Collins, Mary (Mary Augusta Rayford), 1887-1970
Dates
- Existence: 1887 - 1970
Biographical Statement
Mary Augusta Rayford Collins was born in Lauderdale County, Mississippi in 1887 to Bryan Henry and Missouri Emma Walker Rayford. She attended Meridian Academy, a school of the Methodist Episcopal Church, then continued her studies at the Tuskegee Institute and the Hampton Institute. She worked at her father's, grandfather's, and uncleâs grocery and mercantile business, G.A. Walker & Company, taught at Wechsler Junior High School, and served as the librarian for the Andrew Carnegie Public Library, making her the first African American to hold that position in Mississippi. From 1939 to 1967, Collins served as the only female member on the Board of Trustees of the Central Methodist Church. She was honored as Zeta Phi Beta Sororityâs Woman of the Year in 1947 and received an honorary doctor of humanities degree from Prentiss Institute in 1967, three years before her death in 1970.