Mary Davison Bradford became the first woman in Wisconsin to serve as superintendent of a major city school system. She held the position of Superintendent of Schools in Kenosha, Wisconsin, from 1910 to 1921.

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Born in Kenosha County in 1856, Bradford graduated from Oshkosh Normal School in 1876 and began her career teaching at Kenosha High School from 1876 to 1878. She later became a member of the Board of Visitors of the Milwaukee State Normal School in 1892, joined the founding faculty of Stevens Point Normal School in 1894, and then the faculty of the Stout Institute in 1906. In 1909, she joined the Whitewater State Normal School, where she served for one year before returning to Kenosha.

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Bradford was a pioneer in early childhood education, starting the city’s first kindergarten program. She retired in 1921 after 45 years of service in education. Her memoirs were first published serially in the Wisconsin Magazine of History beginning in September 1930 and later published in book form in 1932.

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Mary D. Bradford died in Kenosha on February 3, 1943, at the age of 87. Both Bradford High School and Bradford Community Church Unitarian Universalist in Kenosha are named in her honor.