Description

Ellen Browning Scripps (1836-1932) was born in London in 1836 into a bookbinder's family. Over the course of her life, she held two important careers. First, she was a working newswoman, columnist, and editorial consultant for her family's newspaper in the Midwest for over 20 years. In an era when few women entered professions other than teaching or nursing, this was an achievement in itself. But her accomplishment was even more noteworthy because of her success in this field, professionally and financially. Her shrewd investments in newspaper stock and in real estate enabled her to retire in comfort at 60 and then begin her second career--that of creative philanthropist. San Diego in general, and the suburb of La Jolla in particular, benefited greatly from Scripps' many thoughtful gifts. She played an extremely important role in developing the beauty of both land and buildings in La Jolla, including Torrey Pines Park, the Women's Club, and Scripps Medical Clinic. Her major philanthropies were the College named for her at Pomona, and the initial buildings at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, which subsequently resulted in the establishment of the University of California at San Diego. Producer Peter Hamlin and historian Clare Crane discuss with their guests the character and activities of Ellen Browning Scripps and her brother, newspaper tycoon E. W. Scripps; the founding of Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the subsequent development of UCSD; and Ellen Scripps' many gifts to the San Diego area. In large part, because of her activities, La Jolla has become a symbol of "the good life," with its parks and beaches and its artistic, architectural, cultural, and educational leadership. Ellen Revelle discusses her personal recollections of her great-aunt, Ellen Scripps; she comments on her career as a newswoman and her later activities in La Jolla. Roger Revelle describes the early years of Scripps Institute of Oceanography and its relation to the development of UCSD. Fred Spiess discusses the historic Scripps Laboratory, designed by Irving Gill, and the efforts to preserve it. The second part of this program is devoted to a survey of resources for the study of local history At UCSD, Kenneth Hill discusses his collection of works about Pacific Ocean exploration which are housed at the UCSD Library; Ronald Silveira takes us into the vault as he describes some of the business and personal papers relating to San Diego history in the Special Collections Department. At San Diego State University, Steven Colston describes some of the corporate and organizational records in the San Diego History Research Center archives. At the San Diego Public Library, Rhoda Kruse discusses the books and periodicals available for study of local history in the California Room; she describes the detailed index to San Diego newspapers dating back more than a century. At the San Diego Historical Society Research Library, Sylvia Arden describes the resources for study of local history, and mentions some special materials available only at the Society's library, including oral interviews with pioneer San Diegans. James Moss describes the publications program of the San Diego Historical Society and some of its other activities. Names mentioned during the program include: Edward Willis Scripps, Irving J. Gill, Fred Baker, William Emerson Ritter, William A. Nierenberg, John D. Spreckels, and "Colonel" Ed Fletcher, Jr. (II), Jane Booth, Larry Booth, and Richard Pourade.