Mary E. Arnold (1876-1968)

Inducted: 1976

Prior to 1950, few women had attained executive leadership in cooperatives. One who did was Mary E. Arnold, founder and general manager of Consumers Cooperative Services in New York City. She was a driving force in the organization of Eastern Cooperatives, and was a director of this regional cooperative on two occasions. She served as director of the National Cooperative Business Association from 1927 to 1938 and from 1945 to 1950, and was its treasurer from 1929 to 1939. The cooperatives Arnold helped people organize ranged from housing and food enterprises to fishing cooperatives and credit unions.