Mildred Muscio

Florence Mildred Muscio OBE (28 April 1882 – 17 August 1964) was an Australian activist for the rights of women and children, feminist and school principal.

Mildred Muscio

OBE
head and shoulders image of Mildred Muscio in 1940
Muscio in 1940
Born
Florence Mildred Fry

(1882-04-28)28 April 1882
Copeland, New South Wales, Australia
Died17 August 1964(1964-08-17) (aged 82)
Ryde, New South Wales, Australia
NationalityAustralian
EducationSydney Girls' High School
Alma materUniversity of Sydney
Occupation(s)Women's rights activist, feminist, school principal

Early life and education

Muscio was born Florence Mildred Fry on 28 April 1882 at Copeland, a village near Gloucester in the Upper Hunter region of New South Wales. She was the eldest daughter of Charles and Jane (née McLennan) Fry. She completed her secondary education at Sydney Girls' High,[1] where she was head of school in 1897 and won matriculation honours.[2]

She graduated with a BA (Hons) from the University of Sydney in 1901, and was awarded Professor Anderson's prize for logic and mental philosophy.[3] She then undertook an MA in ethics, graduating in 1905 from the same university.[4]

Career

From 1902 to 1912 Muscio was principal of Brighton College at Manly.[5] In 1906 Dunn and Co published a 31-page book by Muscio and her sister Edith Fry titled Poems which was described by The Sydney Morning Herald as "several pleasing essays in verse".

By February 1912 she and her sister Edith were in London, having sold Brighton College to finance their trip.[6] She was one of two Australian representatives selected by the Teachers' Guild of New South Wales to attend the Imperial Conference of Teachers there.[7] In 1913 she was working as a teacher in a London school.[8]

In August 1920 Muscio and Louisa Macdonald, former principal of the Women's College at the University of Sydney attended the inaugural conference of the International Federation of University Women in London.[9] Back in Sydney in 1922 she acted as honorary secretary of the Better Films League from its inception,[10] an initiative of the National Council of Women of New South Wales, to which she belonged.[1] She was also active in the establishment of the Australian Federation of University Women in the same year.[11] From 1923 to 1926 Muscio was president of the Sydney University Women Graduates' Association.[1]

In September 1927 she was the only woman appointed to the Child Endowment Commission.[12][13] She was elected president of the National Council of Women, 1927–1929.[14]

She was on the executive of the All for Australia League and spoke to public meetings held by that organisation, during its short existence during 1931.[15][16] She was involved in the merger of that group into the new United Australia Party. After the merger she was a supporter of that party, including making a political broadcast on its behalf in 1932.[17][18]

Honours and recognition

In 1938 Muscio was appointed an Officer of the British Empire in recognition of her work as "Chairman, National Council of Women, State of New South Wales, and Chairman of the Women's Executive Committee and Advisory Council for Australia's 150th Anniversary Celebrations".[19][20]

Muscio Place, in the Canberra suburb of Chisholm, is named in her honour.[21]

Personal life

On 31 March 1915 she married Bernard Muscio, an Australian psychology academic who was studying and working in England.[22] He died of heart disease in 1926 at age 39. Muscio died in a Ryde hospital on 17 August 1964. She had no children.[1]

References
  1. Foley, Meredith; Fulloon, Gillian, "Muscio, Florence Mildred (1882–1964)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 25 November 2020
  2. "Our Public Schools". Australian Town and Country Journal. Vol. LXVI, no. 1725. New South Wales, Australia. 25 February 1903. p. 31. Retrieved 25 November 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. "UNIVERSITY COMMEMORATION". The Daily Telegraph. No. 6857. New South Wales, Australia. 1 June 1901. p. 9. Retrieved 25 November 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. "THE DEGREES". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 20, 957. New South Wales, Australia. 8 May 1905. p. 5. Retrieved 25 November 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. "BRIGHTON COLLEGE, MANLY". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 20, 213. New South Wales, Australia. 22 December 1902. p. 5. Retrieved 25 November 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. "GOSSIP FROM SYDNEY". Goulburn Evening Penny Post. New South Wales, Australia. 30 October 1915. p. 1 (EVENING). Retrieved 26 November 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. "NOTES FROM LONDON". Kalgoorlie Miner. Vol. 18, no. 5113. Western Australia. 22 February 1912. p. 2. Retrieved 25 November 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. "IN THE THRONG". The Daily Telegraph. No. 10728. New South Wales, Australia. 11 October 1913. p. 19. Retrieved 25 November 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. "WOMEN'S COLUMN. INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 25, 784. New South Wales, Australia. 25 August 1920. p. 7. Retrieved 26 November 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. "WOMEN'S COLUMN. NEAR AND FAR". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 26, 385. New South Wales, Australia. 29 July 1922. p. 8. Retrieved 26 November 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. "UNIVERSITY WOMEN". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 26, 427. New South Wales, Australia. 16 September 1922. p. 14. Retrieved 26 November 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. "TABLE TALK OF THE WEEK". Table Talk. No. 3097. Victoria, Australia. 15 September 1927. p. 7. Retrieved 26 November 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  13. "THE WOMAN OF THE DAY". The Daily Telegraph. No. 15, 111. New South Wales, Australia. 16 May 1928. p. 20. Retrieved 26 November 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  14. "OUR PUBLIC WOMEN". The Australasian. Vol. CXXIII, no. 4, 111. Victoria, Australia. 22 October 1927. p. 15. Retrieved 26 November 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  15. "WOMEN FOR A.F.A. COUNCIL". Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate. 22 June 1931. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  16. "A.F.A. AND ENDORSEMENTS". Sydney Morning Herald. 12 December 1931. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  17. "NATIONALISTS and A.F.A. MERGE INTO U.A.P." Daily Telegraph. 17 October 1931. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  18. "U.A.P. MEETINGS". Sydney Morning Herald. 6 June 1932. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  19. "No. 34518". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 June 1938. p. 3702.
  20. "Florence Mildred Muscio". It's An Honour. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  21. "SCHEDULE 'B' National Memorials Ordinance 1928-1972 STREET NOMENCLATURE LIST OF ADDITIONAL NAMES WITH REFERENCE TO ORIGIN". Commonwealth of Australia Gazette. Special. No. S24. Australia. 8 February 1978. p. 13. Retrieved 26 November 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  22. O'Neil, W. M., "Muscio, Bernard (1887–1926)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 25 November 2020
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