McVernon, Marion Harmon

Entered Gallaudet College in 1918 and was scheduled to graduate in 1923. However, in 1922 the Mississippi School for the Deaf was in desperate need of a teacher, and asked Gallaudet president Percival Hall for help. He recommended her as an excellent candidate despite the fact that she had not finished her studies; she accepted the job offer, and taught there for 2 years. Plans to return to Gallaudet to finish her degree were abandoned when she met and married James McVernon. They relocated to Frederick, MD, where she raised a family. In 1942, they moved to Washington DC where she worked for a private printing company for 20 years. After her husband's 1982 death, she lived with her daughter and son-in-law in Middleton, MD. At its 2000 commencement, Gallaudet University awarded her, aged 101, a degree 77 years after she had left.