# Mary Blade
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{{short description|American engineer}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Mary Blade
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| image = Mary Blade, standing at blackboard (3322780400).jpg
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| alt =Mary Blade, standing at blackboard showing a graph
| caption = Blade in 1946
| birth_date = January 20, 1913
| birth_place = [Salt Lake City](/source/Salt_Lake_City), Utah, US
| death_date = {{death date and age|1994|12|4|1913|1|20}}
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| other_names = Mary Frances Plumb, Mary Francis Blade
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| fields = industrial engineering, mechanical engineering
| workplaces = The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
| alma_mater = [University of Utah](/source/University_of_Utah) ([B.S. 1934](/source/Bachelor_of_Science))
[Columbia University](/source/Columbia_University) ([M.S.](/source/Master_of_Science))[{{cite news|work=The Salt Lake Tribune|location=Salt Lake City, Utah|date=10 July 1949
|title=Mistress of the Slide Rule and T-Square
|first=Madeleine |last=Craighead|quote=Expecting her to specialize in home economics at the University of Utah, her parents were stunned when she announced her major was electrical engineering. A Tri-Delt, she was no ordinary graduate in 1934. Mary Frances Plumb was the first woman student to receive a diploma in electrical engineering at the University of Utah.}}]
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'''Mary Plumb Blade''' (20 January 1913 – 4 December 1994) was an American engineer, director of the Green Camp from 1955 to 1972, and full-time professor of [mechanical engineering](/source/mechanical_engineering) in the engineering school of [The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art](/source/Cooper_Union) from 1946 to 1978.[{{cite web |last=Brooks |first=Mitsuko |title=Records of Cooper Union commencements, 1975–1988 |url=http://cooper.libguides.com/content.php?pid=315272&sid=2579766 |work=The Cooper Union Library |publisher=The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art |access-date=9 July 2013}}]
== Early life and education ==
Mary Frances Plumb was born on 20 January 1913 in [Salt Lake City](/source/Salt_Lake_City) to Maude Irene (nee Augustine) and Hylon Theron Plumb, an electrical engineer.[{{Cite web |title=1930 United States Federal Census |url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/6224/images/4547816_00601?pId=6498536 |access-date=2023-01-25 |website=www.ancestry.co.uk}}]
She graduated with a B.S. in engineering from the [University of Utah](/source/University_of_Utah), the first woman to do so, and an M.S. in [industrial engineering](/source/industrial_engineering) from [Columbia University](/source/Columbia_University).[{{cite book |last=Bradford |first=Peter |editor-first=Barbara |editor-last=Prete |title=Chair: The current state of the art, with the who, the why, and the what of it |year=1978 |location=New York |publisher=Thomas Y. Crowell Publishers |pages=56–65 |url=https://books.google.com/books?ei=IXTcUZKELa7E4APG9IHgAw}}] She was a member of the [Delta Delta Delta](/source/Delta_Delta_Delta) sorority.[{{Cite web |title=Salt Lake Telegram 22 Dec 1934, page 6 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/289149869/ |access-date=2023-01-25 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}]
== Career ==
At the time of her appointment as a professor, Blade was "the only woman on the Cooper Union engineering faculty (where she initially taught drawing, mathematics and design) and one of few women on any engineering faculty in the United States".[{{cite web |url=http://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_arc_290318 |title=Mary Blade, standing at blackboard |work=Smithsonian Institution Archives |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}] Her obituary stated that she was the first woman professor of mechanical/electrical engineering in New York City.[{{Cite web |title=The Vancouver Sun 07 Dec 1994, page 25 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/495603268/ |access-date=2023-01-25 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}}]
Mary Blade helped organize the May 27–28, 1950 inaugural weekend of the [Society of Women Engineers](/source/Society_of_Women_Engineers) at [Cooper Union](/source/Cooper_Union)'s Green Engineering Camp.[{{Cite journal|date=Spring 2015|title=The Founders|url=http://oldswesite.swe.org/images/swemagazine/2015/swe_spring15_links.pdf#page=40|journal=SWE Magazine of the Society of Women Engineers|pages=34|issn=1070-6232|quote=Gathering at the [Cooper Union](/source/Cooper_Union)'s Green Engineering Camp on a spring weekend, the following women founded the Society of Women Engineers on May 27, 1950, known as Founders' Day: [...] Mary Blade [...][Beatrice Alice Hicks](/source/Beatrice_Alice_Hicks) [...] [Grace M. Hopper](/source/Grace_M._Hopper)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200320104131/http://oldswesite.swe.org/images/swemagazine/2015/swe_spring15_links.pdf|archive-date=20 March 2020|url-status=live}}]
In 1978, Blade was featured in ''Chair: The current state of the art, with the who, the why, and the what of it'' by Peter Bradford and Barbara Prete with a chapter titled "Physical Forces and Damages, Your Sitting Behavior, ''Move.''"[{{cite web |last=Soulellis |first=Paul |title=Chair. |url=http://soulellis.com/2009/08/post_4/ |work=Soulellis.com |publisher=Soulellis Studio, Inc. |access-date=9 July 2013}}][{{cite web |title=This is my great aunt Mary Plumb Blade |url=http://sonails.tumblr.com/post/20638088290/this-is-my-great-aunt-mary-plumb-blade-i-never |work=So Nails |publisher=Tumblr.com |access-date=9 July 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120507082845/http://sonails.tumblr.com/post/20638088290/this-is-my-great-aunt-mary-plumb-blade-i-never |archive-date=7 May 2012 }}]
In 1980, the Engineering Design Graphics Division of the [American Society for Engineering Education](/source/American_Society_for_Engineering_Education) awarded Blade its Distinguished Service Award.[{{cite web |title=The distinguished service award |url=http://edgd.asee.org/awards/dsa/awardees.htm |work=Engineering Design Graphics Division |publisher=The American Society for Engineering Education |access-date=9 July 2013}}]
== Personal life ==
Mary Plumb married engineer Ellis Hardin Blade (1908–1986) on 31 December 1934 in Manhattan, New York and was known as Mary Blade or Mary Plumb Blade after this time. They were married for 62 years.