Madge Skelly facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Madge Skelly
Madge Skelly, from a 1974 publication of the United States federal government
Born	Madeline Esther Skelly May 9, 1903 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Died	May 27, 1993 St. Louis, Missouri
Other names	Madeline Foust, Madge Skelly-Hakanson
Occupation	Actress, playwright, director, audiologist, speech pathologist

Madeline Esther "Madge" Skelly (May 9, 1903 – May 27, 1993), also known as Madge Skelly-Hakanson, was an amazing American woman. She was an actress, a writer of plays, and a director. She also taught at colleges and helped people with their speech and hearing. Madge Skelly was a very talented person who made a big difference in many fields.

Madge Skelly's Early Life and Education

Madeline Esther Skelly was born in Hazelwood, a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her parents, Charles J. Skelly and Julia Purcell Skelly, were performers from the Iroquois-Onandaga tribe.

Madge loved learning! She graduated from Seton Hill College in 1924. She then earned two master's degrees: one from Duquesne University in 1928, and another from the University of Arizona. Even when she was in her late fifties, she kept studying. She finished her advanced studies in speech pathology at Saint Louis University in 1962.

Madge Skelly's Career

Theatre and Radio Work

Madge Skelly started her career in theatre when she was very young. She continued acting, directing, and writing plays through college and beyond. She also worked at KDKA Radio in Pittsburgh. There, she was a sound technician, a writer, and even performed on air.

She appeared in several shows on Broadway. Madge also directed theatre groups in different cities. She led the Tucson Little Theatre in Arizona and the Brattle Theatre in Massachusetts. She also directed the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre in Michigan. From 1952 to 1961, she was the managing director of the Manistee Summer Theatre. She wrote at least twenty plays during her career. The Manistee Civic Theatre even has a Madge Skelly Tower, named after her in 1974. One famous actor she helped train at Manistee was James Earl Jones.

Madge Skelly also taught at universities. She was the dean of drama and dean of women at Duquesne University. She taught speech at the University of Arizona, and speech and drama at Maryville College.

Richard Nixon with five women who received the 1974 Federal Woman's Award. Madge Skelly is second from the left.

Helping People with Speech and Hearing

After getting her degrees in speech pathology, Madge Skelly worked in hospitals. She helped patients in veterans' hospitals and children's hospitals. These patients needed help with their speech after an injury or illness.

Madge used special methods in her work. She included ways of expressing things with gestures, which came from the Iroquois traditions. She even made a video in 1977 called Compensatory techniques for the glossectomee. This video showed her unique methods.

Madge Skelly was the chief of audiology and speech pathology services at John J. Cochran Hospital in St. Louis. She also taught at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine and Fontbonne University in Missouri. Her research was published in important science magazines. These included the Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders and the American Journal of Nursing.

Madge Skelly's Published Works

Madge Skelly wrote many important articles for scientific journals. These articles often focused on helping people with speech difficulties. Here are some of her selected publications:

• "Total glossectomy for cancer" (1968, with Robert C. Donaldson and Francis X. Paletta)
• "Compensatory Physiologic Phonetics for the Glossectomee" (1971, with Diane J. Spector, Robert C. Donaldson, Armand Brodeur, and Francis X. Paletta)
• "Dysphonias Associated with Spinal Bracing in Scoliosis" (1971, with Robert C. Donaldson, George E. Scheer, and Margaret R. Guzzardo)
• "American Indian sign (Amerind) as a facilitator of verbalization for the oral verbal apraxic" (1974, with Lorraine Schinsky, Randall W. Smith, and Rita Solovitz Fust)
• "Rethinking stroke: Aphasic patients talk back" (1975)

Madge Skelly's Personal Life

Madge Skelly was married two times. Her first husband was an actor named Ray King Foust. They married in 1928, but he sadly died during World War II. Her second husband was Richard Hakanson, who also worked in theatre.

Later in her life, Madge faced some health challenges. She had arthritis, diabetes, and problems with her eyesight. She passed away in 1993 in St. Louis, when she was 90 years old.

Awards and Recognition for Madge Skelly

Madge Skelly received many honors for her amazing work.

• In 1974, she was given the Federal Woman's Award. This award recognizes outstanding women in the U.S. federal government.
• Her old college, Seton Hill University, gave her the Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Medal.
• In 1981, she gave an interview about her life for the Schlesinger Library.
• After she passed away, she was honored again in 2002. She was added to the Hall of Fame for the Association of Veterans Affairs Speech-Language Pathologists (AVASLP).