Oral history interview with Margaret Mahone

Object Details

Provenance: Conducted as part of the ACM 25th Anniversary Oral History Project, which includes approximately 100 interviews of residents and influential people of the Anacostia area of Washington, DC.

Biographical / Historical: Margaret E. Mahoney (1924-2011) graduated from Vanderbilt University and worked for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. She became the first woman to head a major U.S. philanthropic foundation when she served as president of the Commonwealth Fund for the Carnegie Corporation from 1980 to 1995. She was also a trustee of Smith College, and a member of the National Academy of Science's Institute of Medicine.

Collection Citation: ACM 25th Anniversary Oral History Project, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution

Scope and Contents note: Margaret E. Mahoney recalls her time as an employee of the Carnegie Corporation in New York and describes meeting John Kinard while working on community development issues. She talks about Kinard's energy, leadership, ability to bring people together, and the many difficulties he faced. She talks about how the residents were encouraged to search their homes for material that showed the history of Anacostia, and how the ACM became a source of pride and a reflection of the community. The interview was conducted via telephone on May 6, 1992. The voices are somewhat muffled, but the interview can be heard clearly throughout the recording.

Restrictions: Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.