Esther Dunshee Bower
A black-and-white image of Esther Dunshee, a white woman, wearing a dark dress or blouse with a white lace collar; her eyes appear light in color, and she has pale or absent eyebrows
Esther A. Dunshee, from a 1922 newsletter
Born
Esther A. Dunshee

September 1879
Charles City, Iowa, U.S.
Died (aged 82)
Conway, Arkansas, U.S.
Alma materChicago-Kent College of Law
Occupation(s)Lawyer, activist

Esther A. Dunshee Bower (September 1879 – October 13, 1962) was an American lawyer and activist based in Chicago. She was a co-founder of the Illinois League of Women Voters.

Early life

Esther A. Dunshee was born in Charles City, Iowa, and raised in Wilmette, Illinois after 1887,[1] the daughter of Edmond Philo Dunshee and Emerine Hamilton Hurd Dunshee.[2] She graduated from Chicago-Kent College of Law in 1902.[3]

Career

Dunshee was a probate lawyer with the firm Good, Childs, Bobb, and Wescott. She was president of the Women's Bar Association of Illinois from 1920 to 1921.[4] She was also the second woman elected to the Wilmette Village Board, and a trustee of the Congregational Church of Wilmette. During World War I, Dunshee went to France with the YMCA, and worked in a canteen in Le Mans.[5]

Dunshee was active in the women's suffrage movement, and a co-founder of the Illinois League of Women Voters.[6] For almost two decades,[7][8][9] she and two other women lawyers, Kate Kane Rossi and Catherine Waugh McCulloch, were active in supporting the Women's Jury Bill in Illinois,[10] which allowed women to serve on juries after it became a law in 1939.[11] She also worked for laws protecting the economic rights of married women.[3][12] and taught English classes for women at the Northwestern University Settlement.[13][14] She served on national committees of the League of Women Voters,[15] and presented on legal topics at national League events.[16]

Dunshee published a state-by-state survey of women's rights in 1924.[3]

Personal life

Dunshee married businessman Lorin Alphonso Bower in 1933, after she retired. Lorin Bower died in 1956.[2] Esther Dunshee Bower died in 1962, aged 83 years, in Conway, Arkansas.[3]

References

  1. ↑ "Bower, Esther (née Dunshee) (Died)". Wilmette Life. October 18, 1962. p. 124B. Retrieved March 9, 2021 – via Wilmette Public Library Local History Collection.
  2. 1 2 "Wilmette Contains Fond Memories for Village Pioneer, Retired Lawyer, and Civic Official". Wilmette Life. August 13, 1959. p. 14. Retrieved March 9, 2021 – via Wilmette Public Library Local History Collection.
  3. 1 2 3 4 IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law (1902-01-01). "Esther Dunshee Bower". Girls Want to Study Law: 100 Years of Women Graduates.
  4. ↑ "Past Presidents" (PDF). Wbai 75: 4. 1992.
  5. ↑ Young Men's Christian Association (1920). History of the Y.M.C.A. in the Le Mans Area. Arcady Press and Mail Advertising Company, Incorporated. p. 182.
  6. ↑ "Miss Esther Dunshee" Bulletin of the Illinois League of Women Voters (October 1922): 1. via Google Books
  7. ↑ M'Laughlin, Kathleen (1928-01-31). "Women Demand Legal Right to Serve on Juries". Chicago Tribune. p. 37. Retrieved 2021-03-10 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ Fuller, Howard M. (1927-01-26). "Would Permit Women to Sit on Ill. Juries". Journal Gazette. p. 1. Retrieved 2021-03-10 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "Women Renew Fight for Jury Service, After Adverse Ruling". Chicago Tribune. 1931-05-04. p. 23. Retrieved 2021-03-10 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "Would Equalize Sexes". The Assembly Bulletin. 5: 5. May 16, 1921.
  11. ↑ Campbell, Lillian (1930-11-11). "With Women of Today". The Dayton Herald. p. 13. Retrieved 2021-03-10 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "Women Disagree on Marriage Law". The New York Times. April 19, 1925. p. 20 – via ProQuest.
  13. ↑ "Women's English Classes". The Neighbor. 6: 3. March 27, 1920.
  14. ↑ "Distinguished Women to Attend League Convention". The Times Dispatch. 1925-03-15. p. 50. Retrieved 2021-03-10 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ "Women Voters' League Maps Out Campaign for Year". Evening Star. 1925-10-04. p. 7. Retrieved 2021-03-10 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ "National League of Women Will Discuss Child Welfare Subjects". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. 1925-04-10. p. 6. Retrieved 2021-03-10 – via Newspapers.com.
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