Ada Peirce McCormick, born Ada Stetson Peirce, was a well known activist, lecturer, and writer who lived most of her life in Tucson, Arizona. Ms. McCormick was born on March 28, 1888 in Bangor, Maine to a wealthy family in the lumber business. She had two brothers, Waldo and Hayford Peirce, who would go on to careers in painting and art history. She was introduced to academia at an early age from her godparents, Dr. Richard C. Cabot, a renowned physician and Harvard University professor, and his wife Ella Lyman Cabot, a well known writer and lecturer. The Cabots would have a strong impact on Mrs. McCormick’s life and she was very close with them until their deaths in the 1930s. Mrs. McCormick attended the Ogontz School for Young Ladies in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and would go on to study social work at the Boston School of Social Work and Radcliffe College. Due to her social work background and the influence of her godparents, Mrs. McCormick was very well connected in the medical community and was a very close lifelong friend of Philadelphia surgeon and physician Dr. Elizabeth Clark, although it is unclear how Mrs. McCormick and Dr. Clark met.

Mrs. McCormick met her husband Fred C. McCormick in 1912, and after three years of being romantic pen-pals, they married in 1915. The new couple then moved to Mr. McCormick’s hometown of Williamsport, Pennsylvania where he worked with his father in the insurance business. While in Williamsport, Mrs. McCormick honed her writing skills and in 1924, was published in the widely read publication Harper’s Magazine. The article was an essay on time spent with the child Richard Derby, the grandson of former president Theodore Roosevelt, who Mrs. McCormick babysat in the summer of 1922. Richard died later in 1922 at eight years old. The article gave Mrs. McCormick national attention, and in 1925, she began lecturing at universities in the northeastern United States about marriage and family. In February 1930, Mrs. McCormick even sponsored a speech by world renowned journalist Ida M. Tarbell at the University of Arizona.

After spending their winters in Tucson, Arizona for many years, the McCormicks moved permanently to Tucson in 1931. Mr. McCormick became an English professor at the University of Arizona and was the managing editor of the Arizona Quarterly. Mrs. McCormick received a degree from the University of Arizona in 1932, and continued giving lectures. However, Mrs. McCormick became much more involved in the Tucson community after she and her husband moved to a bigger house close to the University in 1937. On the property, Mrs. McCormick opened the Chapel of Wandering Scholars in 1937, which was a space for members of the Tucson community to gather, pray, meditate, and study no matter what their religious or spiritual orientation was. The chapel, going through several name changes, was known as the Cabot Chapel from 1943-1946, and since 1946, has been named the Little Chapel of All Nations. The chapel was incorporated in 1954 and is still open and operating as of the date of writing (13 January, 2020). While operating the chapel, Mrs. McCormick got more involved with the community and with social activism. In January 1943 she started a magazine called The Letter, which she published and wrote articles for until 1948. Mrs. McCormick also served as secretary for the University of Arizona Religious Council. In 1942, during the start of America’s involvement during the second World War, Mrs. McCormick began advocating tirelessly for the African American soldiers in Tucson. The African American soldiers in Tucson were not permitted to use the normal United Service Organization (USO) center in Tucson, which provided services and entertainment for military personnel, and Mrs. McCormick heavily lobbied for another USO center that African American soldiers could use. Later in 1942 Mrs. McCormick and other local community members succeeded, and Mrs. McCormick proved herself to be a dedicated and caring advocate for social justice. Mrs. McCormick also founded the Character-Intelligence Research Center where she conducted research on a number of topics ranging from the effects of television on children to taxation.

Mrs. McCormick continued running the Little Chapel of All Nations and giving lectures in Tucson and elsewhere for the rest of her life. For six years she was also a board member on the Board of Curators of the Arizona State Department Library and Archives. In August 1955 she was awarded a Citation for Distinguished Service by the American Legion, and in 1960, the University of Arizona 75th Anniversary Medallion of Merit. She was also a dedicated member of the League of Women Voters, the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and the Tucson Press Club. Mrs. Ada Peirce McCormick passed away on August 4, 1974 at 86 years old. She is remembered today as an integral part of the Tucson community and a tireless fighter for civil rights and social justice.