Women - Hunterdon County, New Jersey

MABLE TOMPKINS
Once described as a "one-woman juvenile center," Mable
Tompkins spent half a century helping the youth of
Flemington. It was not uncommon to find her talking to
teenagers in the park, on the corners, anywhere they
congregated. For several years she invited them into the
Women's Club on weekends for "rap" sessions, thereby
keeping many out of certain trouble.
Mrs. Tompkins was a graduate of Cornell University, with
a master's degree from the University of Chicago. She had
been a home economics teacher before her marriage in 1945
to Dr. Tompkins.
She actively sought out youngsters who needed guidance
and help, employing them in jobs around her home. She
taught them to garden, would pay and train them for two years
or so, then encourage them to seek better jobs elsewhere in
town. Some of "her boys" learned to plan and handle larger, more difficult jobs. Her
efforts with young people played a major role in the formation of the County Youth
Center.
Although her chief interest was in young people, she found time to serve both her
church and community. Among her civic activities were the League of Women Voters,
the Mental Health Association, the United Church Women and the Hunterdon Medical
Center Auxiliary. She also was active with the county Community Services Council and
Social Services Board, the Flemington Board of Heath, and the South Branch
Watershed Association, and taught Sunday school at the Flemington Baptist Church.
Mrs. Tompkins died in 1990 at the age of 94.
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