Mary Nickliss, a devoted and loving wife and mother, passed away on May 18, 2017. The OAH Mary Nickliss Prize in U.S. Women’s and/or Gender History was created and funded in her honor by her daughter, OAH member Alexandra Nickliss. The prize acknowledges the generations of women whose opportunities were limited by the historical circumstances in which they lived. Mary Nickliss was grateful for the honor the prize bestowed upon her while she was alive.
Nickliss was the child of Serbian immigrants and a native of Pennsylvania who lived most of her life in California. She was brilliant, methodical, resilient, and strong. Part of a generation that survived the Great Depression, she was an avid supporter of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt.