Dr. Martha Swain

1929 - 2023

Dr. Martha Swain, 93, died May 16, 2023, at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Columbus, Mississippi. Her legacy includes extensive scholarship on women and politics in Mississippi and a legion of students and colleagues she mentored over the course of her storied career. She is the author of Pat Harrison: The New Deal Years and Ellen S. Woodward: New Deal Advocate for Women, and co-author, along with Dorothy Shawhan, of Lucy Somerville Howorth: New Deal Lawyer, Politician, and Feminist from the South. She coedited, along with Elizabeth Payne, one of the few extensive studies of women in the state, the two-volume collection Mississippi Women: Their Histories, Their Lives. Dr. Martha Swain's life demonstrated a profound commitment to expanding opportunities for women to become historians and to be the subject of historical inquiry.

Martha Helen Swain was born five minutes after her twin sister Margaret on June 21, 1929, in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, to the late Jim Henry Swain and Verna Welborn Swain. She, Margaret, and their beloved older sister Mary Elizabeth Swain (Bacon), or "Mimi", grew up in north Mississippi, including the place they considered their hometown, New Albany. After attending elementary school in Amory, Tupelo, New Albany, and Holly Springs, Mississippi, she graduated valedictorian from high school in Starkville and went onto Mississippi State University for bachelor's degree. She taught elementary school in Vardaman, Mississippi, and history at the high school level in Natchez and Pensacola, Florida, for years before returning to advanced study in history. Dr. Swain completed a master's degree and graduated with a Ph.D. in history from Vanderbilt University in 1975.

Dr. Swain was in the vanguard of women who opened the doors of academia for others-both as a woman scholar and in the study of women's history. She helped found the Southern Association for Women Historians and became one of its first presidents in 1977. After Vanderbilt, she taught at Texas Woman's University for 21 years, becoming the Cornaro Professor of History Emerita. In addition, she taught summer courses at Stetson University for six years. While in semi-retirement in the 1990s, she also held the position of Professor of History at Mississippi State University. In addition to the books that she authored and edited, she published over 20 articles and encyclopedia entries and was awarded numerous honors, fellowships, and grants, including the Eudora Welty Prize for Ellen S. Woodward: New Deal Advocate for Women and Mississippi State University's A&S College Alumni of the Year in 2010.

She served on the review committees for the Journal of Southern History and the Journal of Mississippi History and as the president of the Mississippi Historical Society. In retirement, she supported the careers of an extensive network of former students and was a generous donor of her time, talent, and resources to Mississippi University for Women and Mississippi State University, including the donation of her personal library to MUW. Her own love of the book, both as a reader and author, motivated her course in life and part of her legacy will include extending that opportunity to countless students.

Dr. Martha Swain was buried in the Swain family plot in the New Albany, Mississippi, Cemetery on May 19, 2023. Memorials may be made to programs serving animals.

She is survived by her sister, Margaret Swain, nephews Roger Bacon and Jim Bacon, and nieces Rebecca Megin and Margaret Catherine Harbough. Around the state and throughout the region, she leaves behind a large circle of friends and colleagues who knew her well as a warm colleague and supportive friend. Her kindness and graciousness extended to everyone she met, especially young and struggling scholars. She will be missed dearly.

You can leave the family a condolence at: www.welchfuneralhomes.com.