The Story
Hotel Ezra Cornell 19 – 1944
Mary R. Wright, Auditor-Comptroller
Faced with problems of food rationing, transportation, and the prospect of the inability of alumni to attend, HEC 19 carried on as usual. Alumni congratulated the students on their commitment to perpetuating this event, no matter how simple the affair had to be. Down to the choice of chicken as the main course at the banquet, instead of beef, HEC reflected in every way the effects of wartime. The challenge was for the hotel program to demonstrate how a function of this kind could be carried out without the use of rationed foods or materials.
Hotel Ezra Cornell 20 – 1945
Mary R. Wright, Publicity Director
Even with 72% of hotel alumni in the armed services, 148 guests were able to attend Hotel Ezra Cornell 20. The 20th anniversary dinner was served in the candle-lit auditorium of Martha Van Rensselaer Hall, and naturally, upheld the tradition of being the “best one yet.” Rumor has it that the kitchen staff was so efficient that they were able to rest an hour before service. To comply with the laws requiring hotels to refuse conventions with more than 50 out-of-town guests, the traditions of picnics, golf, seminars, and other activities were put on hold. Hotel Ezra Cornell 20 resembled those earlier days when the event consisted of only one dinner and dance.
Excerpts from The Best Ever: Memories of Hotel Era Cornell
Pathway to Cornell
Raised in Herkimer, NY, Mary Wright was introduced to Otsego County as a junior in high school when her father arranged a summer job for her as a carhop at Ye Olde Dutch Mill in Emmons. Intrigued by the business, she took to waiting on tables the following summer. After graduating from Herkimer High School, Mary was set to attend Syracuse University with a scholarship. Then, unexpectedly, she won the Cornell regional scholarship – worth $100 more than her Syracuse scholarship. Her parents, who had observed her interest in the hospitality business, remarked that Cornell “had some sort of hotel school.” On Mary’s next day off from work, the family drove to Ithaca. Mary applied to Cornell, interviewed with Assistant Dean Al Kish, and was accepted into Cornell’s hospitality management program. Mary would be one of only five women among the one hundred students in her first-year class.
Cornell Graduates in New York City, with Dean Meek
Sixty Years in Hospitality
In 1945, Mary graduated from Cornell with honors and spent the next decade in New York City, first at Hilton’s Plaza Hotel and then with Horwath & Horwath, hotel accountants and consultants. A 1954 engagement took her to the Canadian Teachers’ Federation, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. From there, she went to McCormick & Co. in Baltimore, MD, then to two Boston-based hotel firms. In 1963, she was appointed Treadway Innkeeper in Batavia, where she was awarded the key to the city for community relations.
With Nelson Rockefeller, 1966
Mary moved on to manage other properties until tapped in 1979 by Genesee Community College in Batavia to develop its hospitality-management program. Thereafter Miss Wright taught at Rochester Institute of Technology and Tiffin (Ohio) University, where she retired in 1990 and began consulting. Later she returned to Batavia as staff resident at the then “Victorian Manor”. In 2001 she moved to Cooperstown and assisted at the Fly Creek Cider Mill until fully retiring in 2009 due to vision challenges.
In 1989, Mary joined Rotary in Tiffin and maintained her active membership until being designated an associate member in Cooperstown. A Paul Harris Fellow, she was curator of the Cooperstown Club’s collection of over 720 banners. From her perspective, Rotary’s motto, “Service Above Self,” made membership a perfect fit for someone who was service-minded from the very beginning, and whose career was in the service industry.
Mary, the mentor
“Mary was my mentor, friend, and ardent supporter. She taught me patience, professionalism, and grammar. I will forever be grateful for everything she did for me and my family.” ~ Bill Michaels
“I met Mary as an impressionable college student at RIT. And WOW, did she make an impression on me. She encouraged me to apply for a trade association scholarship. Thanks to her support, I received the top national award. Those college years kindled a lifelong friendship.” ~ Gary T. Grossenbacher
“As a student of Mary’s, I had the pleasure of hearing her stories of people, places and a life lived with significance, impact, trials, tribulations, and determination. She was detailed in every thought, deed and action. It is in her details that I learned many lessons.” ~ Michael Hardy
A Lifelong Love for Cornell
Mary was an active Cornell and Hotel School alumna, holding offices in successive areas, raising scholarship funds, and writing class news columns. One of her first consulting assignments was for the Cornell Club of New York.
With Cornell President Frank H. T. Rhodes
HEC 73 – 1998
Mary was among a special group of 21 graduates of 1945 who gathered at Cornell for their 70th reunion in June 2015. At that time, she said all the people at the reunion were between the ages of 90 and 95. Mary returned for at least six reunions because of her love for Cornell. Her closeness with others in the hotel administration program made Cornell feel like home for her.
Industry Pioneer
Mary R. Wright lit many new trails for women during her sixty years in hospitality as one of the first women hired to manage a hotel, chair a collegiate hospitality program, and start her own consulting practice. She always took great satisfaction in her multifaceted journey. She once stated, “I accepted that it was a man’s world, and I always thought of myself as a business person in that world. I’m proud to have been the first woman or the first person in several of my jobs, and proud of the unexpected honors that I was privileged to receive.”
