Dummer, Ethel Sturges (1866–1954)

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Dummer, Ethel Sturges (1866–1954)

American philanthropist. Name variations: Ethel Sturges. Born Ethel Sturges, Oct 23, 1866, in Chicago, Illinois; died Feb 25, 1954, in Winnetka, Illinois; dau. of George and Mary (Delafield) Sturges; m. William Francis Dummer (banker), 1888 (died 1928); children: 4 daughters (b. 1890, 1892, 1895, 1899), 1 son (1902–1902).

Joined National Child Labor Committee and Chicago Juvenile Protection Association (1905); was founding trustee of Chicago School of Civics and Philanthropy (1908); financed 2 University of Chicago lecture series on social problems; financed establishment of Juvenile Psychopathic Institute (1909); financially supported such scholars as Miriam Van Waters and William I. Thomas; funded Florence Beaman's class for retarded, truant and delinquent boys at Montefiore School, Chicago; financed child development courses at Northwestern University (1940s); rejected forced marriages and legal punishment for prostitution; advocated repeal of state laws discriminating against prostitutes and their children and supported therapeutic detention homes for prostitutes.

See also Why I think So—The Autobiography of an Hypothesis (1937).

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Dummer, Ethel Sturges (1866–1954)

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