Background
McHenry was born Mary Elizabeth Williamson Murphy in Washington District of Columbia to Alphonso Williamson (who worked with the Library of Congress) and Elizabeth Bennett Williamson (a teacher).
McHenry was born Mary Elizabeth Williamson Murphy in Washington District of Columbia to Alphonso Williamson (who worked with the Library of Congress) and Elizabeth Bennett Williamson (a teacher).
She graduated from Oakwood School in Poughkeepsie, New York in 1950, received her Bachelor of Arts in English literature from Mount Holyoke College in 1954, her Master of Arts
McHenry also introduced her then student, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks, to Five Colleges faculty member James Baldwin during the 1980s. Parks would later cr McHenry with her success. From Columbia University in 1960, and continued further graduate work at George Washington University from 1961-1964.
They had a son together.
McHenry taught at Howard University (1960–1963), George Washington University (1964–1969), and Federal City College (1969–1974). The Mary McHenry Papers (1933–1996) were exhibited from October 29 - November 26, 2007 at Mount Holyoke College.
McHenry has received recognition for her contributions to Mount Holyoke College. Documents of her life are divided into eleven different sections and cover her life between 1933-1996.
The files include personal correspondence, writings and speeches, yearbooks, and more ranging from her childhood to her time on faculty at Mount Holyoke College.
Her successful career made an impact on several lives. Mary Elizabeth Williamson Murphy impacted Mount Holyoke College by incorporating the field of African American literature into the college. Her contributions as a professor “continue to enrich many students’ experience in studying literature”.
When she first arrived in the early 1950s as a student, there were only five African American women in the entire college.
She graduated in 1954. Twenty years after graduation, she returned back to Mount Holyoke College in 1974 to take up a position as an English professor
When she returned to join the faculty, there were 140 African American students attending Mount Holyoke College. Her daughter Elizabeth McHenry followed in her steps, teaching African American literature.
Mary Elizabeth Williamson Murphy significantly impacted multiple students’ lives.
One in particular is Michelle L. Taylor, who graduated in 1994 and became a professor of English at the Miami University of Ohio. Associate professor of the African American studies department at Mount Holyoke College quotes Taylor by stating, “Michelle credits Mary with her interest in teaching and her interest in African American literature.“. McHenry asked Parks if she would be interested in submitting her first papers to James Baldwin.
McHenry then taught at Mount Holyoke from 1974 until her retirement in 1998 "and was also a member of the American Studies and the Black (later African-American) Studies departments.".