Ellen Browning Scripps
Why is she a hero?
Ellen Browning Scripps was born on October 18, 1836 in London. Throughout her life she experienced a great deal of hardship at a young age. Her mother passed away when she was just 4 years old. After this tragedy, her, her father and the rest of her siblings moved from England to the United states. This was in 1844. She was born one of 13 kids and was the only one that continued her education to a higher level. Although she was the only one to receive a higher education, she later helped her siblings to better their careers with what she accomplished. For example, for many years her career was teaching, but later on one of her brothers started a newspaper called “ The Detroit Evening News” in 1873 and Scripps decided to invest into the newspaper. She later invested in her other brother’s newspaper “The Cleveland Press.” In addition to her investments, she also contributed columns as well.
Journalist Side
Aside from investing in the newspaper, she also has her own front page feature that was called “Matters and Things”. Here she talked about women’s rights and different ideas relating to certain issues from that era. This itself was
a step forward in the right direction for women. The column was so popular that it inspired other newspaper chains.
The feature was distributed to a 1000 newspapers per day. It helped Ms. Scripps become a very known journalist.
Investor
Although Ms. Scripps was a journalist, she also had an important role in the business side of the newspaper. She helped her brothers Edward W. Scripps and James Scripps by investing in the newspapers but also gave the brothers advice on how to grow and make better business moves. Throughout this time, the newspaper became a 24- newspaper chain, which became very profitable and as a result made Ellen Scripps a very wealthy woman.
Philanthropist
Ellen Scripps was not only known for her voice in women’s rights but she was also known for donating most of her money to important causes. She donated to schools, parks, and medicine which are just some of the many things she cared for most and was passionate about. Ellen was an advocate of social reforms and helping those in need. Ms. Scripps continued to write and donate money until her last days on this earth in 1932 at the age of 95. There is actually a park in San Diego named after her and a clinic as well.
Ellen Browning Scripps Park |
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