Today in Wheeling History: June 30—Mabel Cratty, future national General Secretary of the YWCA who earlier taught at the Wheeling Female Seminary, is born in Bellaire, Ohio (1868).
Mary Isabell “Mabel” Cratty (1868–1928) was born June 30, 1868, in Belmont County, Ohio, to Charles Campbell Cratty and Mary Clark Thoburn Cratty. Raised in a Methodist family with strong missionary ties, she attended Bellaire public schools, studied at Lake Erie Seminary, and graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1890. Soon afterward, she accepted a teaching position at the Wheeling Female Seminary in Wheeling, West Virginia, where her disciplined instruction and belief in rigorous education for young women left a lasting impression. Her Wheeling years helped shape the values that later guided her national leadership.
In 1904, Cratty joined the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) national staff, and in 1906 she became General Secretary of the National Board—a position she held for twenty‑two years. From New York City, she oversaw major organizational expansion, strengthened international ties, and advanced programs addressing labor conditions, peace advocacy, and women’s civic participation. Her leadership earned her an honorary Doctor of Laws from Ohio Wesleyan in 1922.
Cratty died of pneumonia on February 27, 1928, in New York at age 59. Her funeral, held at the YWCA National Board Building at 600 Lexington Avenue, drew about 400 representatives from across the country, including Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller Jr., Carrie Chapman Catt, and officers of the National Board. After the service, her body was taken by train to Bellaire, Ohio, for burial in Greenwood Cemetery in Pultney Township.
To learn more: Prabook (https://tinyurl.com/2rkc6nbu), Wikipedia - Mabel Cratty (https://tinyurl.com/mwam9r8d), Find a Grave - Mabel Cratty (https://tinyurl.com/5n775fam), New York Times - FUNERAL OF MABEL CRATTY.; 400 Representatives of Y.W.C.A. at Services for General Secretary (https://tinyurl.com/4h9ewn3c), Ohio County Public Library - Wheeling Female Seminary | Wheeling Female College (https://tinyurl.com/2d7ppk6p), Flickr - Ohio County Public Library - Wheeling Female Seminary | Wheeling Female College (https://tinyurl.com/yc3vu284)
Photo credits: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV; Wikimedia Commons, Find a Grave, YWCA
Mary Isabell “Mabel” Cratty (1868–1928) was born June 30, 1868, in Belmont County, Ohio, to Charles Campbell Cratty and Mary Clark Thoburn Cratty. Raised in a Methodist family with strong missionary ties, she attended Bellaire public schools, studied at Lake Erie Seminary, and graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1890. Soon afterward, she accepted a teaching position at the Wheeling Female Seminary in Wheeling, West Virginia, where her disciplined instruction and belief in rigorous education for young women left a lasting impression. Her Wheeling years helped shape the values that later guided her national leadership.
In 1904, Cratty joined the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) national staff, and in 1906 she became General Secretary of the National Board—a position she held for twenty‑two years. From New York City, she oversaw major organizational expansion, strengthened international ties, and advanced programs addressing labor conditions, peace advocacy, and women’s civic participation. Her leadership earned her an honorary Doctor of Laws from Ohio Wesleyan in 1922.
Cratty died of pneumonia on February 27, 1928, in New York at age 59. Her funeral, held at the YWCA National Board Building at 600 Lexington Avenue, drew about 400 representatives from across the country, including Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller Jr., Carrie Chapman Catt, and officers of the National Board. After the service, her body was taken by train to Bellaire, Ohio, for burial in Greenwood Cemetery in Pultney Township.
To learn more: Prabook (https://tinyurl.com/2rkc6nbu), Wikipedia - Mabel Cratty (https://tinyurl.com/mwam9r8d), Find a Grave - Mabel Cratty (https://tinyurl.com/5n775fam), New York Times - FUNERAL OF MABEL CRATTY.; 400 Representatives of Y.W.C.A. at Services for General Secretary (https://tinyurl.com/4h9ewn3c), Ohio County Public Library - Wheeling Female Seminary | Wheeling Female College (https://tinyurl.com/2d7ppk6p), Flickr - Ohio County Public Library - Wheeling Female Seminary | Wheeling Female College (https://tinyurl.com/yc3vu284)
Photo credits: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV; Wikimedia Commons, Find a Grave, YWCA
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