Susan Miller Dorsey
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Susan Miller Dorsey (February 16, 1857 – February 5, 1946)[1] was an American educator who served as the superintendent of the Los Angeles City Schools from 1920 to 1929.[2]
Early life and education
Susan Almira Miller was born in Penn Yan, New York,[3] the daughter of James Miller and Hannah Benedict Miller.[2] She graduated from Vassar College in 1877, and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa there.[4]
Career
Dorsey taught at Wilson College and at Vassar before marrying and moving to California with her husband in the 1880s.[5] She taught classics at Los Angeles High School, beginning in 1896.[3] By 1902, she was working as a school administrator. She was named an assistant superintendent in 1913,[6] and in 1920, Dorsey became the first female superintendent of Los Angeles City Schools. She would serve in that capacity until her retirement in 1929.[2]
Dorsey was a member of the board of trustees at Scripps College.[6] In 1937 she spoke to the prohibitionist Women's Law Observance Association and denounced realist literature that dealt with or included "the seamy things of life".[7] In 1937, Susan Miller Dorsey High School in the Crenshaw district of Los Angeles was dedicated in her honor.[3] It was an adult high school in the 1950s.[8]
Personal life and legacy
Susan Miller married the Rev. Patrick William Dorsey, and moved to California with him when he became minister of a Baptist church in Los Angeles.[9][10] They had a son, Paul Dorsey. Her husband took their son and left her, and Los Angeles, in 1895; both professional and personal misconduct were rumored to be involved, and the Dorseys were eventually divorced.[11][12] She died in 1946, at the age of 88, in Los Angeles.[6][13]
Dorsey Hall, a dormitory at Scripps College, is named for her. A 1928 oil portrait of Dorsey by John Hubbard Rich, which was de-accessioned by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in the 1980s, was recovered in 2007 by Dorsey High School alumna and former teacher Janet Horwitz Colman.[14]
Notes and references
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