Home > Carnegie Center > Arizona Women's Hall of Fame > Inductees > Maynard, Ethel
Ethel Maynard
1905 - 1980
Inducted in 2006
Used by permission from the Arizona Historical Society
Born in Waterbury, Connecticut on November 23, 1905, Ethel Reed Maynard
moved to Arizona in 1946. She had trained as a Registered Nurse in the
Bellevue and Allied Hospital in Harlem and then worked for 18 years as
a public health nurse in the city.
She married Dr. Aubre de L. Maynard and had one daughter. After
moving to Tucson in 1946, she began a job as school nurse that lasted until
1971. She also became a community activist, serving as vice president
of the civil rights organization, Tucson Council for Civic Unity, which
like its Phoenix counterpart, the Greater Phoenix Council for Civic Unity,
worked for desegregation of schools, public facilities and employment. After
civil rights measures became law, Maynard served as a member of the 1968
Tucson Commission on Human Relations that monitored integration of public
facilities, employment, and housing.
Maynard was founder and Executive Board member of the Safford Area Council
of the Tucson Committee for Economic Opportunity that helped impoverished
people. She also served on the Executive Board of the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored People and the Board of Planned Parenthood. Her
years as a public health nurse in Harlem led her to push for improved access
to birth control and revisions in abortion laws. In addition, Maynard
became active in the Democratic Party as precinct committee woman, attending
the Democratic National Convention in 1956.
Ethel Maynard was the first African American woman elected to the Arizona
state legislature, serving from 1966 to 1972. Her committee
assignments included Public Health and Welfare, Judiciary, and the Suffrage
and Elections Committees. Working with another legislator, Etta
Mae Hutchenson, Maynard wrote the bill for state-supported kindergarten
that passed in 1971. Welfare reform, including the rehabilitation
and employment of heads of families, were also important to her. Maynard
became known for her ability to offer a different and thoughtful perspective
on chronic problems. Early on she opposed neighborhood disruption
due to freeways and advocated automobile emissions inspections. She
also supported giving 18-year-olds the right to vote.
During racial disturbances in Tucson in 1967, Maynard challenged demonstrators
to replace the slogan, “Burn, baby, burn!” with “Build,
baby, build!” She emphasized pride in being black and strived
to improve conditions through her work in the Legislature and involvement
in civil rights organizations. She died in 1980 at the age of 76
after a lengthy bout with heart disease.
top of page
