Dow, Elsie Storrs.

Person

Staff Only

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 2 Collections and/or Records:

Collection 293 Oral History Interview with Melvin D. Suttie

Collection

Identifier: CN 293

Scope and Contents Oral history interview with Melvin David Suttie (1912-2006) in which he discusses his childhood, Christian growth, education at Wheaton College and Biblical Seminary in New York and Omaha Presbyterian Seminary, missionary work with China Inland Mission (1940-1950), work among university students, persecution, evangelistic work among the Chinese population and Nationalist troops, his wife Mary's work among women, their children, church and state relations in China, the impact of the...

Dates: Created: 1985

Found in: Evangelism & Missions Archives / Collection 293 Oral History Interview with Melvin D. Suttie

Collection 363 Papers of Ruth M. Mellis

Collection

Identifier: CN 363

Scope and Contents Correspondence, prayer letters, clippings, photographs, oral history interviews and audio tapes of missionary conference relating to the missionary career of Ruth M. Mellis. Materials document her work among orphans and students in Greece, the Greek Bible Institute, the Greek language, and Greater Europe Mission; oral history interviews describe her childhood, attendance at Wheaton College, work with Near East Relief in Siros, teaching public schools in the St. Louis area, teaching at the...

Dates: Created: 1928-1987

Found in: Evangelism & Missions Archives / Collection 363 Papers of Ruth M. Mellis

Filtered By

Subject: World War, 1939-1945. X
Subject: College students. X

Archives of Wheaton College