Mary Alexander Yard (born ca. 1912) was a feminist, a political organizer, and a social activist. She served as president of the National Organization for Women (NOW), 1987-1991.

Mary Alexander Yard, who preferred to be called Molly, was born sometime around 1912 in Chengtu, the capital of Szechwan Province in China. Her father, James Maxon Yard, was a Methodist missionary, and the Yard family lived in China until she was 13 years old. Yard was the third of her parents' children--all girls. When she was born, Chinese friends gave her father an ornate brass bowl as a consolation gift, to show their sympathy that his wife had given birth to yet another daughter. She later said that living in a country where women were so discriminated against made her a feminist almost from birth.

From her parents Yard inherited a sense of the importance of social activism. As a student at...