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Dow, Elsie Storrs.

 Person

Biographical Statement

Elsie Storrs Dow was born in Sycamore, Illinois in 1859 to Roswell and Theresa E. Dow. Mr. Dow was a trustee of Wheaton College from 1878 to 1901 and was a well-known educator.

Dow came to study at Wheaton College in 1877 in the Classical program, usually taken by men, and graduated in 1881. After completing her studies at Wheaton she taught at Reed’s Ferry Academy in Manchester, New Hampshire. After four years of teaching she returned to Sycamore and taught for a year. During this time Dow received a Master of Arts degree from Wheaton. Afterward her year of teaching she moved again and became principal of Wasioja Academy in Minnesota until 1889.

In was in 1889 that she returned to her Alma Mater and assumed the Samuel Plumb Professorship of English Literature. She also served as Dean of Women from 1893 to 1901 and also taught courses in classics, history, and mathematics in additional to her English courses. She also served as Registrar for a time. Dow occupied the chair of the English Department for forty-six years and taught three generations of students as her teaching career spanned over five decades. Elsie Dow was known by her colleagues as an authority on Shakespeare and Browning.

At some time she took some graduate courses at Harvard University. She received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Lawrence College in 1922.

Dow died at 85 years of age on October 29, 1944 and was buried at Elmwood cemetery in Sycamore.

Citation:
Author: Wheaton College Archives & Special Collections staff

Found in 1 Collection or Record:

Collection 187 Papers of Eleanor R. Elliott

 Collection
Identifier: CN 187
Scope and Contents Family correspondence, prayer letters, brochures, newspaper clippings, prayer cards and letters from other missionaries, photographs, slides, negatives, journals and diaries, and eight interviews concerning Elliott's childhood in China, mission work with China Inland Mission (now Overseas Missionary Fellowship) in China and the Philippines, her experiences as an evangelist and teacher, her life in China during the Sino-Japanese War, 1937-1945, and the civil war that followed. Her retirement...
Dates: Created: 1910-1988

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  • Subject: Catholic Church. -- Relations. X