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Eli Skinner NSDAR Chapter member receives history award

The Women in American History Award is given by the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution to honor a woman who has made a significant contribution to her community, whether intellectual, educational, social, religious, political, scientific or cultural.

The Eli Skinner Chapter NSDAR is honored to recognize Mary Morrison Stitt as its inaugural awardee for this prestigious award.

Stitt is a resident of The Highlands at The Moorings, in Arlington Heights. She has been an active and proud member of the Eli Skinner Chapter NSDAR since 2002.

An educator and philanthropist, Stitt has lived a remarkable life devoted to education and public service. She served as principal of Olive Elementary School in Arlington Heights for 25 years, named a Blue-Ribbon School for Excellence in 2017. The school was renamed Olive-Mary Stitt Elementary in her honor.

Stitt made nine international trips with Rotary International, volunteering in global and local polio immunization clinics. Additional international travel as a volunteer took her to Nigeria, India, Guatemala and Niger, among others.

She sent 600 boxes of books to South Africa, helped build an orphanage in Belarus, and wrote grants to obtain funding for clean water for communities in Guatemala and to provide wheelchairs for polio survivors.

An active member of the First United Methodist Church of Arlington Heights, Stitt could often be found volunteering at rummage sales and making goodwill visits to patients at Northwest Community Hospital.

She served the Arlington Heights Senior Center for more than 20 years as both a volunteer and a member of the board of directors. Stitt received the Arlington Heights Hearts of Gold Award in 2020 and the Kenneth Hood Senior Service Award in 2019.

On March 4, Mary Helfrich, Honorary Regent of the Eli Skinner Chapter, who also lives on The Moorings campus, presented Stitt with a framed certificate and medal to recognize her as a Women in American History honoree.

Stitt's biography will be published on the NSDAR National website in Washington, D.C.

The Eli Skinner Chapter NSDAR would also like to thank Mary Tremont and the staff at The Highlands at The Moorings for their assistance with this surprise award.

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