Born Mary Virginia Shephard, on October 5, 1918, her interest in motorcycling began when her brother bought a bicycle. Mary won her first bicycle race at age 15. After graduation from high school she got a job to earn money to buy a motorcycle. By May of 1937 she had enough saved to buy a 1937 45 cubic inch Harley-Davidson. Mary married John Scott Cutright in November of 1942 and their son Johnny was born in 1944. She continued to ride her bike for the first seven months of her pregnancy, and at the early age of 8 weeks, Johnny was riding on the motorcycle. He rode on the front until Mary couldn't see over his head, and then moved to the back seat as she rode all over the country. During the war years Mary rode her 1940 61 cubic inch Harley back and forth to work at a naval fireworks factory. Riding was limited in the war years because of gasoline shortages, but immediately after the war Mary was out riding as much as possible. Mary joined the Motor Maids in 1949; was appointed State Director for So. Ohio in 1952; elected Supply Officer in 1957; and in 1963 also served as Treasurer. At the 1966 Motor Maids convention in Sturgis, SD, Mary was elected President of the Motor Maids and served in that capacity for 12 years. Mary missed her only convention in 1987 when she was diagnosed with cancer. In the last decade of her life Mary worked 40-hour weeks and rode her bike on the weekends averaging up to 12,000 miles per year. In 1980, Mary was inducted into the Charity Newsies Motorcycle Hall of Fame and received many awards and recognitions from the AMA. One of the rooms in Mary's home was lined with 100 plus trophies that she had won in skill-testing competitions. She was skilled at timed road runs, as well as field meets which included pushing a barrel, riding a plank, etc. These maneuvers were quite a task for a woman that was only 5’1” riding a Duo Glide. Her lifetime membership to the AMA ended on March 10. 1988. Mary's family, friends and admirers came to mourn and then inwardly celebrate the living memory of a woman that meant so much to not only the world of motorcycles, but also to all the people she came to know, love and respect.
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Sturgis Museum and Hall of Fame - Sturgis, South Dakota