Who is Scripps and Why is Everything Named After Her?
If you’ve spent any time in San Diego, you’ve probably run into the name Scripps a few times – Scripps Ranch, Scripps Park, Scripps Pier, Scripps Aquarium, Scripps Institute…but do you know who Scripps is?
Ellen Browning Scripps was born in England, but came to Illinois with her father and five siblings when she was about eight, after the death of her mother. When her father remarried, she got a half-brother (Edward Wyllis or E.W.), eighteen years her junior, whom she worked closely with throughout most of their lives.
Ellen was a teacher both before entering and after leaving college, having graduated in 1859. She later worked for the Detroit Tribune, and when her brother E.W. founded the Detroit Evening News in 1873, she invested her savings in the business and went to work there. The success of the Evening News led them to founding many other newspapers, and to great wealth.
In 1896, Ellen retired and settled in La Jolla. Upon her brother George H. Scripps’ death in 1900, she inherited another fortune, adding it to her own, which she used to benefit humanity and the community in many, many ways until her death in 1932. According to the San Diego Historical Society:
“Schools, colleges, hospitals, research institutions, children’s playgrounds, zoological gardens, the Young Women’s and Young Men’s Christian associations, churches of many denominations, natural history societies and private individuals were the recipients of this generous woman’s gifts and bequests. In La Jolla, where she made her home the last thirty-five years of her life, her public spirit stands immortalized in the gifts she made for the benefit of the public, among them the Woman’s Club, the Public Library, the Scripps Memorial Hospital and Metabolic Clinic, the Bishop’s School, the Community House and Playgrounds, Children’s Pool, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, and financial aid in building the churches in that community; in San Diego, the Natural History Museum, the Zoological Garden and Research Laboratory located in Balboa Park, and the Welfare Building, housing the welfare activities of the city.”
Pomona College at Claremont, Scripps College (named in her honor), and Claremont College were also recipients of her philanthropy.
What a remarkable and generous woman! Ellen Browning Scripps left a huge impression on San Diego and beyond, and this would be a very different place if she hadn’t lived here. All San Diegans should know the name Ellen Browning Scripps.
Photo credit: Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/danandchristie/116954833/
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