Mary L. Mallett

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Mary L. Mallett (born Mary Louise Hansen) was an American temperance advocate who led the Oregon State Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and helped start the Children’s Farm Home in Corvallis, Oregon. She was born May 2, 1860, near Henderson, Minnesota, to Hans and Louise Hansen. She loved music and began singing at temperance meetings when she was 12, later joining temperance groups and taking on leadership roles.

In 1881 she married Jerome Hart Mallett, a hardware merchant, and they had five children. The family moved to Groton, South Dakota, in 1885 and to Portland, Oregon, in 1907. In Groton she held various WCTU roles, including superintendent of Mothers’ Meetings and leader of the Loyal Temperance Legion.

In Portland she became president of the Multnomah County WCTU (1909–1914) and worked to make Oregon a dry state, speaking in churches, parks, and streets. She also served as vice-chair of the Prohibition Party in Oregon and was nominated twice for the state legislature.

Mary Mallett later held statewide WCTU positions, including superintendent of Child Welfare and of Medical Temperance. In 1918 she was appointed probation officer for the Portland Juvenile Court. In 1920 she was elected state president of the WCTU, a role she held until 1927. She co-founded the Children’s Farm Home in Corvallis. Mary L. Mallett died June 29, 1944, in Portland. The Mary Mallett Cottage at the Children’s Farm Home, built in 1949, honors her contributions.