2006 Peabody women who are builders of community and dreams are the
Peabody Chamber of Commerce's
Mary Upton Ferrin Award Winners

Builders of Community and Dreams Project

Mary Upton Ferrin
1810-1881

Peabody Chamber of Commerce

Peabody, Massachusetts

Women's History Month in Peabody: A Retrospective

Home

1994
S. M. "Sudi" Smoller
by R. Belleau

Mary Upton Ferrin died in 1881, forty years before the passage of the nineteenth amendment granting women the right to vote.  She worked hard trying to get women equal rights.  She walked hundreds of miles gathering signatures to further women's legal rights.  She was a hard working and caring woman and she is remembered for this.  Mary Upton Ferrin has been recognized for her actions, having an award named after her.  This award recognizes other women in Peabody that make a difference in our community.

S. M. "Sudi" Smoller is the second woman to receive this award.  She was recognized for promoting women's history and making our community a better place.

Smoller was born in West Warwick, Rhode Island on December 14, 1952.  She attended the Mildred Lyman Elementary School in West Greenwich, Rhode Island.  While young, Smoller attended the Port Laute School in Kenitra, Morocco and the John Paul Jones High School in Sangley Point, Republic of the Philippines.  When she was twelve years old, she did not have many dreams and aspirations.  Her mother had recently died and life was a little rough.  In her teens,  Smoller had dreams of becoming an interpreter and learning many languages.

As Smoller grew older, she moved back to Rhode Island and began taking classes at Rhode Island College.  She transferred to Emerson College in Boston and earned a master's degree in Education/School Library Media Studies at Salem State College.  Smoller was the first from her family to attend college and to get a master's degree.

Smoller is currently working at the J. Henry Higgins Middle School.  She works in the library teaching students.  Smoller is a free-lance writer and local history buff. 

Her writing appeared regularly in the Peabody-Lynnfield Weekly News and the Salem News. Smoller is, as she describes it, "academic and book-ish".  She is a very honest and frank woman.

Smoller has lived in Peabody for 21 years with her husband and two children. She is the co-founder of the Cultural Clearinghouse, the Peabody Women's History Project, and the Equity Coalition of Peabody.  She is also a charter member of the League of Women Voters of Greater Peabody. 

Smoller started a suffragist contingent to march in the city's 75th Jubilee Parade that ended with the re-discovery of Mary Upton Ferrin. 

When she won the Mary Upton Ferrin Award she felt honored.  She was glad that she helped to recognize and promote women's history.  Smoller says that living abroad so much while she was young compelled her to work hard within her community once she settled in Peabody.

Smoller's mother was a very important role model in her life.  She was a strong woman who raised five children and was very active in supporting her local schools. 

Today, Smoller suggests people in our community learn from each other.  She motivates people to work hard and participate in their local government.

Smoller describes the role of women in our community as caregivers.  On the next Peabody's Women in History commemorative bookmark, she would like to see Peabody resident Mary Hudnall recognized as one of the first woman air flight nurses serving in World War II.

Smoller admired Mary Upton Ferrin mostly for her determination.  She never gave up.  Smoller has the same qualities exemplified by Ferrin.