Mary Clarkson Buchholz

Mary Buchholz

Mary Buchholz was born in Belle Fourche, SD and is a third generation South Dakotan. After graduating from Northern State University, where she studied elementary education and history, Mary taught elementary school in Conde and Warner. While her four children were in school, she served on the local school board.

Mary is a director for the F.L. Clarkson Foundation which has a tenet to promote education and to champion the rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution. In 2020, the United States marked the centennial of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, commemorating women's right to vote. Mary served on the fundraising committee for the Her Vote. Her Voice. women’s history initiative commemorating the anniversary.  With the help of Mary and the Clarkson Foundation the State Historical Society was able to digitize the Pickler suffrage collection. You can find the collection online at the South Dakota State Archives.

Genealogy is a huge passion for Mary, and she has made good use of the State Archives to explore her family tree. Mary is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, having traced her family’s roots back to our country’s founding on multiple sides. She even discovered a British soldier from the Revolutionary War in her family tree, on the Clarkson side. But as Mary likes to say, he defected, so even that counts! Mary has traveled to England where she verified various family connections.

 Consider lifting up an incredible woman in your life today as a part of Women's History Month. Visit www.hervotehervoice.org/statewide-honor-wall to get started.