Mary Beck

Mary Virginia Beck (Євгенія Михайлівна Бек, Євґенія Бек, 29 February 1908 - 30 January 2005) was a Detroit Democratic Party politician, female activist and journalist from Pennsylvania, most notable for being Detroit's first female city council woman.

She was also the first Ukrainian-American of Lemko descent to serve in that capacity.

In 1921-25 she studied at the Kolomyia city gymnasium in Kolomyia, Poland.

In 1925-29 Mary Beck was a student at the University of Pittsburgh upon graduation of which she received a Bachelor of Arts.

In 1930s Mary Beck was an active member of the Ukrainian National Women's League of America.

In 1932 she earned her Bachelor of Laws degree from the same school.

Since 1932-33 she was publisher and editor of "Zhinochyi Svit" (Woman's World), the Ukrainian woman's monthly magazine in Pittsburgh.

Mary was also editor of the English sections in such Ukrainian press media as "Ukrainska Zoria" (Ukrainian Star) in Detroit and "Vilne Slovo" (Free Word) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

In 1933-34 she was an active initiator of committee for setting up the Ukrainian Pavilion at the Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago.

Mary came to Detroit in 1934 initially as a social worker at the International Institute and since 1935 she worked as a juvenile court investigator for Wayne County until 1947.

Since 1944 Mary Beck was a member of the State Bar of Michigan.

In 1947-50 she was a practicing lawyer and as such entered politics in 1950.

As a member of the council, Mary served for two decades from 1950 to 1970.

In 1957 she was also elected as the president of the city council.

During that period the Michigan scandalous politician Louis Miriani was the Mayor of Detroit (1957-1962).

Mary was born in a family of Lemkos Mykhailo and Hanna Voitovych-Bek in Ford City, Pennsylvania.

In 1958-62 she also served as an acting mayor of Detroit city.

In 1958 Mary established the Ukrainian Women's Literary Award in Ukrainian literature, today administered by the World Federation of Ukrainian Women's Organizations (Philadelphia).

In 1960 she also sponsored the Worldwide Ukrainian Art Exhibit at the MacGregor Center (Wayne State University).

In 1965 a commemorative stamp featuring Beck was issued by the Women's United Committee of Detroit to commemorate her election in 1950 as the "First Woman to the Detroit Common Council".

In 1968 she exchanged the LL.B. degree for a Juris Doctor degree.

In the 1969 Detroit mayoral election, Beck placed third in the nonpartisan primary election, receiving 22% of the vote.

She had run a single-issue campaign on the subject of crime control.

She ran as a write-in candidate in the general election, winning a minuscule share of the vote.

Mary died in Clinton Township and her final service was held in Sterling Heights near Detroit.

She was buried at St. Andrew the First-Called Apostle Ukrainian Orthodox Cemetery in South Bound Brook, New Jersey.

After being elected to the Detroit city council Mary Beck discontinued her law practice, fully committing to the city politics from which she retired in 1970.

February 29, 1972 was proclaimed the "Mary V. Beck Day" by the Mayor of Detroit and city's native Roman S. Gribbs.

Detroit Free Press was a consistent chronicler of Beck's 20-year political career.

On February 1, 2005 in the obituary about Beck it noted that she was remembered by her political opponents and her colleagues on the Common Council.