YOU CAN ALSO MAKE A MONETARY
DONATION TO HELP PAY FOR TRAVEL
EXPENSES.
IT'S A DAY FOR REMEMBERING
A MINNEAPOLIS WOMAN WHO
OVERCAME HER PHYSICAL
DISABILITIES.
SHE BECAME A PIONEER IN THE
FIELD OF SOCIAL WORK.
THERE'S NO QUESTION SHE
TURNED ADVERSITY INTO AN ASSET.
HER PHYSICAL LIMITATIONS MADE
HER A BETTER SOCIAL WORKER.
MARJORIE CARPENTER IS
CREDITED WITH PAVING THE WAY
FOR OTHER WOMEN TO HAVE
SUCCESSFUL CAREERS IN SOCIAL
WORK.
IN THIS WEEK'S LIFE STORY,
ANGELA DAVIS SHOWS US HOW
MARJORIE CHOSE A LIFE OF
ADVENTURE OVER ONE FILLED WITH
LIMITATIONS.
Reporter: SHE WAS RAISED IN
MINNEAPOLIS IN THE 1920s, A
LITTLE GIRL WITH JUVENILE
RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS AND SEVERE
VISION PROBLEMS BUT MARJORIE
WAS RESILIENT.
SHE SOMETIMES HAD TO BE
PULLED IN A WAGON TO HIGH
SCHOOL AND HER EYESIGHT THEN
BECAME INCREASINGLY DIFFICULT
FOR HER TO READ SO PEOPLE HAD
TO READ HER TEXTBOOK.
Reporter: SHE GRADUATED FROM
THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
WITH HONORS AND TOOK GRADUATE
CLASSES IN SOCIAL WORK.
SHE THEN SET OUT TO DO WHAT SHE
KNEW.
MARJORIE TAUGHT OTHERS HOW TO
WORK WITH CHILDREN WITH
DISABILITIES AND SHE RECRUITED
PEOPLE INTO THE PROFESSION.
WOMEN IN THOSE DAYS MOSTLY
BECAME TEACHERS, I SUPPOSE, OR
NURSES, WELL, THIS WAS
SOMETHING A LITTLE DIFFERENT.
SO SHE WAS A PIONEER IN THE
FIELD OF SOCIAL WORK AS A
WOMAN.
Reporter: AT THE AGE OF 41,
MARJORIE MET HER MATCH.
SHE MARRIED KENNETH CARPENTER.
THEY LIVED IN WASHINGTON, D.C.
AND TOGETHER RAISED MONEY TO
ELEVATE THE FIELD OF SOCIAL
WORK.
PHOTOS CAPTURE MARJORIE OVER
THE YEARS WITH A BIG SMILE AND
FANCY HAIR BUT HER FAMILY SAYS
GETTING AROUND REMAINED A
STRUGGLE.
YOU COULDN'T MISS HER
DISABILITY.
IT WAS WORK FOR HER TO WALK.
Reporter: STILL, MARJORIE
TRAVELED THE WORLD, OFTEN
BUYING RARE AND EXPENSIVE
ARTWORK THAT SHE AND HER
HUSBAND DONATED TO MUSEUMS IN
MINNESOTA AND D.C. THIS PICASSO
CREATION ON DISPLAY AT THE
MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ART IS
ONE SUCH GIFT.
THEY LOVED TO ENJOY THEM BUT
THEY LOVED TO SHARE THEM TOO.
Reporter: MARJORIE ALSO
SHOWERED HER YOUNG NIECES AND
NEPHEWS WITH GIFTS.
I WAS IN AWE OF HER FROM THE
TIME I WAS LITTLE.
Reporter: HER GREAT NIECE
DESCRIBES MARJORIE AS A
ROLEMODEL, PROFESSIONALLY AND
PERSONALLY.
SHE WAS JUST STILL THIS
INCREDIBLE HUMAN WHO COULD
LAUGH AND COULD APPRECIATE
GREAT FOOD AND WHO LOVED GREAT
LIPSTICK AND SHOES AND THAT'S
REAL.
THAT IS THAT FULL PERSON.
Reporter: ANGELA DAVIS, WCCO
4 NEWS.
MARJORIE CARPENTER WAS IN
HER 90s WHEN SHE DIED ON MARCH
6th.
HER FAMILY SAYS SHE NEVER
TALKED MUCH ABOUT HER EXACT
AGE.
DONATIONS IN HER HONOR CAN BE
MADE TO THE INTERNATIONAL
COUNCIL ON SOCIAL WELFARE, IT'S
AN AGENCY SHE SUPPORTED FOR
DECADES.
IF YOU HAVE LIFE STORY FOR
