Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
HICKEY, Mary
HICKEY, Mary. (Cuba City, WI-Dubuque, IA, June 6, 2005). Recipient, FIRST CITIZEN AWARD. Hickey, a retired special education teacher at AUDUBON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, was a member of the DUBUQUE COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT Board of Education. She received the First Citizen Award from the TELEGRAPH HERALD in 1981 as a result of her efforts on behalf of the handicapped.
In 1954 efforts of the Dubuque County Association for Retarded Citizens, of which Hickey was a member, were successful in leading the Dubuque public schools to pioneer education for the handicapped.
Hickey began teaching special education at Audubon in 1963. She helped establish the school's department of trainable mentally handicapped education and assisted in the design of a special classroom providing real life situations for the students.
A founder and board member of the Dubuque County Association of Retarded Citizens, Hickey was a charter member and co-founder of Area Residential Care in 1966. Appointed by Governor Robert Ray to the Iowa Disabilities Council, Hickey helped establish a five-county Area Developmental Disabilities Council. She has also been a curriculum consultant for the special education department of the University of Iowa.
Hickey was the recipient in 1979 of the CLARKE COLLEGE Alumni Association's Distinguished Alumna Award presented annually to recognize outstanding achievement.