HOUSE MEMORIAL 74

51st legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2014

INTRODUCED BY

Gail Chasey

A MEMORIAL

HONORING THE MEMORY OF MARY THOM, WHO ENABLED THE VOICES OF WOMEN TO BE HEARD IN THE MEDIA ACROSS AMERICA.

     WHEREAS, Ms. Magazine brought the feminist movement into homes in the United States beginning in the 1970s; and

     WHEREAS, Mary Thom was an editor who participated in the founding of Ms. Magazine, editing letters of women throughout the United States, working late into the night to ensure that the voices of women from towns across the country were printed and enabling voices of all women to be heard; and

     WHEREAS, Mary drew on her experience from the civil rights movement and antiwar activities as she became the political editor of Ms. Magazine, developing an evaluation system that ranked politicians' commitment to feminist and other progressive ideals; and

     WHEREAS, Mary was an editor at Ms. Magazine from its inception until 1992 and was one of the magazine's most dedicated and long-serving workers, although she never sought the celebrity and visibility that many of her close friends at Ms. Magazine had to endure; and

     WHEREAS, Mary authored a book on the history of Ms. Magazine and co-authored an oral history of Congresswoman Bella Abzug; and

     WHEREAS, Mary believed in an inclusive model of activism and took pride in the diversity that was present at Ms. Magazine and in the feminist forums that she helped organize and in which she participated; and

     WHEREAS, Mary left the magazine at the founding of the women's media center by Gloria Steinem, Jane Fonda and Robin Morgan to focus on advocacy, political campaigns and media and leadership training, especially for women, and "to ensure that women are powerfully and visibly represented in the media, as well as to diversify the media in its content and sources so that stories and perspectives of women and girls are more accurately portrayed"; and

     WHEREAS, the women's media center is recognizing Mary by instituting the "Mary Thom Art of Editing Award" and awarding it to Mary posthumously; and

     WHEREAS, Mary was closely connected to New Mexico, enjoying the state's wide open spaces and spectacular beauty while touring on her motorcycle with her sister, Susan Thom Loubet, and nephew, Thom Loubet; and

     WHEREAS, the death of Mary in a motorcycle accident in Yonkers, New York, on April 26, 2013 was noted as an enormous blow to the women's movement, Ms. Magazine, the women's media center and American journalism because, as her cofounders at the women's media center said, "Mary was and will always be our moral compass and steady heart"; and

     WHEREAS, Mary is lauded as being one of the great writers, editors and visionaries of the women's movement; and

     WHEREAS, the women and men of New Mexico, the United States and throughout the world mourn the passing of Mary and owe her a great debt of gratitude for the tireless efforts she made on behalf of women's rights, pay equity and civil rights;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that Mary Thom be honored and remembered for her work to enable the voices of women to be heard; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the family of Mary Thom and to the board of the women's media center.

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