Heringa Mason, Marcia J. 1945-

PERSONAL: Born January 24, 1945, in Chicago, IL; daughter of John (in sales) and Johanna (a homemaker) Heringa; married William C. De Vries (divorced June, 1992); married Philip P. Mason (a historian and professor), March 12, 1993; children: (first marriage) Heather Leigh De Vries Briody, Cori Jo De Vries Vanderley, Rachel Suzanne De Vries Sterner. Education: Trinity Christian College, A.A., 1966; Spring Arbor College, B.A., 1990; Wayne State University, M.A., 1995. Politics: Democrat. Religion: Protestant. Hobbies and other interests: Birding, gardening, geology, natural history, Navajo culture, textile history.

ADDRESSES: Home— Prescott, AZ; Dearborn, MI. E-mail— mhmhistory@aol.com.

CAREER: Teacher at a day school in El Paso, TX, 1982-87; Edsel and Eleanor Ford House, Grosse Pointe Shores, MI, public relations and marketing director, 1988-93; Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn, MI, interpreter and archivist, 1993-97; Ford Motor Co., Dearborn, archivist, 1997-2000; Desert Caballeros Western Museum, Wickenburg, AZ, marketing and exhibit manager, 2001-03; writer and oral historian, 2003—. Sharlot Hall Museum Archives, volunteer; member of Henry Ford Museum, Sharlot Hall Museum, Smoki Museum, and Northern Arizona Museum.

MEMBER: National Wildlife Federation, Nature Conservancy, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Audubon Society, Grand Canyon Association.

WRITINGS

(Editor) Remember the Distance That Divides Us: The Family Letters of Philadelphia Quaker Abolitionistand Michigan Pioneer, Elizabeth Margaret Chandler, 1830-1842, Michigan State University Press (East Lansing, MI), 2005.

SIDELIGHTS: Marcia J. Heringa Mason told CA:“My motivation for editing Remember the Distance That Divides Us: The Family Letters of Philadelphia Quaker Abolitionist and Michigan Pioneer, Elizabeth Margaret Chandler, 1830-1842 was to make available to a wide audience the remarkable story of Elizabeth Margaret Chandler. The book is a significant contribution to the history of women and to life in Philadelphia and frontier Michigan in the 1830s.

“My writing process involves extensive research in the relevant subjects surrounding the story, oral history interviews, then writing a narrative that both teaches and draws the reader into the subject’s life. I am particularly motivated to offer history from the bottom up, especially from a woman’s perspective.”