Mildred Muscio
{{short description|Australian women's rights activist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}{{Use Australian English|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Mildred Muscio
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=AUS|OBE|size=100}}
| image = Mildred Muscio 1940.png
| alt = head and shoulders image of Mildred Muscio in 1940
| caption = Muscio in 1940
| birth_name = Florence Mildred Fry
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1882|04|28|df=y}}
| birth_place = Copeland, New South Wales, Australia
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1964|08|17|1882|04|28|df=y}}
| death_place = Ryde, New South Wales, Australia
| nationality = Australian
| education = Sydney Girls' High School
| alma_mater = University of Sydney
| occupation = Women's rights activist, feminist, school principal
| organization =
| known_for =
| boards =
| spouse =
| awards =
}}
Florence Mildred Muscio {{post-nominals|country=AUS|OBE}} (28 April 1882 – 17 August 1964) was an Australian activist for the rights of women and children, feminist and 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,{{Citation|last=Foley|first=Meredith|title=Muscio, Florence Mildred (1882–1964)|url=http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/muscio-florence-mildred-7715|work=Australian Dictionary of Biography|place=Canberra|publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University|access-date=2020-11-25|last2=Fulloon|first2=Gillian}} where she was head of school in 1897 and won matriculation honours.{{cite news|date=25 February 1903|title=Our Public Schools.|volume=LXVI|page=31|newspaper=Australian Town and Country Journal|issue=1725|location=New South Wales, Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71478254|access-date=25 November 2020|via=National Library of Australia}}
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.{{cite news|date=1 June 1901|title=UNIVERSITY COMMEMORATION.|page=9|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|issue=6857|location=New South Wales, Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article237273875|access-date=25 November 2020|via=National Library of Australia}} She then undertook an MA in ethics, graduating in 1905 from the same university.{{cite news|date=8 May 1905|title=THE DEGREES.|page=5|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|issue=20,957|location=New South Wales, Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14680208|access-date=25 November 2020|via=National Library of Australia}}
Career
From 1902 to 1912, Muscio was principal of Brighton College at Manly.{{cite news|date=22 December 1902|title=BRIGHTON COLLEGE, MANLY.|page=5|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|issue=20,213|location=New South Wales, Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14490408|access-date=25 November 2020|via=National Library of Australia}} 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.{{cite news|date=30 October 1915|title=GOSSIP FROM SYDNEY.|page=1 (EVENING)|newspaper=Goulburn Evening Penny Post|location=New South Wales, Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article98843883|access-date=26 November 2020|via=National Library of Australia}} She was one of two Australian representatives selected by the Teachers' Guild of New South Wales to attend the Imperial Conference of Teachers there.{{cite news|date=22 February 1912|title=NOTES FROM LONDON|volume=18|page=2|newspaper=Kalgoorlie Miner|issue=5113|location=Western Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article91340684|access-date=25 November 2020|via=National Library of Australia}} In 1913 she was working as a teacher in a London school.{{cite news|date=11 October 1913|title=IN THE THRONG.|page=19|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|issue=10728|location=New South Wales, Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article238906254|access-date=25 November 2020|via=National Library of Australia}}
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.{{cite news|date=25 August 1920|title=WOMEN'S COLUMN. INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN.|page=7|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|issue=25,784|location=New South Wales, Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15903798|access-date=26 November 2020|via=National Library of Australia}} Back in Sydney in 1922 she acted as honorary secretary of the Better Films League from its inception,{{cite news|date=29 July 1922|title=WOMEN'S COLUMN. NEAR AND FAR.|page=8|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|issue=26,385|location=New South Wales, Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16015962|access-date=26 November 2020|via=National Library of Australia}} an initiative of the National Council of Women of New South Wales, to which she belonged. She was also active in the establishment of the Australian Federation of University Women in the same year.{{cite news|date=16 September 1922|title=UNIVERSITY WOMEN.|page=14|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|issue=26,427|location=New South Wales, Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16025097|access-date=26 November 2020|via=National Library of Australia}} From 1923 to 1926 Muscio was president of the Sydney University Women Graduates' Association.
In September 1927, she was the only woman appointed to the Child Endowment Commission.{{cite news|date=15 September 1927|title=TABLE TALK OF THE WEEK|page=7|newspaper=Table Talk|issue=3097|location=Victoria, Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article146463043|access-date=26 November 2020|via=National Library of Australia}}{{cite news|date=16 May 1928|title=THE WOMAN OF THE DAY|page=20|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|issue=15,111|location=New South Wales, Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article246773241|access-date=26 November 2020|via=National Library of Australia}} She was elected president of the National Council of Women, 1927–1929.{{cite news|date=22 October 1927|title=OUR PUBLIC WOMEN.|volume=CXXIII|page=15|newspaper=The Australasian|issue=4,111|location=Victoria, Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article140804851|access-date=26 November 2020|via=National Library of Australia}}
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.{{Cite news|date=1931-06-22|title=WOMEN FOR A.F.A. COUNCIL.|work=Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article139636392|access-date=2021-11-20}}{{Cite news|date=1931-12-12|title=A.F.A. AND ENDORSEMENTS|work=Sydney Morning Herald|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16818818|access-date=2021-11-20}} 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.{{Cite news|date=1931-10-17|title=NATIONALISTS and A.F.A. MERGE INTO U.A.P.|work=Daily Telegraph|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article246573036|access-date=2021-11-20}}{{Cite news|date=1932-06-06|title=U.A.P. MEETINGS.|work=Sydney Morning Herald|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16915322|access-date=2021-11-20}}
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".{{London Gazette
| issue = 34518
| date = 7 June 1938
| pages = 3702
| supp = y
Muscio Place, in the Canberra suburb of Chisholm, is named in her honour.{{cite news|date=8 February 1978|title=SCHEDULE 'B' National Memorials Ordinance 1928-1972 STREET NOMENCLATURE LIST OF ADDITIONAL NAMES WITH REFERENCE TO ORIGIN|page=13|newspaper=Commonwealth of Australia Gazette. Special|issue=S24|location=Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article240628906|access-date=26 November 2020|via=National Library of Australia}}
Personal life
On 31 March 1915 she married Bernard Muscio, an Australian psychology academic who was studying and working in England.{{Citation|last=O'Neil|first=W. M.|title=Muscio, Bernard (1887–1926)|url=http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/muscio-bernard-7714|work=Australian Dictionary of Biography|place=Canberra|publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University|access-date=2020-11-25}} He died of heart disease in 1926 at age 39. Muscio died in a Ryde hospital on 17 August 1964. She had no children.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Feminism}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Muscio, Mildred}}
Category:People educated at Sydney Girls High School
Category:University of Sydney alumni
Category:20th-century Australian educators
Category:Australian women's rights activists