Ellen browning scripps biography of nancy williams

Ellen Browning Scripps

American journalist, philanthropist

Ellen Browning Scripps (October 18, – August 3, ) was an American journalist and philanthropist who was the founding donor of several major institutions in Southern California. She and her half-brother E.W. Scripps created the E.W.

Scripps Company, America's largest chain of newspapers, linking Midwestern industrial cities with booming towns in the West. By the s, Ellen Browning Scripps was worth an estimated $30 million (or $3 billion in dollars), most of which she gave away.

She appeared on the cover of Time magazine after founding Scripps College in Claremont, California.[1] She also donated millions of dollars to organizations worldwide that promised to advance democratic principles and women's education.[2]

She helped to found Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Scripps Research, and Scripps Health, all located in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego, California.

The Scripps family supports the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Family history

Ellen Browning Scripps was born on October 18, , on South Molton St. in St. George Parish, London. Her father, James Mogg Scripps (–), was the youngest of six children born to London publisher William Armiger Scripps (–) and Mary Dixie (–).

He was apprenticed to Charles Lewis, the leading bookbinder of London, where he learned the trade. James married his cousin Elizabeth Sabey in and had two children, only one of whom lived to maturity, Elizabeth Mary (–). Elizabeth Sabey Scripps died the day after the latter's birth. Two years later, James Mogg married Ellen Mary Saunders. They had six children, five of whom lived to adulthood: James E.

Scripps (–), Ellen Browning (–), William Arminger (–), George Henry (–) and John Mogg (–). Ellen Mary Scripps died of breast cancer in [3]

After the failure of his bookbinding shop and the death of his second wife, James Mogg emigrated to the United States with his six children in April They headed to Rushville, Illinois, where other members of the Scripps family owned property.

James Mogg married his third wife Julia Osborn in November They had five children: Julia Anne (–), Thomas Osborn (–53), Frederick Tudor (–), Eliza Virginia (–), and Edward Willis (–), the well-known newspaper tycoon and founder of The E.W. Scripps Company.[4]

Biography

Early life

Born in London and raised in Rushville, Illinois, Ellen Browning Scripps was an avid reader and learner at an early age.

In , a year before attending college, she was granted a teaching certificate and started teaching in Schuyler County, IL. She was the only one of her ten siblings to attend college, studying science and mathematics at Knox College in Galesburg, IL, one of the few educational institutions to admit women. She graduated in with a certificate from the Female Collegiate Department and honors in mathematics.

Afterwards, she returned to Rushville, Illinois, to teach in a one-room schoolhouse.[2][5]

Newspaper journalist

After the American Civil War, Scripps gave up her job as a schoolteacher and headed to Detroit, at that time a booming industrial center in the West.

She joined her brother James E. Scripps in publishing The Detroit Evening News, a short, inexpensive, and politically independent newspaper pitched to the city's working class. This was to be the start of the Scripps family fortune.

Scripps worked as a copyeditor and wrote a daily column, nicknamed "Miss Ellen's Miscellany," that reduced local and national news to short sound bites.

According to Gerald Baldasty, "Her columns of "Miscellany" and other topics became the inspiration for the Newspaper Enterprise Association, a news features service that Edward Scripps established in "[6] In the s and s, the Scripps papers expanded to include The Cleveland Press, The Cincinnati Post, and the St.

Louis Chronicle.[3]

A shareholder, Ellen B. Scripps played an important role in Scripps councils. She gave business advice to her younger half-brother E.W. and sided with him in family financial disputes. He credited her with saving him from financial ruin in more than one instance.[6][2] In the s, E.W.'s attempt to seize control of the Scripps Publishing Company failed, resulting in a divisive lawsuit and a break with his half-brother James.[7][2]

Travels

In , Ellen and E.W.

travelled to Europe so that the latter could take a break from work and recover his health. They took the railroad through France to the Mediterranean Sea, crossed by ship to Algeria, then headed north into Italy, Austria, and Germany. Ellen wrote weekly letters back to The Detroit Evening News about their travels, describing her impressions of people and places.[8][2] When Ellen returned to her job at the News, she found that she was no longer needed at the copy desk.

She began a decade of travel, heading to the American South, New England, Cuba, and Mexico. In – she made a second trip to Europe that included a visit to L'Exposition Universelle in Paris and three months in Spain. A decade later, she toured France, Belgium, and England.[3]

California

In , Ellen's sister Julia Anne moved to Alameda, California, to seek a remedy for crippling rheumatoid arthritis.

She found a home at the Remedial Institute and School of Philosophy, also known as the New Order of Life, in Alameda, one of the many utopian communities founded in the late nineteenth century.[2][7] Concerned about her sister's welfare, Ellen made her first trip to California in the winter of Soon afterwards, Ellen and E.W.

bought land in San Diego and established Miramar Ranch with their brother Fred. Miramar Ranch encompassed what is now Scripps Ranch, a suburban community, and the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. The ranch house was torn down in [9][10]

In Scripps moved to the seaside village of La Jolla where she built a modest house named South Molton Villa after the street in London on which she had been born.

When the house burned down in , Scripps commissioned architect Irving J. Gill to redesign a new, fireproof concrete structure in the same modern architectural language as The Bishop's School, the La Jolla Woman's Club, and the La Jolla Recreational Center. It has been described as one of Gill's "masterworks."[11] Her house is now the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego.

Over the next three decades, she and her half-sister Virginia created a Scripps family compound that included extensive gardens, Wisteria Cottage (now the La Jolla Historical Society), a library, a guest bungalow, a lathe house, and two garages.

In La Jolla, Ellen gradually stepped out of her intimate family circle and began to acquire a large set of female acquaintances.

La Jolla had a growing number of summer and year-round residents, many of whom were unmarried women or widows. She remarked that in the early days, "It was a woman's town."[2] She was a founding member of the La Jolla Library Association and the La Jolla Woman's Club, among other organizations.

Wealth

Ellen Browning Scripps made a fortune by investing in E.W.

Scripps's growing chain of newspapers in the West. In , E.W. formed a partnership with Milton A. McRae, who had risen through the ranks to become one of Scripps's top lieutenants. George H. Scripps joined the partnership in The group managed The Cincinnati Post, The Cleveland Press, The St. Louis Chronicle, The Toledo News-Bee, and the Kansas City Star.

Ellen browning scripps biography of nancy johnson: Ellen Browning Scripps (October 18, – August 3, ) was an American journalist and philanthropist who was the founding donor of several major institutions in Southern California.

They also acquired newspapers in Memphis, Oklahoma City, Evansville, Terre Haute, Columbus, Denver, Dallas, and Houston.

In the late s, E.W. began to acquire papers in California, including The Los Angeles Record, The San Diego Sun, and The San Francisco News. In the Pacific Northwest, the growing profitability of working-class newspapers led to the development of The Seattle Star, The Spokane Press, The Tacoma Times, and The Portland News, all pitched to dock workers, miners, lumbermen, and cannery workers.[12] By , E.W.

estimated that profits on "my little Western papers" were many times greater than those of his Eastern ones.[13]

Ellen Scripps gained a substantial legacy from her brother George H. Scripps who died in , leaving behind a will described as "a legacy of hate." He gave his shares of Evening News stock to E.W., whom James E.

Scripps considered his nemesis. Ellen, meanwhile, received George's shares of the Scripps Publishing Co. This led to an eleven-year legal battle that E.W. and Ellen ultimately won.[3]:&#;&#;

Philanthropy

Interested in science and education, Ellen Browning Scripps donated the bulk of her fortune to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (), The Bishop's School (), and the Scripps College in Claremont (), California.[14]

She supported community initiatives such as the La Jolla Women's Club and the La Jolla Recreational Center and contributed financially to improvement projects in the coastal area such as The Children's Pool.

La Jolla Park was renamed Ellen Browning Scripps Memorial Park in to honor her many gifts to La Jolla.

Ellen browning scripps biography of nancy pelosi Ellen Browning Scripps October 18, — August 3, was an American journalist and philanthropist who was the founding donor of several major institutions in Southern California. She and her half-brother E. Scripps created the E. Scripps Company , America's largest chain of newspapers, linking Midwestern industrial cities with booming towns in the West. George Parish, London.

Her interest in the science of health led her to support Scripps Memorial Hospital, now Scripps Health, and the Scripps Metabolic Clinic, now Scripps Research.[5]

Scripps funded many wildlife preservation and education initiatives, including the San Diego Zoo and Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve.

She also provided support for wildlife books such as including William Leon Dawson's Birds of California.[5]

From the s, Scripps was the major benefactor of the San Diego Natural History Museum, financing its building and education programs.[15] In , the Scripps estate donated over 1, watercolor paintings of California wildflowers by A.R.

Valentien to the museum.[16][17]

Over books of her library's book collection were donated to the Claremont Colleges where they can now be accessed from the Claremont Colleges Library and Denison Library.

The New York Times estimated that, during her lifetime, she gave gifts and donations to charitable causes that totaled more than $2 million, a conservative estimate equivalent to $44,, in dollars.[18]

Although Scripps garnered much public attention from her philanthropic projects, she avoided publicizing her gifts and drawing attention to herself, since "publicity is distasteful to Miss Scripps.[2]

Death

Ellen Browning Scripps died in her La Jolla home on August 3, , at age Shortly thereafter, the leading newspaper trade journal Editor & Publisher praised her contributions to American journalism: "Many women have contributed, directly and indirectly, to the development of the American press, but none more influentially and beneficently than Ellen Browning Scripps."[6]The New York Times, meanwhile, recognized her as "one of the pioneers in modern American journalism." Her obituary described her as a woman who had perfected "the art of living" as well as the art of giving.[2]

Legacy

Scripps was nominated and inducted into the San Diego Women's Hall of Fame in , hosted by the Women's Museum of California, Commission on the Status of Women, University of California, San Diego Women's Center, and San Diego State University Women's Studies.

The following are institutions Scripps helped to establish or fund:

  • Scripps College in Claremont, CA
  • Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, est. , formerly known as the Marine Biological Association
  • Scripps Research, formerly Scripps Metabolic Clinic, est.
  • Scripps Aquarium, La Jolla (now Birch Aquarium)
  • The Bishop's School in La Jolla, San Diego, CA
  • Scripps Health, formerly Scripps Memorial Hospital, est.

  • La Jolla Woman's Club
  • Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve
  • The Children's Pool, est.
  • Donations to

See also

References

  1. ^"In California: Miss Ellen Scrippsanother Oxford Rises". Time Magazine. February 22,
  2. ^ abcdefghiMcClain, Molly (June ).

    Ellen Browning Scripps: New Money and American Philanthropy. U of Nebraska Press. ISBN&#;.

  3. ^ abcdSchaelchlin, Patricia A. (). The Newspaper Barons: A Biography of the Scripps Family.

    San Diego, CA: San Diego Historical Society.

    Ellen browning scripps biography of nancy Image credit: San Diego History Center. She graced the cover of Time Magazine in and they described her as the most beloved woman in Southern California. After graduation, she took a position as a school teacher in Rushville. She left teaching in and joined her brother James in publishing the Detroit Evening News, an inexpensive, and politically independent newspaper pitched to the city's working class. She urged her younger half-brother, E.

    ISBN&#;.

  4. ^Scripps, James E. (). A Genealogical History of the Scripps Family and Its Various Alliances. Detroit, MI&#;: Private Circulation. pp.&#;21–
  5. ^ abcBritt, Albert (). Ellen Browning Scripps: journalist and idealist.

    Oxford&#;: Printed for Scripps College at the University Press. pp.&#;19–

  6. ^ abcBaldasty, Gerald J. (). "Scripps, Ellen Browning" in American National Biography Online. Oxford University Press.
  7. ^ abMcClain, Molly (Spring ).

    "The Scripps Family's San Diego Experiment". The Journal of San Diego History.

    Ellen browning scripps biography of nancy wilson

    English-born American newspaper publisher and philanthropist. Her mother died when Scripps was five, and three years later her father moved his six children to farmland he owned in Illinois. Scripps developed an interest in literature early in life, through reading books from her father's large library to her many younger brothers and sisters her father remarried and had five more children. When she got older, she had the rare opportunity for a woman of her time to attend college. She enrolled in the two-year course of the Female Department at Knox College, graduating in , and then spent several years teaching.

    56 (1–2). The San Diego History Center: 1– Retrieved 20 August

  8. ^Scripps College (). A Sampling From Travel Letters, –. Claremont, CA&#;: Scripps College.
  9. ^Preece, Charles (). E.W. and Ellen Browning Scripps: An Unmatched Pair. Chelsea, MD: Bookcrafters. p.&#; ISBN&#;.
  10. ^"Miramar Ranch (Scripps Castle)".

    Hidden San Diego. Retrieved 22 August

  11. ^Hines, Thomas S. (). Irving Gill and the Architecture of Reform. New York: The Monicelli Press. p.&#; ISBN&#;.
  12. ^"E.W. Scripps Company History". Retrieved August 21,
  13. ^Baldasty, Gerald J.; Jordan, Myron K. (). "Scripps' Competitive Strategy: The Art of Non-Competition".

    Journalism Quarterly. 70 (2). American Association of Schools and Departments of Journalism: – doi/ S2CID&#;

  14. ^The Philanthropy Hall of Fame, Ellen Browning ScrippsArchived at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^Engstrand, Iris; Bullard, Anne (). Inspired by Nature: The San Diego Natural History Museum after years.

    San Diego: San Diego Natural History Museum. pp.&#;64– ISBN&#;.

  16. ^Kamerling, Bruce (Summer ). "Anna and Albert Valentien: The Arts and Crafts Movement in San Diego".

    Ellen browning scripps biography of nancy sinatra Ellen Browning Scripps was the embodiment of the American Dream and the new dynamism of women in the early 20th century. An immigrant, journalist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist, she became one of the most important leaders in the creation and development of San Diego scientific and educational institutions. Scripps was born October 18, , in London, England. When she was seven, she emigrated with her family to Rushville, Illinois. Scripps matriculated at Knox College, one of the few institutions of higher learning to admit women, where she studied science and mathematics and earned her certificate in no diplomas were awarded to women at that time.

    Journal of San Diego History. 24 (3): –

  17. ^Dykens, Margaret N. (). Plant portraits: the California Legacy of A.R. Valentien. Irvine, Calif.: Irvine Museum. ISBN&#;.
  18. ^"MISS ELLEN SCRIPPS DIES AT AGE OF 95".

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  24. The New York Times. August 4, Retrieved 12 February

Further reading

  • Molly McClain, Ellen Browning Scripps: New Money and American Philanthropy (University of Nebraska Press, )
  • Molly McClain, "The La Jolla of Ellen Browning Scripps,"The Journal of San Diego History 57, no. 4 ()
  • Bruce Kamerling, "How Ellen Scripps Brought Ancient Egypt to San Diego", The Journal of San Diego History 38, no.

    2 ()

  • Elizabeth N. Shor, "How Scripps Institution Came To San Diego,"The Journal of San Diego History 27, no.

  • Ellen browning scripps biography of nancy johnson
  • Ellen browning scripps biography of nancy drew
  • Ellen browning scripps biography of nancy williams
  • 3 (Summer )

  • Ellen Browning Scripps, in Carl Heilbron, History of San Diego (San Diego: San Diego Press Club, ), pp.&#;92–94
  • "In California," Time magazine, February 22,

External links

  • Ellen Browning Scripps — Scripps College
  • Ellen Browning Scripps — Scripps Health.
  • E.W.

    Scripps Papers, Mahn Center for Archives & Special Collections, Ohio University Libraries, Athens, Ohio. — Manuscript collection, primarily correspondence.

  • Ellen Browning Scripps Collection, Ella Strong Denison Library, Scripps College, Claremont, CA. — Manuscript collection, primarily correspondence.
  • Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego — on the site of her residence in La Jolla.
  • The San Diego Natural History Museum Research Library houses a significant collection of Ellen Browning Scripps' papers.