LUPTON, MARY JANE
Mary Jane Lupton died peacefully after a brief illness in Cape May, New Jersey, on August 9, 2025. She was eighty-six.
Born on November 16, 1938, in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, Mary Jane was the daughter of Dr. George Charles Hohman and Ruth Reichard Hohman. She graduated as valedictorian from Pottsville High School in 1956 and was named Alumna of the Year in 2005. Mary Jane graduated Magna cum Laude from Bucknell University in 1960 and earned her Ph.D. from Temple University in 1968.
Mary Jane moved to Baltimore in 1968 with her first husband, William LaRue Lupton, and their twin daughters, Ellen and Julia. She taught at Towson State University (1968) and then Morgan State University for 32 years (1969-2001). At Morgan, she was director of the graduate program in English. A founding member of the Feminist Press and a contributing editor to Women: A Journal of Liberation, Mary Jane also authored literary biographies of Maya Angelou, Lucille Clifton, and many others.
She made national headlines in 1977 with the publication of The Curse: A Cultural History of Menstruation, co-authored with Janice Delaney and Emily Toth– a groundbreaking work reviewed in more than 150 outlets, including The New York Times. A second edition appeared in 1988, and in 1993 she followed up with Menstruation and Psychoanalysis.
Mary Jane married Kenneth Huntress Baldwin in Baltimore on April 6, 1985. After living in various neighborhoods in Cape May, New Jersey, they purchased their forever home on the scenic Cape May Canal in 1987. In Cape May, Mary Jane continued to write books and reviews while becoming active in the local community. She served as a Trustee of the Macedonia Baptist Church, supported the Harriet Tubman Museum, hosted an annual poetry tea at Cold Spring Village, and joined the Corinthian Yacht Club of Cape May. She was an avid bridge player.
Mary Jane is survived by her beloved husband Ken, her brother John D. Hohman, her daughters Ellen and Julia, and six grandchildren. She will be remembered for her iconoclastic scholarship, as well as her devotion to Ken and her pride in her daughters.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, October 18, 1:00 pm, Macedonia Baptist Church, 630 Lafayette Street, Cape May NJ 08204. In lieu of flowers, you may mail a donation to the Macedonia Baptist Church
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