW">{{cite web |title=Marjorie Bell Chambers |url=https://aauw-nm.aauw.net/files/2013/06/MBChambers-Bio.pdf |website=AAUW New Mexico |accessdate= December 15, 2019}}</ref>  After surviving [tuberculosis](/source/tuberculosis) during childhood, she married physicist William H. Chambers in 1945.<ref name="AAUW" /> She and William relocated their family to New Mexico in 1950 when William became employed at the [Los Alamos National Laboratory](/source/Los_Alamos_National_Laboratory).<ref name="AAUW" />  The couple had four children and continued to live and work mostly in New Mexico for the remainder of their lives.<ref name="obit" />

===Death and legacy===
Chambers died in August 2006, after a long illness.<ref name="obit" /> The New Mexico state chapter of the American Association of University Women created the AAUW-NM Ingenious Ideas Award inspired by Chambers and fellow long-time mentor Gloria Cordova.<ref>{{cite web |title=AAUW-NM Ingenious Ideas Award |url=https://aauw-nm.aauw.net/awards/iia/ |website=AAUW New Mexico |accessdate= December 15, 2019}}</ref> The University of New Mexico Foundation created the Endowed Faculty Award for Excellence in History in honor of Chambers and her husband, William.<ref>{{cite web |title=William H. and Marjorie Bell Chambers Endowed Faculty Award for Excellence in History |url=https://www.unmfund.org/fund/william-h-and-marjorie-bell-chambers-endowed-faculty-award-for-excellence-in-history/ |website=University of New Mexico Foundation |accessdate= December 15, 2019}}</ref>

==Academic career==
Chambers received her [B.A. in history and political science](/source/Bachelor's_degree) from [Mount Holyoke College](/source/Mount_Holyoke_College) in 1943 and her [Master's degree](/source/Master's_degree) from [Cornell University](/source/Cornell_University) in 1948.<ref name="AAUW" /> She then earned her [Ph.D.](/source/Doctor_of_Philosophy) from the [University of New Mexico](/source/University_of_New_Mexico) in 1974.<ref name="AAUW" />

Chambers was one of 60 women who gathered in (ironically) the men's Residence Hall at LANL on September 13, 1950, to found the Los Alamos branch of the [American Association of University Women](/source/American_Association_of_University_Women).<ref>{{cite web |title=History |url=https://losalamos-nm.aauw.net/about/history/ |website=AAUW Los Alamos (NM) Branch |accessdate= December 21, 2019}}</ref>  She served as president of that branch, of the New Mexico Division, and finally as national President of the Association from 1975 to 1979.<ref name="AAUW" />

==Political career==
Chambers served as an adviser to four presidents and 10 governors of New Mexico in multiple appointed positions and commissions.<ref name="obit" />  She chaired the National Advisory Council on Women's Educational Programs under President [Gerald Ford](/source/Gerald_Ford) and the Committee for Women under President Jimmy Carter.<ref name="obit" /> Chambers was elected to the [Los Alamos County Council](/source/Los_Alamos_County%2C_New_Mexico) in 1974 and won the Republican nomination in 1982 for [New Mexico's 3rd Congressional District](/source/New_Mexico's_3rd_congressional_district) seat, losing to [Bill Richardson](/source/Bill_Richardson).<ref name="obit" />  In 1986, she became the first woman in New Mexico to seek a party's nomination for Lieutenant Governor<ref name="obit" /> but lost to [Jack L. Stahl](/source/Jack_L._Stahl).

==Published works==
*Chambers, Marjorie Bell. “Technically Sweet Los Alamos: the Development of a Federally Sponsored Scientific Community.” University of New Mexico, 1974.
*Chambers, Marjorie Bell. “The AAUW-IFUW Relationship: An Emerging Issue in Progress.” ''Graduate Woman'', vol. 73, no. 2, 1979, pp.&nbsp;24–27.
*Chambers, Marjorie, and William H. Chambers." Conference Proceedings: The Cold War and Its Implications: Locally, Nationally, and Internationally": the Second Los Alamos International History Conference, Los Alamos, New Mexico, August 9–12, 1998. Los Alamos, N.M.: Los Alamos Historical Society, 1998. Print.
*Chambers, Marjorie, and Linda K. Aldrich. ''Los Alamos, New Mexico: a Survey to 1949''. Los Alamos, N.M: Los Alamos Historical Society, 1999. Print.
*Chambers, Marjorie. ''The Battle for Civil Rights, or, How Los Alamos Became a County''. Los Alamos, N.M: Los Alamos Historical Society, 1999. Print.

==Awards and distinctions==
*1977: Doctor of Laws ''honoris causa'', [Central Michigan University](/source/Central_Michigan_University)<ref>{{cite web |title=Recipients of Honorary Degrees |url=https://www.cmich.edu/library/clarke/ResearchResources/CMU_Material/Graduation_Ceremonies/Pages/Recipients-of-Honorary-Degrees.aspx |website=Clarke Historical Library |publisher=Central Michigan University |accessdate= December 15, 2019}}</ref>
*2003: Governor's Award for Outstanding Women (New Mexico)<ref name="obit" />
*2003: Lifetime Achievement from New Mexico Commission on the Status of Women<ref name="obit" />

==See also==
*[American Association of University Women](/source/American_Association_of_University_Women)
*[Colorado Women's College](/source/Colorado_Women's_College)
*[Colby-Sawyer College](/source/Colby-Sawyer_College)
*[Los Alamos National Laboratory](/source/Los_Alamos_National_Laboratory)
*[National Woman's Party](/source/National_Woman's_Party)

==Notes and references==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*[https://www.unmfund.org/fund/william-h-and-marjorie-bell-chambers-endowed-faculty-award-for-excellence-in-history/ William H. and Marjorie Bell Chambers Endowed Faculty Award for Excellence in History]
*[https://aauw-nm.aauw.net/awards/iia/ AAUW-NM Ingenious Ideas Award]
*[https://www.c-span.org/video/?20889-1/economic-health-issues C-SPAN panel]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Chambers, Marjorie Bell}}
Category:Women in New Mexico politics
Category:American women historians
Category:Academics from New Mexico
Category:Educators from New York City
Category:20th-century American women educators
Category:20th-century American educators
Category:1923 births
Category:2006 deaths
Category:University of New Mexico alumni
Category:Mount Holyoke College alumni
Category:Historians from New York City
Category:21st-century American women

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Marjorie Bell Chambers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marjorie_Bell_Chambers) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marjorie_Bell_Chambers?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.