Born in Charlestown, Elizabeth Curry Moloney (1873-1950) taught for several years in the Boston public schools. Along with several other women, Elizabeth assisted in establishing a well-baby clinic and in setting up a mothers’ club in Charlestown where immigrant mothers could learn English, take out their first papers towards citizenship and have free lessons in cooking, dressmaking, etc. Later, Moloney enrolled in classes at Simmons College School of Social Work. In 1914, she took a state civil service examination for the position to administer a new law, The Mother’s Aid Law. This Law was designed to do away with orphan asylums and support women with dependent children whose husbands were dead, disabled, jailed or had deserted their families. Governor David Walsh appointed her as the first Supervisor of Mother’s Aid for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, a position she held until she retired in 1943 at the age of 70. Mother’s Aid evolved into Aid to Families with Dependent Children. In 1927 Elizabeth was elected as the employee representative to the State Retirement Board. She was the first woman elected to this Board. She was active in the women’s suffrage movement, was a charter member of the League of Women Voters, and a supporter of legislation to raise the compulsory school education age to sixteen, reduce hours of labor in factories, prevent children from engaging in factory work, and other important social legislation. When she retired, Elizabeth and her husband Francis moved here to 49 Prince Street.
