Background
Bamford was the daughter of Doctor William Bamford and Cornelia Elizabeth Rand, her parents were pioneer settlers.
Bamford was the daughter of Doctor William Bamford and Cornelia Elizabeth Rand, her parents were pioneer settlers.
Mary was educated in public schools in Oakland, California and then spent four years working as an assistant in the Oakland Free Public Library, however writing remained her career.
She had traveled by sea via Cape Horn. Bamford was an active prohibitionist and she was also secretary of the regional Woman"s Baptist Foreign Missionary Society. She supplied books to a number of publishers including the American Baptist Publication Society.
In contrast to most Americans at the time, Bamford was sympathetic to Chinese and other Asians attempting to enter the United States.
Although most scholars today do not accept her claim that the Angel Island Immigration Station was "the Ellis Island of the West," Bamford"s study continues to be cited today. Bamford also wrote for Sunday schools of several denominations.
She died in 1946, and is buried in Oakland"s Mountain View Cemetery.