{{short description|New York ship disaster hero (1890–1966)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox person |name = Mary McCann |image = File:MaryMcCann1909.tif |caption = Mary McCann in 1909 |birth_name = |birth_date = 1890 |birth_place = Ireland |death_date = May 1966 (aged about 76) |death_place = Paterson, New Jersey, United States |body_discovered = |death_cause = |resting_place = |resting_place_coordinates = |citizenship = United States |other_names = |known_for = Rescuing passengers aboard PS ''General Slocum'' |education = Florence Crittenton Training School |alma_mater = |employer = |occupation = Nurse |years_active = |height = |title = |term = |predecessor = |successor = |party = |opponents = |boards = |spouse = David A. M. Perlman (1916–) |partner = |children = 4 |parents = |relations = |callsign = |signature = |website = |footnotes = }} '''Mary Ann McCann''' (1890–1966) was an Irish-born American woman who was awarded the Silver Lifesaving Medal, for rescuing passengers, including up to nine children, from the 1904 PS ''General Slocum'' steamboat fire in New York City.
==Early life== Mary McCann immigrated to the United States from Athlone in Ireland, arriving in Ellis Island on April 24, 1904.<ref name="Ogilvie">J. S. Ogilvie, [https://archive.org/stream/historyofgeneral00ogil#page/50/mode/2up/search/McCann ''History of the General Slocum disaster by which nearly 1200 lives were lost by the burning of the steamer General Slocum in Hell gate, New York harbor, June 15, 1904''] (J. S. Ogilvie 1904): 34–35, 50. via Archive.org{{open access}}</ref><ref name="Silly">[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20251491/mary_mccann_1904/ "Sure, They're Silly"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180706162016/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20251491/mary_mccann_1904/ |date=6 July 2018 }} ''Catholic Tribune'' (September 3, 1904): 1. via Newspapers.com{{open access}}</ref>
==Sudden fame== In June 1904, McCann was a teenager recovering from measles and scarlet fever,<ref name="Crittenton">[https://books.google.com/books?id=NRVQAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22Mary%20McCann%22%20%22scarlet%20fever%22&pg=RA1-PA337 "A Recognized Heroine and Some Unknown Ones"] ''New-York Observer'' (September 9, 1909): 337.</ref> when she witnessed the fire aboard the PS ''General Slocum'' from the hospital on North Brother Island. McCann, reportedly a strong swimmer,<ref name="Ogilvie" /> waded into the East River and helped passengers to safety, including as many as nine children.<ref>[https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0615.html "1,000 Lives May Be Lost in Burning of the Excursion Boat Gen. Slocum"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180522042743/https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0615.html |date=22 May 2018 }} ''New York Times'' (June 15, 1904): 1.</ref> While hospitalized with the injuries she sustained that night, McCann also caught diphtheria.<ref name="Crittenton" />
==Aftermath== Her role in the rescue of ''Slocum'' survivors was publicized nationally, often with editorial commentary on her immigrant status.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3883430/mary_mccann_good_immigrant/ "Mary McCann"] ''Inter Ocean'' (July 13, 1904): 6. via Newspapers.com{{open access}}</ref> "And learned men talk of the danger of immigration to this country!" marveled the ''Spokane Press''. "May Ireland send us many another Mary McCann."<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20251368/mary_mccann_1904/ "Mary McCann, Heroine"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180522041327/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20251368/mary_mccann_1904/ |date=22 May 2018 }} ''Spokane Press'' (July 25, 1904): 2. via Newspapers.com{{open access}}</ref> McCann received hundreds of proposals of marriage by mail, from men who read of her feat.<ref>"Hundreds Want to Marry Miss McCann" ''San Francisco Call'' (July 21, 1904): 3. via California Digital Newspaper Collection{{open access}}</ref> Lawyer Francis Patrick Garvan offered McCann housing and funds for her education, after her testimony at the coroner's inquest.<ref>Henry Davenport Northrop, [https://books.google.com/books?id=lHOs2j3cuYwC&dq=%22Mary+McCann%22+%22scarlet+fever%22&pg=PA291 ''New York's Awful Steamboat Horror''] (American Publishing Company 1904): 291–295.</ref>
Although she was recognized for her heroism by the coroner's investigation and by the Volunteer Life Saving Society, she was "overlooked" by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission in 1906.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20245278/mary_mccann_1906/ "Carnegie Fund Overlooks These"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180522042806/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20245278/mary_mccann_1906/ |date=22 May 2018 }} ''Reading Times'' (January 19, 1906): 2. via Newspapers.com{{open access}}</ref> In 1908, McCann was a nurse in training, and the only woman among the nine people awarded silver Lifesaving Medals by the United States Congress, for courageous action on the night of the disaster.<ref>William Peirce Handel, [http://www.americanheritage.com/content/flames-hell-gate "The Flames of Hell Gate"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180522041537/http://www.americanheritage.com/content/flames-hell-gate |date=22 May 2018 }} ''American Heritage'' 30(6)(October/November 1979).</ref><ref>Edwin A. Nye, [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=RfcxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=dOMFAAAAIBAJ&pg=853%2C5806653 "Heart to Heart Talks"] ''Evening News'' (June 4, 1909): 6.</ref> She received the medal in person a few months later,<ref name="Medal">"Medal for Girl Life Saver" ''New York Times'' (March 4, 1909): 1. {{ProQuest| <!-- Insert ProQuest data here -->}}</ref> when it was presented to her by the Speaker of the House, Joseph Gurney Cannon.<ref>Life-saving Service, [https://books.google.com/books?id=65VIAQAAIAAJ&dq=Mary+McCann+General+Slocum&pg=PA31 ''Annual Report of the United States Life-Saving Service''] (1910): 31.</ref><ref>"Cannon Kisses Heroine" ''New York Times'' (March 19, 1909): 1. {{ProQuest| <!-- Insert ProQuest data here -->}}</ref>
McCann found work as a cashier later in 1904.<ref name="Silly" /> She attended the Florence Crittenton Training School in Washington, D. C.<ref name="Medal" /> She lived at the Florence Crittenton Mission Home in New York for a time as a young woman.<ref name="Crittenton" />
==Later years== Mary McCann married David A. M. Perlman in 1916. They had four daughters. She died in May 1966, at Barnegat Memorial Hospital in Paterson, New Jersey.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20251968/mary_mccann_perlman_1966/ "Death of Heroine Recalls 1904 Excursion Boat Disaster"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180522042807/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20251968/mary_mccann_perlman_1966/ |date=22 May 2018 }} ''Daily Journal'' (May 24, 1966): 16. via Newspapers.com{{open access}}</ref>
==See also==
*Helen Repa, heroic nurse who saved lives during the SS ''Eastland'' Disaster. *Violet Jessop, nurse who survived the sinking of the HMHS ''Britannic''.
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:McCann, Mary}} Category:1890 births Category:1966 deaths Category:People from Athlone Category:Irish emigrants to the United States Category:People from New York City