Marie Remington Wing (1885-1982), a Cleveland, Ohio, native and daughter of Federal Judge Francis J. Wing, attended Miss Mittleberger's School in Cleveland before studying at Bryn Mawr College. She returned to Cleveland to work in the Young Women's Christian Association from 1907 to 1922 and began an active public life by campaigning for proportional representation and a new city charter for Cleveland. In 1922 she entered the Cleveland Law School while working as Executive Secretary for the Consumer's League of Ohio. One year later, Wing was elected the first woman member of the Cleveland City Council, serving for two terms before losing the 1927 election. Having been admitted to the Bar of Ohio in 1926, she then established her own private practice in Cleveland while serving as solicitor for the Village of Mentor (1929-1936) where she resided from the late 1920s to her death. In 1936 she was appointed Regional Attorney to the Social Security Board (reorganized into the Federal Security Board in 1939), remaining there until 1953. Through those years Wing developed additional professional credentials, serving on a number of committees in a variety of organizations. Wing's activities were not limited to Cleveland but increasingly encompassed Lake County organizations and causes. She also became involved in the activities of her housemate Dorothy Smith and sister Virginia Wing, working on the establishment of the Mentor Community Fund and serving the Anti-Tuberculosis League, Lake County Office of Economic Opportunity, East End Neighborhood House, and United Appeal.
The Marie Remington Wing Papers, 1854-1982 and undated, consist of personal writings, correspondence, family history materials, memorabilia and financial accounts as well as material from Wing's 1923, 1925, and 1927 campaigns for Cleveland City Council; professional papers including materials from organizations such as the Anti-Tuberculosis League, Cleveland Bar Association, Consumer's League of Ohio, Cuyahoga County Relief Administration, Democratic Party, East End Neighborhood House, Lake County Committee on Aging, Lake County Community Action Program, Lake County Mental Health Association, Ohio School of Social Science, Social Security Board (renamed the Federal Security Agency in 1939) and Cleveland Committee on Unemployment Insurance.
The material in this collection primarily pertains to Wing's role in the twentieth century political and social movement of Cleveland and Mentor, Ohio, including her campaign for Cleveland city council, Ray T. Miller's campaign for mayor of Cleveland, and the workings of the Democratic party. Also reflected are Wing's activities in health-related organizations such as the Anti-Tuberculosis League and public aid organizations such as the Consumer's League of Ohio, Cuyahoga County Relief Administration, Lake County Community Action Program, Social Security Board, Social Protection Committee and Aid to the Aged. Researchers studying women's history in Cleveland will find this collection particularly useful.
The collection is arranged in three series. Each series is arranged by subject, then by document type, and then chronologically.
The researcher should also consult PG 351 Marie Remington Wing Family Photographs; MS 4655 Marie Remington Wing Family Papers; and MS 4467 Consumers League of Ohio Oral History Interviews.
Processed by Bari Oyler Stith in 1987.
None.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 3404 Marie Remington Wing Papers, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Gifts of Marie Remington Wing in 1974, 1979, 1980, and 1982.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.