Remembering Marjorie "Maisry" MacCracken '31
As this issue of the Quarterly was going to press, we learned of the death of one of Vassar’s oldest and most beloved graduates, Marjorie MacCracken, who passed away on February 7 at the age of 102.
Maisry, as she was known to friends, was the daughter of Vassar’s fifth president, Henry Noble MacCracken. “She was charming, with a wonderful sense of humor,” remembered President Catharine Hill. “Since she grew up in the President’s House, it was great fun welcoming her back and showing her around. I am going to miss her.”
After graduating from Vassar, Maisry MacCracken earned a bachelor of library science from Columbia University and held librarian positions at Wesleyan University, J. P. Morgan & Co., Moral Re-Armament (an organization focused on peace and on helping the poor), and Dutchess Community College. For her service to others, MacCracken was awarded in 2000 the Val-Kill Candlelight Award, given to those whose lives exemplify the principles of Eleanor Roosevelt.
Members of the Vassar community celebrated MacCracken’s 100th birthday with her in October 2009, and President Hill proclaimed it “Maisry MacCracken Day” at Vassar College. Friends and loved ones sang a song to the tune of The Battle Hymn of the Republic, written especially for the occasion. Its chorus included, “Here’s to a most amazing Maisry.”
The “amazing” alumna had maintained an active lifestyle, reading the New York Times regularly, leading book-reading circles, and attending exercise classes. She is shown above at her 80th reunion in 2011.
MacCracken is survived by her brother James MacCracken and by Christine Vassar Tall ’47, who lived with the MacCracken family after coming from England to escape the Blitz during World War II. The two had been close friends for more than 70 years.