The force of nature known as Mary (aka “Mignonne”) Eldridge Swift was born on May 21, 1876, to E.Y. (Edward) and Irene Swift at her grandparent’s home in Norfolk, Connecticut although the Swift’s actually lived in Detroit. The previous month a parcel of land on the southwest corner of Lafayette and 3rd was sold to E.Y. for $9,500 by General Russell A. Alger. The original address was 184 W. Lafayette Blvd. now numbered 804, across from the Cambria Hotel. West Lafayette Boulevard and West Fort Street were the two most desirable streets for wealthy Detroiter’s at the time.

E.Y. Swift was a successful attorney and president of both the Woodmere Cemetery Association and Michigan Nut and Bolt Company. He also had various other business holdings including in Parke, Davis & Co.

Mary’s regular schooling, finishing, and music (piano and voice) studies occurred in New York, Geneva, and Paris. She spoke fluid French as a child and by all accounts was a very fine soprano. She performed frequently at churches, parties, and large community events in both Connecticut and Michigan as a young woman. Her great interest in classical music and opera was a constant throughout her life. She was a major organizer, early supporter, and president of the Detroit Civic Opera Company in both of its incarnations. She was also involved early on with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra as a longtime financial supporter from at least 1912 onward, and was on their board of directors starting in 1915. Most arts programs in Detroit had several fitful starts and stops over the decades, and frequently it was the fundraising efforts of society women like Mary which kept them afloat.

Gen. Alger’s youngest son, Frederick Moulton Alger, was born in Detroit at the family’s 150 W. Fort St. home on June 27, 1876, a mere month after Mary Swift’s birth. As one would expect, the two quickly found each other living down the block and while moving in similar social circles. Things heated up romantically upon Fred’s return from the Spanish-American War.

Like most everyone, he was probably bedazzled by Mary Swift. She was reportedly very charismatic, witty, gracious, direct, and extraordinarily well organized. She had the ability to galvanize people, particularly women, and did not let being a woman born in the Victorian era impede her in any way. She was surprisingly “modern” and a born leader. Although raised in a very religious and dignified household, one might consider Mary an early feminist and groundbreaking political and social activist. She achieved national fame as a staunch anti-prohibitionist and successful champion of repeal.

On May 2, 1901, Capt. Fred Alger and Mary Swift were married at Fort Street Presbyterian Church in a huge society wedding. True to form, and to the possible horror of a few, the part of her vows about “obeying” was neatly excised from the ceremony.

Their first child, Edward Swift, was born June 4, 1903, and daughter Frances followed quickly on December 23, 1904. Their last child, Frederick Moulton Alger, Jr. was born August 3, 1907. Then tragedy struck the young family in February of 1908. Four-year-old Edward complained of stomach pains for several days before suddenly passing away at home on February 26th of what is now referred to as diabetic ketoacidosis. A large, haunting portrait of young Edward was commissioned and hung over the Alger’s main fireplace for decades in memory of their lost son.

After Gen. Alger’s death in 1907 the family moved from the Fort Street mansion into their spectacular new Grosse Pointe home, “By-Way,” located at 17700 E. Jefferson. An avid party planner and hostess, Mary frequently entertained her many friends and members of her numerous social and charitable organizations there. The home was unusual, a long, lower profile structure with a large number of windows facing Lake St. Clair. Enhancing the loveliness of the estate were a large quantity of ancient French pear trees, a few which still exist.

“BY-WAY” w/ EDWARD, FRANCES, & THEIR CHAUFFEUR, 1907

“By-Way” was located slightly south of brother Russell’s property, “The Moorings,” on the immediate other side of the Dodge’s famed “Rose Terrace” mega-mansion. Like their two husbands, Marion and Mary Alger frequently were involved in business and social events together, usually of a charitable nature. Sometimes they worked, had fun, and set historic records together, as on the afternoon of June 19, 1911, when they both flew in a Wright Brothers biplane becoming the first two Michigan women in flight. The two wives took many more flights, fearlessly venturing over Lake St. Clair as flying guinea pigs as their husbands and Wright’s pilot, Frank Coffyn, tinkered with improvements to their biplane / seaplane for several months.

Both of Mary’s parents died within a short span in 1913, on May 1 and June 15. On September 19, Mary donated $18,000 to Fort Street Presbyterian for the creation and installation of a new pipe organ in her parents’ name as they had worshipped there for decades. The Swift Memorial Organ was built in 1914 by Wangerian-Weickhardt and contained 3,253 pipes ranging in length from 1/4 inch to 16 feet; it is still in use today.

Fred and Mary also made several important donations to Grosse Pointe Memorial Church once they relocated to Grosse Pointe and worshipped there. Gifts included numerous beautiful stained-glass windows and the huge “Alger bells” that still ring every hour.

In 1914, the typhoid epidemic demanded strict quarantines be put in place. Mary and Fred volunteered their “By-Way” boat house be used as a day school. The Grosse Pointe School as it was called was private, co-ed, and outdoors, completely exposed to the elements on Lake St. Clair.

After a few years the School moved from the boat house to an indoor building, also changing names to the Grosse Pointe Country Day School. After more moves and mergers, it eventually became University Liggett School.

By the early teens, the specter of Michigan succumbing to prohibition had accelerated greatly. Although there had been talk of prohibition in the U.S. since the 1800s it seemed inevitable by 1911 when a good many Michigan counties had already gone dry of their own accord. In 1916, Michigan voters decided to officially ban alcohol production, sales, and consumption throughout the state, with the law officially taking effect May of 1918. Michigan led the way in prohibition, and it quickly took hold throughout the U.S.

As Fred went off to fight in World War I, Mary also lent her services to the war effort. She was involved with several different nursing associations and was chairman of nursing activities with the American Red Cross. She stayed very active with nursing groups the remainder of her life. In 1929, Mary financed the remodeling of the David Whitney estate’s carriage house into offices for the Visiting Nurse Association, another of her favorite causes. Decades later the VNA went on to purchase the entire Whitney property for their use.

As repel advocates, both Col. Fred and Mary Alger were very vocal anti-prohibition activists, and prominent public sparring partners of the Anti-Saloon League and Methodist Board of Temperance, Prohibition, and Public Morals. The influential couple had many followers and supporters, and their message was simple: REPEAL – CONTROL – EDUCATE!

Fred was a prominent member of the Crusaders, a group of mostly younger men advocating temperance to eliminate bootleggers, violence, and death. Although formed in Cleveland, the Michigan group had the most clout. The men zeroed in on down ticket politics and seeded “wet” candidates in many open offices as their anti-prohibition strategy.

Mary was Michigan chairwoman and chief flamethrower of the powerful action group the Women’s Organization for National Prohibition Reform (WONPR). Besides her common sense yet rousing interviews and speeches to organizations in Michigan and beyond, efforts such as “Ring the Bells” sent her members house-to-house to inform and fire up citizens for repeal. This campaign was so successful the membership grew to some 50,000 women in Michigan alone once Mary became their state chairwoman.

Trying to emulate her success, the opposing Women’s Christian Temperance League (WCTL), a total abstinence organization, had a loyal member in Mrs. Truman (Harriet) Newberry - and the battle of the Grosse Pointe beau monde commenced. Contributing to the spectacle: longtime Alger family friend and WONPR National Executive Committee member, Mrs. Henry (Helen) Bourne Joy, was also Harriet’s niece! Mary Alger and Harriet Newberry went at it loudly, publicly, and often, and the women of the Pointes, particularly the Farms, were divided into two camps by the two strong leaders.

The problem with forced prohibition was the same as with any civil right that was suddenly denied or outlawed that Americans once had: citizens found ways to regain access to it outright or subverted the law to replicate what was being withheld.

As Fred so wisely observed to the New York Times (1/31/1932), “In America, law is an agreement between us as to how we shall live. It is social rather than political and cannot be imposed from the top down. When a law is the expression of the opinion of a community, moral pressure and honest intention will force its observation.”

Outlawing liquor did not bring the elimination of crime and alcoholism that was promised. Instead, it brought blindness and death from “bathtub” liquor; a huge new crop of wealthy bootleggers and violent gangsters; much higher crime rates and public drunkenness arrests; and, as Mary so simply stated, “Thousands of unlicensed saloons to take the place of (one) old saloon before prohibition.”

The Alger’s push for repeal incorporated new laws, controls, and state oversight on liquor manufacturing, distribution, and purchase, and the licensing of all liquor-serving establishments. They also advocated for an educational component for consumers, whether they were alcohol drinkers or not. The high profile couple never turned down a chance to argue these topics publicly or impart their ideas for the basic, good sense handling of alcohol.

April 15-16 of 1931, a WONPR conference took place in Washington, DC where 530 representatives from 32 states organized support for anti-prohibition candidates called “Say It with Ballots.” Michigan was represented by the second largest attending membership. The women even met with President Herbert Hoover at the White House and presented resolutions for repeal to him (and to Congress) to affect changes. However, reports had Hoover remaining stoic as he was for prohibition. In response, a new directive issued at the conference was that political parties should not matter in the women’s fight against prohibition; they were to cross party lines when campaigning and voting if required.

Even more energized post-conference, Mary corralled three heavyweight repeal groups into action: the Crusaders, the WONPR, and the Michigan Moderation League. They joined forces with the Voluntary Committee of Lawyers and the American Hotel Organization to form the powerful United Repeal Council (URC). The URC lobbied heavily at both parties’ conventions, then turned repeal into a major topic of the presidential race. 86,000 signatures were needed in Michigan for a referendum, and the combined group blew past that number with 200,000 signatures collected demanding repeal. The initial signatures were submitted in early April of 1932, but Mary planned to solicit even more signatures until July 1. Michigan Governor Frank Fitzgerald finally promised the issue would be placed on the November ballot as Proposal #1.

Prior to the 1932 election, the Fred Alger’s, longtime very high-profile Republican supporters and campaigners, shocked everyone by endorsing Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the Democrats down ballot instead of the incumbent, Republican President Herbert Hoover. They voted for the anti-prohibitionists for change, just as they had requested their followers also do, and Roosevelt eventually won the presidency 57.3% to Hoover’s 39.6%.

Mary had also attended both parties’ conventions stumping for repeal and had received a large amount of national press for her efforts. She was well known in many circles outside of Michigan and was a somewhat polarizing figure. Thousands of women looked up to her, appreciative that in addition to the enormous and messy undertaking of repeal politics, she was still simultaneously involved with an extraordinary amount of social and charitable projects and continued to sit on the boards, or was director of, numerous organizations.

On April 10, 1933, a triumphant Mary Alger was in Lansing atop the rostrum presiding at the ratification convention as the vote was taken in Michigan’s Representative Hall to repeal Prohibition, 99-1, the first state in the nation to do so.

Americans were finally able to rid themselves of the very unpopular 18th Amendment later that year in great part thanks to the masterful organization of these opposition groups and the diligent efforts of thousands of supercharged Michigan women, led by influential leaders like Mary Alger.

On May 4, 1933, the American Legion, which Col. Fred Alger founded in Michigan, received the first Special License from the Liquor Commission to serve 3.2% beer at their event scheduled for May 10. Some 30,000 thirsty Detroiters showed up to partake of the first legal beer served since 1918 at that Legion event.

Unfortunately, Fred and Mary did not have long to celebrate their repeal victory together as 1933 ended in great personal tragedy.

The first week of October, at the 15th Annual National Convention of the American Legion, Fred had a seemingly minor incident - he bumped his left leg on his car door upon exiting. He had a slight bruise the next day when he returned home from Chicago and thought nothing more of it. On November 22, he awoke to find no feeling in his leg so checked into Detroit’s Charles Godwin Jennings Hospital. Dr. Jennings ran various tests and diagnosed a dangerous blood clot in a major artery of his leg; his left leg was amputated November 28. Fred was not recovering from the procedure as expected so he remained hospitalized. He then developed a second blood clot, this time in his lung, with devastating consequences.

Col. Frederick M. Alger died New Year’s Eve of 1933 still at Jennings Hospital; he was 57 years old. Mary never left his side from November 22 until his death.

A tremendously popular man and beloved military veteran, Fred lay in state for public viewing at Grosse Pointe Memorial Church, where his service was later held, before internment in Elmwood Cemetery’s Alger mausoleum. After his will was probated, he was found to have left $2,655,691.80. After hefty inheritance and other taxes, the net was reduced to $1,634,264.80. Half went to his widow, Mary Swift Alger, and the other half equally to his surviving children, Frederick Jr. and Frances Alger Boyer.

Following Fred’s untimely death and the settling of his estate, the accolades continued to roll in with Mary presiding over various tributes for both of them throughout 1934.

According to the Detroit Free Press (2/21/1934), on February 20, 1934, an unannounced surprise awaited Mary when she answered her doorbell at “By-Way.” Outside was a military delegation accompanying General Józef Haller von Hallenburg, Polish war hero of WWI, commander of their famed Blue Army, and political and social activist. After inviting the delegation in for an hour of chat, the General solemnly conferred upon Mary the Haller’s Swords medal honoring her and Fred for “their friendship and services to Poland and the Polish people.” A few weeks later, she was presented with the Polish Army Veteran Association’s Cross of the Order of Merit medal for her efforts on behalf of war veterans. She was back to her various community duties and accepting the outpouring of affection for Fred, while also keeping a wary eye on the post-prohibition landscape.

Early January 1935 brought the big announcement that Mary Swift Alger would be appointed the first female Michigan Liquor Control Commissioner, and an original member of the 17-member Michigan Liquor Control Commission established to regulate the sale and distribution of beer. “She will fight as hard against the abuses of liquor as she did against prohibition,” proclaimed Michigan Gov. Frank Fitzgerald. Little did he know how accurate his prediction was.

Mary made headlines in April following an interesting evening out with Harry Colburn, the chief investigator to the prosecutor’s office. The story carried in the Rock Hill, SC Evening Herald (4/9/1935) detailed a covert operation the two staged visiting Detroit saloons and clubs on a Saturday night to observe how the rollout and new rules were working. Reportedly they found all manner of flagrant violations of the liquor code and were aghast. They determined that she would meet with the Commission, pull the establishments’ records, and recommend fines/prosecution/license revocation of the offending parties. Mary specifically wanted to be a Liquor Board Commissioner to “correct abuses” in the system but apparently the investigation and her recommendations fell upon deaf ears. First, she had evidence that the rollout of alcohol protocols to the government stores and establishment licensing was being flouted. Then, on July 31, 1935, an incomprehensible plan was suddenly afoot to close 27 of the state liquor stores and turn over liquor enforcement to an enlarged Michigan State Police instead of the appointed liquor control commissioners - all Gov. Fitzgerald’s ideas. He also wanted 150 liquor control-related workers dismissed, 65 being commission enforcement officers, within 30 days.

Mary went ballistic privately as she’d lost all confidence in Gov. Fitzgerald. She resigned her two Liquor Board positions Aug. 6, 1935, publicly using the polite excuse of having to tend to her out-of-state sister’s illness which precluded her in good conscience from serving in Detroit or Lansing for the Board. Sensing disorder, Dr. D.I. McBride, the Michigan superintendent of the old Anti-Saloon League further angered her by alleging to the media that “she was disappointed with the results of the repeal.” Mary publicly countered via a letter sent to her former organization, the WONPR for distribution, reiterating that “education and self-discipline will achieve temperance, not prohibition.”

In the midst of the Liquor Control Commission fiasco, she chimed in on another hot button news topic. In July, Mary spoke out publicly on behalf of Dr. Amy Stannard, a brilliant psychiatrist who was removed from the Federal Parole Board by U.S. Attorney General Homer Cummings - for being a woman. Dr. Stannard was told that “even though she had very impressive credentials, being a woman disqualified her work.” Mary had no financial or business interest in the controversy, nor even personally knew the doctor, but she spoke up boldly in the newspapers for Dr. Stannard purely as a woman who was outraged by the AG’s decision and the reasoning behind it. Mary Swift Alger, early feminist and defender of logic, feared no one.

January 23,1936, Mary delivered an important speech to the Detroit Women’s Republican Club urging women to get very involved with politics and government “in this time of crisis for the nation and the Republican Party.” After prohibition’s elimination, she had soured on President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal policies to pull America out of the Great Depression. Women always responded to Mary and the idea of motivating them to become more involved in the workings of everyday government was a very good one. The group again advocated for their own candidates, as they had for repeal candidates in 1932.

Mary was a familiar name to many women beyond Michigan, but there was one more thing that she still badly wanted – to officially represent Michigan within the national GOP organization.

By April of 1936, she had secured the endorsement of five Wayne County congressional districts for Republican National Committeewoman from Michigan, the second time she had sought this prestigious political position. She was very unhappy when she lost out in 1932, and there began a public tug of war between the incumbent, Mrs. Steketee, and Mary Alger creating fireworks leading up to the vote. In June of 1936, Mary was shut out for a second time. There was talk among some of the men in Michigan’s GOP of perhaps making her a delegate-at-large, but that also did not come to pass. This was still the mid-1930’s and being a powerful, organized woman of influence may have rendered her too “radioactive” for a national party position.

The new year held a big surprise for Grosse Pointe and beyond. On January 18, 1937, Mary Swift Alger quietly married her next door neighbor, Dr. Fred T. Murphy. Both parties had lost their spouses within a month of each other and knew each other well, but their nuptials still sent tongues wagging mightily. Their children were invited to “By-Way” at 3pm and there witnessed a fast, private ceremony. The newlyweds than departed for Fred’s ranch in San Diego for about a month, with the directive to have Mary’s belongings moved next door to Fred’s house in anticipation of their arrival home.

Interestingly, Dr. Murphy’s home, “The Hedges” (17620 E. Jefferson), was originally purchased by Fred and Russell Alger for their widowed mother, Annette, in 1910. When Annette passed in 1919, Dr. Murphy purchased the estate. Mary was now going to live with her new husband in her mother-in-law’s former home that her deceased first husband purchased!

Dr. Fred Murphy saw World War I medical and Red Cross service in Europe. He was a professor at both Harvard and Washington University; a member of Yale Corporation; and the former captain and famous gridiron hero of the Yale football team. He was also an extremely well respected doctor and national medical advisor. His deceased wife, Esther Goodyear Murphy was likewise involved in the repeal effort with Mary besides her work as a highly acclaimed painter, gardener, flower arranger, and horticulture writer.

By May of 1937, all was forgiven between Mary and Harriet Newberry again as they headed the joint Detroit Civic Music Maintenance campaign as co-chairwomen. They raised funds to finance the DSO and Detroit Civic Opera May 17-28. The two society women had come together to help the community, as it should be with women of influence. Mary was a huge supporter of the arts and particularly music. The DSO came and went several times between 1887 and today, with them going “on hiatus” spanning several years more than once. In November of 1949, Mary was chairwoman of the Children’s Free Concert Committee, part of the Women’s Group of the DSO. The idea was to bring free concert programming to kids and to revive interest in the DSO, which was always in need of funds. Approximately 37,000 children attended the Symphony because of this unique program. Following this campaign, the DSO went on hiatus again until being revived permanently in 1951 by John B. Ford, Jr.

The Detroit Opera as we know it today only came into being in 1963 as the Overture to Opera (OTO). The opera group Mary was involved with, the Detroit Civic Opera Company, was organized in 1921 before disappearing around 1939. An all-Black opera company later used the same moniker for years before also disappearing circa early 1960’s. Mary was involved with this second opera company as a member of their board of directors. She did not shy away from supporting non-White causes and was also a board member of the Detroit Urban League.

January 21, 1947, an honorary Doctor of Laws degree was conferred on Mary Alger Murphy by Wayne University (Wayne State) for her tireless work as a “Detroit civic leader”.

She continued her frenetic schedule of social, community, patriotic, and political work during the war years, holding court at “The Hedges” and raising money for a variety of good causes and organizations. In early 1942, she fractured her hip and was still using crutches a half a year later. She finally graduated from crutches to walking with a cane, the beginning of her ongoing mobility issues.

In October of 1947, Fred took a fall and was sent to the hospital; he was released December 23 to recuperate at “The Hedges.” Pneumonia set in and 75-year-old Dr. Fred Murphy passed away at home January 10, 1948, leaving Mary widowed a second time.

In February 1949, Mary was declared “Woman of the Year” at the first Press Photographers’ Ball honoring her perpetual graciousness whenever approached by media. The National Citizenship Award was bestowed on her by the Veterans of Foreign Wars in 1950 for her “longtime public welfare work, especially for the Red Cross.”

July 24, 1949, Mary broke ground for the new Detroit Historical Museum at Woodward Ave. and Kerby St.

She had been instrumental in organizing the fundraising for the Museum. Exactly two years later, on July 24, 1951, Mary spoke at the dedication ceremony before Michigan Governor G. Mennon Williams and Detroit Mayor Albert Cobo as a host of VIP’s looked on.

As she advanced in age, Mary pulled back slightly on the number of activities she kept. In early January of 1950 she was laid up for over a month in Jennings Hospital after she fell and broke her left leg and again fractured her hip, particularly difficult injuries for a woman in her 70’s. Upon recovery she always used her cane and was sometimes confined to a wheelchair, which reportedly slowed her down only slightly. She was seen in public less frequently, but made a big splash each time she did venture out, sometimes carried in her wheelchair by her chauffeur.

During the summer of 1956, she was again confined to Jennings Hospital for several months and, exactly like her first husband, Fred Alger, she never emerged. On November 9, 1956, the immensely popular Mary Swift Alger Murphy passed away; she was 80 years old.

Her will was probated shortly thereafter indicating that she left over $1.5 million dollars. In addition to her two children, Frederick Jr. and Frances, and other immediate family members and close associates, she left sizable bequests to the Visiting Nurses Association, Women’s Hospital, the Detroit Historical Society, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and Grosse Pointe Memorial Church. As in life, Mary did not forget her charitable causes or community after her death.

To better understand what a dedicated leader and community servant Mary was, following is a listing of just some of her organizations of interest gleaned from reports in the Detroit Free Press and other regional publications:

--Ragan-Lide American Legion Post No. 13 Auxiliary; honorary chairwomen, former president

--National Camp and Hospital Council, American Red Cross; Michigan representative on their national board

--Gen. Russell A. and Col. Frederick M. Alger VFW Post No. 995 Auxiliary; life member

--Luisa St. Clair Chapter of the DAR; member

--Detroit Women’s Council of the Navy League; founding member and director

--Lest We Forget, Inc.; honorary chairwoman

--International Institute; board member

--Grosse Pointe War Memorial; board member

--Friends of the Grosse Pointe Public Library; board member

--Joint Council On Community Nursing; member

--Nurse’s Committee, Visiting Nurse Association; former president, chairwoman, board member

--National Camp and Hospital Committee, American Red Cross; former president

--Nursing Activities Committee, American Red Cross; chairman

--Detroit Civic Opera Company; former president

--Detroit Negro Civic Opera Company; board member

--Detroit Symphony Orchestra; charter member, board member

--Chamber Music Society of Detroit; member

--Pro Musica; member

--Children’s Free Concert Committee, DSO; chairwoman

--Women’s Hospital (now Hutzel Hospital); 2nd vice president, honorary trustee for life

--Women’s Committee of the Detroit Community Fund; member of the governing board

--Women’s Committee of United Community Services; first chairwoman

--Women’s Committee, International Institute; chairwoman, board member

--Women’s Organization for Prohibition Reform; Michigan chairwoman

--Michigan Liquor Commission; original member, liquor commissioner

--Detroit Historical Commission; founding member, honorary life member

--Detroit Historical Society; board member

--Detroit Urban League; board member

--Parkside Hospital of Detroit; board member

--China Relief Legion; member

--Conservation Committee of the Garden Club of Michigan; member

--Women’s City Club; member

--Colony Town Club; founding member

--Tuesday Musicale; founding member

--Fine Arts Society; member

--Theater Arts; member

--Society of Arts and Crafts; member

--Detroit Artists Market; member

--Metamora Club; member

--Detroit Athletic Club; associate member

--Detroit Club; associate member

--National Affairs Committee, Women’s National Republican Club; member

--Wayne Country Women’s Republican Club; life member

--Women’s Republican Club of Grosse Pointe; advisory council

--Open Heart Fund; vice-chair

It is difficult to overstate how influential Mary was in Grosse Pointe, Detroit, Michigan, and nationally, while graciously adhering to the responsibilities of noblesse oblige. Her example of lifelong public servitude and courage would be wise for women to follow in any era.

PHOTO CREDITS: The Pipe Organ Database, Grosse Pointe Historical Society, Detroit Historical Society, and the Lansing State Journal

The Original “Swifties”

Birth of The War Memorial

Some Major Cabbage to Rent