Mabel Addis
Mabel Addis Mergardt (21 May 1912 – 13 August 2004) was an American writer, teacher and game designer.
Mabel Addis | |
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Born | Mabel Addis 21 May 1912 Mt. Vernon, New York |
Died | 13 August 2004 Purdys, New York |
Notable work | The Sumerian Game |
Background
Born Mabel Holmes to James Holmes and Mabel Wood on 21 May 1912 in Mount Vernon, she graduated Brewster High School in 1929 as valedictorian, from Barnard College with an Arts degree in ancient history and a minor in psychology in 1933, then from Columbia University with a masters in education. Addis worked in a small rural one-room school in 1935. Two years later she moved to Hyatt Avenue School before moving finally in 1950 to the Katonah-Lewisboro School District where she taught until 1976. Addis was very active within her areas of expertise, working on history and book committees in the school district. She wrote articles for history, started an oral history collection, and was co-author on local history books Katonah: a History of a New York Village and Brewster Through the Years.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Games design
During the 1960s Addis worked with IBM and Boards of Cooperative Educational Services to develop The Sumerian Game, the first detailed text-based educational computer game, which allowed the player act as rulers of the Sumerian city of Lagash. She was the first writer of a computer game and first woman computer game designer.[2][3][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]
Personal life
Mabel Holmes married Alexander L. Addis in 1942 becoming Mabel Addis during her time as a teacher. She was widowed in 1981 and remarried Gerard Mergardt in 1991. Addis was widowed again in 1995 and died in 2004.[2][14]
References
- Pitkin, J. (2012). Cradle of the American Circus: Poems from Somers, New York. Arcadia Publishing Incorporated. p. 102. ISBN 978-1-62584-081-3. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
- "View MABEL MERGARDT's Obituary on lohud.com and share memories". Westchester, NY. 2004-08-13. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
- "The Sumerian Game: The Most Important Video Game You've Never Heard Of – A Critical Hit!". A Critical Hit!. 2019-09-09. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
- "FORTY YEARS AGO" (PDF). Thursday, October 23, 1980. THE BREWSTER STANDARD.
- "Mabel Addis Oral History Collection". New York Heritage. 2010-01-01. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
- Volunteers, Four (2016-10-23). "Full text of "Barnard Alumnae Magazine"". Internet Archive. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
- "BOCES Gets $103,824 To Study Simulation" (PDF). North Westchester Times New Castle Tribune. 14 March 1963. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
- Adams, E.; Dormans, J. (2012). Game Mechanics: Advanced Game Design. Voices That Matter. New Riders. p. 2. ISBN 978-0-321-82027-3. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
- ""Critical Kate" Willært 🤘🏻 on Twitter". Twitter (in Latin). 2019-09-12. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
- Wing, Richard L. "THE PRODUCTION AND EVALUATION OF THREE COMPUTER-BASED ECONOMICS GAMES FOR THE SIXTH GRADE. FINAL REPORT". ERIC. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
- "How Does One Condense the World of Video Games into a Mere 64 Objects?". PopMatters. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
- "The Strong". Search Collection. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
- "Sumerian Game Collection Archives" (PDF). Brian Sutton-Smith Library and Archives of Play Sumerian Game Collection.
- "Brewster Standard, June 20, 1946 : Front p." NewspaperArchive. 1946-06-20. Retrieved 2019-09-13.