Life Story: Margery Carpenter
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Margery Carpenter was raised in Minneapolis in the 1920s.
She was a little girl with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and severe vision problems. But Margery was resilient.
"She sometimes had to be pulled in a wagon to high school," said her brother, Mark Peterson. "Her eyesight then became increasingly … difficult for her to read, so people had to read her textbooks."
She graduated from the University of Minnesota with honors and took graduate classes in social work.
Margery then set out to do what she knew: she taught others how to work with children with disabilities, and she recruited people into the profession.
"Women in those days mostly became teachers, I suppose, or nurses," Mark said. "This was something a little different. So she was a pioneer in the field of social work as a woman."
At the age of 41, Margery met her match. She married Kenneth Carpenter. They lived in Washington, D.C. and together raised money to elevate the field of social work.
Photos capture Margery over the years with a big smile and fancy hair, but her family says getting around remained a struggle.
"You couldn't miss her disability," said her niece, Lynn Peterson. "It was work for her to walk."
Despite her disabilities, Margery traveled the world, often buying rare and expensive artwork that she and her husband donated to museums in Minnesota and D.C.
A Picasso creation on display at the Minneapolis Institute of Art is one such gift.
"They loved to enjoy them, but they loved to share them, too," Lynn said.
Margery also showered her young nieces and nephews with gifts.
"I was in awe of her from the time I was little," said her great niece, Alison Rahn.
She describes Margery as a role model -- professionally and personally.
"She was still just this incredible human who could laugh and could appreciate great food and who loved great lipstick and shoes," Alison said. "And that's real. That is that full person."
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