Mary Waters

Mary Waters was a teacher, school principal mentor, poet and playwright.

Also found as M.W. Waters.

Biography

Considered a fierce, eccentric and formidable woman, with a strong interest in the history of the region, she was the founding principal of the first junior secondary school in the Albany Road area, a facility created by Rhodes University Education Department as Rhodes Practicing School and intended to provide workplace experience for both lecturers and students. It became a high school in 1963 and was later named Mary Waters High School in her honour.

Besides poetry and drama, she also wrote a number of books for school use, such as the series Stories from History for Bantu Children (used for Standards I & II; III & IV; V & VI), published by Juta in the 1940s.

Contribution to South African theatre

Her plays include

Sources

Peter Kallaway. 2018. History in popular literature and textbooks for Xhosa schools, 1850-1950s. In: Yesterday and Today No 20[1]