Description
Book SynopsisMolly McClain presents a biography of Ellen Browning Scripps, an American newspaperwoman, feminist, suffragist, abolitionist, social reformer, and philanthropist who made her fortune in the rapidly expanding Scripps chain of newspapers and used her wealth and influence to support philanthropic causes.
Trade Review“What a life! Ellen Browning Scripps made an astonishing amount of money, lived a very long time, and gave millions away. In doing so, she changed the landscape of the far West and earned for herself a pivotal place in American philanthropy. This fine book gives Scripps her due.”—William Deverell, director of the Huntington–USC Institute on California and the West
“[Ellen Browning Scripps’s] progressive legacy undergirds the best of San Diego. This compelling book breaks the glass ceiling in the genre of Southern California biographies.”—Mike Davis, author of
City of Quartz: Excavating the Future in Los Angeles “McClain tells Scripps’s story with verve, suggesting that her example of modest living and exorbitant giving has many lessons for our own gilded age.”—Rebecca Jo Plant, associate professor of history at the University of California, San Diego
“A skillful and loving tribute to Ellen Browning Scripps, one of America’s least-known yet influential philanthropists. This is the inspiring true story of how one person has made a difference in the world.”—William Lawrence, executive director of the San Diego History Center
“McClain’s biography of Ellen Browning Scripps isn’t just about a beloved San Diego philanthropist. . . . [It] is also a history of women’s fight for equality, the rise of mass-market media, Detroit as a booming industrial center, and San Diego as an upstart West Coast center of innovation. Scripps appeared on the cover of
Time magazine in the 1920s and she still warrants attention nearly a century later.”—Roger Showley, staff writer for the
San Diego Union-Tribune “McClain’s biography of this remarkable philanthropist and journalist is a gift to all readers.”—Hannah S. Cohen, coauthor of
Women Trailblazers of California: Pioneer to the PresentTable of ContentsList of Illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chronology
1. A Lapsed Victorian
2. The Evening News
3. The Realm of Queen Calafia
4. A Young Jewel
5. A Cold Shower of Gold
6. Down to the Sea
7. Old Age, New Age
8. A Feminist Speaks Out
9. Sweet Virginia
10. Educating Girls
11. The Playground and Community House
12. South Molton Villa
13. The Sinews of War
14. Still Roaring in the 1920s
15. Educating Women
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index
