Dorothy Shoemaker McDiarmid

Dorothy S. McDiarmid
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from Fairfax
In office January 13, 1960 – January 9, 1962
Preceded by	Omer L. Hirst
Succeeded by	Glenn A. Burklund
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from Fairfax
In office January 8, 1964 – January 13, 1970
Preceded by	Glenn A. Burklund
Succeeded by	Byron F. Andrews Jr.
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from Fairfax
In office January 12, 1972 – January 10, 1989
Preceded by	Byron F. Andrews Jr.
Succeeded by	Richard L. Fisher
Personal details
Born	October 22, 1906 Waco, Texas, U.S.
Died	June 8, 1994 Fairfax, Virginia, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Norman Hugh MacDiarmid
Children	Mary, Robert
Alma mater	Swarthmore College

Dorothy Shoemaker McDiarmid (October 22, 1906 – June 8, 1994) was a teacher, real estate broker, Quaker activist, and Virginia legislator for nearly 26 years.

Born in Waco, Texas to U.S. Department of Agriculture employee Daniel Naylor Shoemaker and his wife Frances Hartley, Dorothy Shoemaker was raised in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area (where her parents helped found the Florida Avenue Friends Meeting). She later remembered attending women's suffrage parades in which her mother marched. She attended Central High School, then Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, from which she graduated with a bachelor's degree in political science in 1929. Her family had roots in Loudoun County, Virginia, ancestors having attended the Goose Creek meeting.

In 1932, Dorothy married fellow Swarthmore graduate Norman Hugh ("Mac") McDiarmid (1907-1993), and their marriage lasted 61 years until his death. Beginning in 1939, they lived on a 50-acre farm between Vienna, Virginia and Reston, Virginia.

Dorothy McDiarmid taught school at the Sidwell Friends School for a time, as well as in northern Virginia. She was active in the Parent Teacher Association (becoming President of the Fairfax County federation chapter and uniting the white and black PTAs) as well as the League of Women Voters, Democratic Women's Club, Boy Scouts and Vienna community activities while raising their children. She and her husband "Mac" were partners in McDiarmid Realty and McDiarmid Associates.

In 1959, she ran for the general assembly (a part-time position) to oppose the Byrd Organization's plan of Massive Resistance to the United States Supreme Court decisions in Brown v. Board of Education, which included a Prince Edward County, Virginia case. Governor Thomas Stanley, following the direction of U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd proposed to close any school or district that integrated, even those integrating pursuant to court order, as in nearly Arlington as well as Norfolk and Albemarle County.

...
Wikipedia