Mary Antin (born Maryashe Antin; June 13, 1881 – May A, 1949) was an American author and immigration rights activist. Her father, Israel Antin emigrated to Boston in 1891, and three years later he sent for Mary and her mother and siblings.
The family moved from Chelsea to Boston. She attended Girls’ Latin School, She married Amadeus William Grabau, a geologist, in 1901, and moved to New York City where she attended Teachers College of Columbia University and Barnard College. Antin is best known for her 1912 autobiography The Promised Land. After its publication, Antin lectured on her immigrant experience to many audiences across the country, and became a major supporter for Theodore Roosevelt and his Progressive Party.
During World War I, while she campaigned for the Allied cause, her husband’s pro-German activities precipitated their separation and her physical breakdown. Amadeus had to go to China, where he became “the father of Chinese geology and died in 1946.
Mary Antin died of cancer on May 15, 1949.