Name Martha Shaw Died February 9, 1981 | Education Agnes Scott College | |
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Martha Priscilla Shaw (August 29, 1904 – February 9, 1981) was an American educator and politician in the state of South Carolina. She served as mayor of Sumter, South Carolina between 1952 and 1956, thus becoming the second female mayor in South Carolina.
Biography
Priscilla Shaw was born in 1904 in Alcolu, in Clarendon County. She moved to Sumter in 1909, and she was educated in the Sumter Public Schools. She attended Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia, for one year but ultimately graduated from the Sargent School of Physical Education, which was founded by Dudley Allen Sargent, receiving her B.S. degree in 1925. She later did graduate work at Boston University in 1937. Shaw taught physical education in the Sumter Public Schools from 1925 to 1939 and directed a summer camp for girls from 1929 to 1950.
Shaw became increasingly involved in service to her community and joined the Red Cross, the YWCA, and the Salvation Army, among others. Shaw was also a charter member of the local Junior Welfare League. In 1950, she was elected to the Sumter City Council, becoming the first woman to serve in that body. In 1952, she was elected Mayor of Sumter, becoming the first female mayor in the entire state. She served in that position until 1956. Shaw died in 1981 at the age of 76. Her brother, Lt. Ervin David Shaw, was the namesake for Shaw Air Force Base (see this write up).