Martha May “Marty” Newsom
Marty was a Franklin College graduate, and received her Master’s degree from Ohio University. She was a pioneer in the Girls Clubs of America movement, dedicating 41 years of distinguished service for the betterment of young girls and women.
She was executive director of three different girls clubs from 1948 to 1963, and was director of the Western Field Services Office, organizing the first regional office for the Girls Club of America in Los Angeles in 1965-66. She was National Field Services Director of Girls Clubs of America, Inc., with headquarters in New York City from 1966 to 1983.
She was Director of Service Centers, based in the National Resource Center in Indianapolis, which continued to provide programming advice, activity planning, and problem solving from 1983 to 1990. She also assisted in changing the name of Girls Club of America to Girls, Inc., in 1990.
Marty received the Sagamore of the Wabash award from Governor Robert Orr, and was a member of the board of directors for the fundraising drive for the $2.2 million project to rebuild the Foundation for Youth in 1997.