Mabel Lloyd Fisher Ridgely

Year Honored: 1982

Birth: 1872 - 1962

Born in: Washington D.C

Biography

Mabel Lloyd Fisher Ridgely was born in Washington D.C in 1872. She married Henry Ridgely in 1893, and the couple relocated to Dover, where the Ridgely’s had resided for generations. The couple became heavily involved in preservation efforts throughout the city.

Ridgely is credited with single-handedly saving the Old State Building on the Dover Green. Completed in 1791, the Georgian-style building was the first permanent capital in Delaware. Today, the building is open to the public as a museum. Ridgely also played a key role in the restoration of the Golden Fleece Tavern, also on the Dover Green, and the John Dickinson Mansion.

Highly involved in Dover society, Ridgely was also one of the Founders (and President) of the Public Archives Commission, chaired the Women’s Library Loan Committee of Delaware, President of the Delaware State Portrait Commission, chaired the Liberty Loan Committee of Delaware during World War 1, and was president of the Dover Garden Club. As a fundraiser for the Garden Club, Ridgely helped create Dover Days in 1933. Heirlooms of founding families were displayed throughout town, dancing was held in the center of the Green, and a historical pageant was put on in front of legislative hall. The event is still held annually today.

Ridgely edited and published a collection of her husband’s family letters, which spanned 150 years of Delaware history, titled ‘The Ridgely’s of Delaware: What them Befell, A Collection of Family Letters (1751-1890).’ She was awarded an honorary degree of human letters by the University of Delaware in 1957. She also served on the universities Board of Trustees, after the death of her husband in 1941.

Aside from her work with preservation, Ridgely was an ardent supporter of suffragism, serving as President of the Delaware Equal Suffrage Association and as President of the Ratification Committee. She was often the speaker for the committee, winning the support of the State Democratic Committee with her words, “Suffrage is an assured fact… Delaware was loyal to America in 1776. She will be loyal to America in 1920. She will prove her loyalty by her action… in the historic state house at Dover, whose walls witnessed the birth of the first state of the union and will witness the birth of justice to the daughters of the union.” Ridgely also participated in an event at the Delaware State Building that came to be known as the ‘War of the Roses.’ Suffragists (wearing yellow roses) and anti-suffragists (wearing red roses) clashed on the Dover Green as they protested for their respective stances. Delaware ultimately failed to ratify the amendment on April 1, 1920. Ridgely remarked, “of course the failure to ratify is a fearful disappointment. But it really is only a brief delay.”
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Sources and Additional Readings

Biographical Sketch of Mabel Lloyd Fisher Ridgely | Alexander Street Documents. (n.d.). Retrieved October 28, 2021, from https://documents.alexanderstreet.com/d/1009656548.

Kent County Tourism Corporation. Visit Delaware Villages. (n.d.). Retrieved October 28, 2021, from https://www.visitdelawarevillages.com/events-calendar/top-dover-events/dover-days/#:~:text=The%20Annual%20Dover%20Days%20Festival%2C%20is%20one%20of,County%2C%20with%20Delaware%E2%80%99s%20Governor%20serving%20as%20Grand%20Marshal.

Mabel Lloyd Fisher Ridgely (1872-1962) - find a... Find a Grave. (n.d.). Retrieved October 28, 2021, from https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/11922276/mabel-lloyd-ridgely.

The Old State House History. Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs - State of Delaware. (2021, April 8). Retrieved October 28, 2021, from https://history.delaware.gov/old-state-house/building/.