Ella McBride Soroptimist photograph albums, 1925-1949

Elizabeth Ayer was one of the first women to graduate from the professional architecture program at the University of Washington and was the first woman to be registered as an architect in the state of Washington. She was elected into the Soroptimist Club in 1935, appointed to Seattle's Board of Adjustment in 1958, and retired in 1970.

Matilda Bishop Baum was a charter member of the Soroptimist Club. She was the Northwest Unit Office Manager of LaSalle Extension University.

Mary E. Bresnahan was born in Minnesota and moved to Seattle in 1922. She worked as reporter, managing editor, and associate editor for theCatholic Northwest Progressnewspaper until 1972.

Mary A. Caughlin was an assistant manager of the Seattle office of a creosote manufacturer. She was elected into the Soroptimist Club in 1935 and served as its president in 1946.

Elsie Child was a charter member of the Soroptimist Club. She worked as a physiotherapist.

Grace B. Jeffery served as president of the Soroptimist Club in 1941. She worked as the General Purchasing Agent for the Centennial Flouring Mills Co. and also served as president of the Purchasing Agents Association of Washington.

Hazel T. McConaughey worked as the Assistant Treasurer for investment firm Hartley Rogers & Co. and later opened a commercial real estate office. She was a charter member of the Soroptimist Club as the Chariman of Records and Documents, and a member of the National Association of Real Estate Boards and the Washington Association of Realtors.

Gracy O. Dailey was born north of Kent, Washington. She graduated from the University of Washington School of Law in 1923 and became a King County deputy prosecutor in 1926. She married Gordon Mifflin in 1931 and went into private law practice in 1936. She was a member of the Mountaineers and served as president of the Soroptimist Club in 1936.

Hazel (Laurence) Milbourne worked as manager of the University School of Commerce and later ran the Hazel Milbourne School of Business in the Dexter Horton Building.

Nan Rowlands was born in Glasgow, Scotland and was a registered nurse and charter member of the Soroptimist Club. She was the founder and administrator of Cobb Hospital and the Seattle Medical-Dental Building in Seattle and the Portland Medical Center in Portland; she also served as president of the Washington State Hospital Association.

Freda Gandler (Utgard) was the founder of Freda Gandler Food Shop on Pike Place. She owned and operated the West Land Hatchery in Kent, Washington and served as vice president of the Greater Washington Poultry Conference. Gandler served as Soroptimist Club president in 1973.

Stella W. Johnston lived at 1400 Hubbell Place and married John R. Van Dyke in August 1954. She served as president of the Soroptimist Club in 1947.

Mary V. Andersen worked in the wholesale fish and oyster business.

Ursula (Tibbels) Auer was the co-founder and president of Kiddie Kanned Foods, Inc. She served as a nurse in Paris during World War I. She served as president of the Writers' Forum and later as director of the Junior Red Cross Clinic of Seattle. She died in Elma Washington.

Mabel H. Barlow was born in Winona, Minnesota and moved to Seattle in 1908. She was part owner of the former Collins Brothers' Funeral Home until retiring in 1956. Barlow died in Seattle.

Doris Leone Bishop was the executive secretary of the Seattle Camp Fire Girls for ten years. She moved to Cleveland, Ohio in 1937 and married James E. Bertles in 1938.

Sally Blackman founded Sally's Inweaving, Reweaving, and Mending (later known as the Sallymender Reweaving and Alterations).

Jessie Dorothy Bridgeman served as grand president of the Young Ladies' Institute in 1926 and as the general chairman of the Rainier Chapter House of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Bridgeman was born in Canton, Kansas and worked for as a secretary for A.J. Fisken Co. She was elected into the Soroptimist Club in 1935. Bridgeman lived at 1509 18th Avenue North.

Hazel M. Britton, born in 1894 in Minnesota, was a Charter Member of the Soroptimist Club. She was the first woman to become a member of the National Better Business Bureau's executive board. She married attorney George S. Kahin in December 1939.

Dorothy Stimson Bullitt was born in Seattle. In 1949 she bought KING-TV, an NBC affiliate, becoming the first woman in the United States to own and manage a television station. She also owned KING-FM, a classical music radio station. She was well known for her dedication to public service and charity and active in Seattle's business community. She also served on the Board of Regents of the University of Washington.

Esther B. Byers was born in 1892 and married to Sanford Byers. She worked as a photo engraver.

Myra Davidson was born circa 1901. She lived at 4125 Wallingford Avenue.

Harriet Dively served as an executive of the Seattle Camp Fire Girls and later became a regional field supervisor for Camp Fire Girls, Inc. Dively graduated from the University of Michigan and did graduate work at the University of Washington. She lived in Seattle from 1937 to 1942.

Lee Ellenwood was a charter member of the Soroptimist Club and worked as an associate in casualty insurance.

Margaret T. Hannay was the Director of the Washington State Dairy Council from 1933 to 1958. She was a home economics graduate of Iowa State College.

Pauline Krenz was a charter member of the Soroptimist Club and worked as the advertising manager of Rhodes Department Store. She served as vice president of the Seattle Advertising Club.

Jessie M. Landwehr served as vice president of the Seattle Advertising Club. She was married to Fred W. Landwehr, owner and manager of the Our House Cafe on Occidental Avenue.

Gay Lawson graduated from the University of Washington and worked with the Girl Reserves in the Seattle Y.W.C.A. She later worked for the San Francisco chapter of the Y.W.C.A.

Mildred Powell served on the Seattle City Council from 1935 to 1955. She was born in New London, Connecticut and moved to Seattle in 1923 with her husband, Francis F. Powell. She served as president of the City Council and also as acting mayor. She also ran in the 1st District as the Republican nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1950. She was known for her civic engagement and for her fight against Communism.

Mary Ann Wells (Mrs. A. Forest King) was born in Appleton, Wisconsin, and moved to Seattle in 1915. Wells was a charter member of the Soroptimist Club. She founded the ballet department at the Cornish School and directed the dance department for seven years. She later formed her own studio, the Mary Ann Wells School of the Dance at 804 1/2 Pine Street. Wells retired and closed the studio in 1958.

Katheryn Wilson was born in a farming community in Missouri and moved to Snohomish with her family in the 1890s. She attended law school at the University of Washington and was admitted to the state bar in 1909. Wilson served for 44 years in the financial adminstration of Simpson Timber Co. and was the first woman to serve on the board of directors of Seattle-First National Bank.

Edith Thackwell Young was born 1886 in India as the daughter of missionaries. She attended the University of Michigan and married Arrigo M. Young. She served as educational director of the Seattle Art Museum for 24 years, specializing in Japanese art, until moving to California in 1954. Young died in Claremont, California.

Martha Kuhn Sumbardo (Mrs. C.L. Sumbardo) was born in 1873 in Hamburg, Germany. An artist who studied for twelve years in Florence, Italy, she ran the Sumbardo Art Studio, 1715 Sunset Avenue SW. She started the West Seattle Art Club in 1910 and was a charter member of the Soroptimist Club.

Amy Newton Adams was born in England and moved to Seattle from Spokane in 1924. She was a contralto who taught at the St. Nicholas School and served as director of the First Presbyterian Church, as well as giving private vocal lessons. She was a charter member of the Soroptimist Club. Adams died in Bellevue, WA.

Bertha Knight Landes was the first female mayor of Seattle. She was born in Ware, Massachusetts. She attended Indiana University and moved to Seattle with her husband Henry Landes in 1895. Landes was prominent in civil activism, she served as president of the Washington State chapter of the League of Women Voters and organized the Women's City Club in 1922. That same year Landes was elected to Seattle City Council, and in 1926 she was elected mayor. She was a charter member of the Seattle Soroptimist Club and was the second president of the Soroptimist Federation of the Americas [now Soroptimist International] in 1930. Landes died in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Mary H. Alvord worked as a partner in Hyland, Elvidge, and Alvord Law Firm. She was a charter member of the Soroptimist Club.

Susan B. Armstrong was born in San Lorenzo, California. She moved to Everett with her husband in 1903 and they moved to Seattle in 1908. Armstrong ran a dry-goods store in Ballard and later opened a Buster Brown Shoe Store in downtown Seattle. She was a charter member of the Soroptimist Club.

Emma Matilda Beddow was born in Birmingham, England and came to the United States when she was 17 years old. She worked as a dentist in Seattle beginning in 1908, with an office in the Leary Building and later one in the Fourth and Pike Building. She was a charter member of the Soroptimist Club.

Mrs. Estelle Biel served as housemother for the Alpha Chi Omega chapter at the University of Washington, retiring in 1937.

Carrie A. Benefiel worked as a osteopathic physician in Spokane and Seattle. She died September 26, 1933 at age 62.

Virginia Lee Block was born in New Jersey. She graduated from Stanford and Columbia Universities and served as head of the Child Guidance Clinic in the Seattle Public School system. She was also a special consultant at the Counseling and Guidance Training Institute at the University of Washington. She left Seattle in 1950 to become a professor of education and psychology at San Francisco State College.

Janet B. Burnet worked as the executive housekeeper of a hotel. She died June 28, 1959.

Helen J. Taylor Bush (Mrs. John K. Bush) was born in Bloomington, Illinois and attended the University of Illinois before coming to Seattle in 1911. In 1924 she founded the Helen Bush School in her home at 133 Dorffel Drive, later moving it to 408 Lake Washington Boulevard.

Anna B. Butler was the owner of the Northwest Office Equipment Co. and a charter member of the Soroptimist Club.

Anne ("Annie") Calhoun was the daughter of pioneers who moved to Washington in the 1860s. She was the head of the art department at the Seattle Public Library, where she worked from 1902-1939.

Nanette F. Clay was a pediatric dentist and a charter member of the Soropitimist Club. She was born in Greenfield, Missouri and graduated from North Pacific Dental College in Portland in 1905. She moved to Seattle in 1910 and retired in 1960.

Ellen Powell Dabney was the education director of home economics for the Seattle Public Schools. She graduated from Columbia University and moved to Seattle in 1907. She was a charter member of the Soroptimist Club. Dabney died in 1967.

Mrs. Grace Agnes O'Connell Dunney was born in 1897 in Orange, Massachusetts and moved to Seattle at the age of six. She operated the Denney Real Estate Company on Mercer Island with her husband, John Dunney; they lived at 1803 West Mercer Way. She was a charter member of the Soroptimist Club.

Loretta Ennis was born in Minneapolis and moved to Seattle in 1918. She worked as the auditor for Berman Schoeneld's Standard Furniture Company. Ennis was elected president of the Seattle Soroptimist chapter in 1934.

Eloise M. Flagg was born in Cedar Falls, Wisconsin. She owned and managed the Alderbook Inn on Hood Canal and was the first Secretary of the Soroptimist club in Seattle.

Ella Forkner was a charter member of the Soroptimist Club. Forkner worked as a mortician.

Wilhelmina ("Billie") Frizlen was born in Wuttenberg, Germany. She was a charter member of the Soroptimists and lived at 1631 16th Avenue. Frizlen worked as a secretary correspondent at the Culver Military Academy.

Edna R. Gaynor was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She worked as a cashier and personnel director for Pacific Marine Supply (later known as Schwabacher Marine Supply). Gaynor was elected president of the Seattle Soroptimists in November 1938.

Agnes G. Handley was born in Kansas. She was president and manager of Metropolitan Press Printing Company, which she ran along with her brother George Nagle Handley until his death in 1952. She was elected as Soroptimist Club president in November 1935; she also served as president of the Seattle University Guild. She lived at 1531 Olin Place East.

Clara Moyer Hartle was born in Albany, New York and lived in Chicago before moving to Seattle in 1904. Hartle was a mezzo-soprano and voice teacher. She served as the first president of the Washington State Federation of Music Clubs from 1921 to 1925. She also served as the state chairman of music for the Women's Federation and president of the Seattle Musical Art Society. Hartle was a charter member of the Seattle Soroptimists. She lived in the El Capitan Apartments and later at 151 28th Avenue until her death at age 67.

Florence K. Denny was born in Seattle. She was the daughter of Seattle pioneer Rolland H. Denny and granddaughter of Arthur A. Denny. She graduated from Seattle High School in 1898 and from Wellesley College in 1904. She married Winthrop G. Heliker in 1904; they divorced in 1910. She lived for many years at her parents' home ("Loch Kelden") on Lake Washington and worked as a probation officer for the Juvenile Court for twenty years.

Lena Elizabeth Hemphill attended Geneva College in Pennsylvania. Hemphill worked as director of the Mothers' Pensions Bureau at the King County Juvenile Court from 1919 to 1935. She went on to teach and served as principal of the Martha Washington School for Girls from 1937 to 1952. She lived at 1105 Spring Street.

Ida Johnson Holland ("Holly") was a charter member of the Seattle Soroptimists.

After graduating from the University of Washington in 1906, Kathleen Eva Houlahan studied painting at the Art Students' League in New York City and the Sorbonne in Paris. She returned to Seattle in 1923 and painted outdoor scenes, portraits, still lifes, and industrial views.

Jessie M. Hosking was born in Butte, Montana. She moved to Seattle in 1918 and worked as a credit manager and secretary to the vice president of the Bemis Brothers Bag Co. for forty years. She was married to Captain John J. Kelly until his death in 1959. Hosking was a charter member of the Soropitimist Club.

Lilian Collison Irwin was born in Phoenix, New York. She studied obstetrics and gynecology at Willamette and Cooper Medical College in San Francisco and was the first woman physician in Alaska in 1900. Irwin moved to Seattle in 1906 and had her medical office in the Cobb Building along with her sister, Dr. Ada L. Collison, until her retirement in December 1948. She served as president of the Medical Women's Club of Seattle. A chapter of the King County Cerebral Palsy Association was named after Irwin.

Dora S. Lewis was an agent with the federal Office of Education before becoming Educator/Director of Home Economics for Seattle Public Schools in 1938. She resigned in 1939 to become head of the Department of Home Economics at New York University. She was a member of the Seattle Soroptimist Club from 1938-1939 and served as the 17th president of the Soroptimist Federation of the Americas in 1962.

Martha K. Look was a charter member of the Seattle Sororptimist Club. She served as president of the Seattle Women's Advertising Club and worked as an advertising manager for the National Crescent Manufacturing Company.

Ella McBride began working in the photography field in 1909 when she managed the Edward Curtis Studio. She opened her own studio in 1917 with Wayne Albee. Albee moved to San Diego in 1925, and McBride continued to operate a studio in various Seattle locations. In 1932 she partnered with Richard Anderson; they continued to work together until she retired in 1954 due to her failing eyesight. She died in 1965 at the age of 102.

Jessie B. Merrick was born in Prescott, Wisconsin. She moved to the Seattle area in 1915 and worked as the head of the department of physical training for women at the University of Washington. In 1919 she became supervisor of physical education at Seattle Public School system. Merrick retired in 1949 and moved to Hood Canal.

Fonda Nadeau was born in St. Joseph, Michigan. Her parents brought her to San Francisco in a covered wagon as a child and they moved to Seattle in 1877. Nadeau spent her childhood in Fort Lawton, Washington, and graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School. She returned to Seattle in 1900 to practice eye, ear, nose, and throat medicine. Nadeau was a charter member of the Soropitimist Club.

Allice M. Owens was an antiques collector and a charter member of the Soroptimist Club.

Viola Shaw Page worked in multigraphing, mimeographing, & public stenography for Lansdowne Services and was a charter member of the Soroptimist Club.

Ethel Y. Phillips was the local representative for Sun Life Insurance Company and was a charter member of the Soroptimist Club.

Clara P. Reynolds was originally from New York and moved to Seattle to become the director of Fine and Industrial Art for Seattle Public Schools. She was a charter member of the Soroptimist Club.

Helen Mary Reynolds was the director of the kindergarten and primary grades for the Seattle Public Schools and was a charter member of the Soroptimist Club.

Lois Beil Sandall was a charter member of the Seattle Soroptimist Club and served as its president from 1929-1930; she also served as governor of the Norhwest Region of the Soroptimists from 1938 to 1942 and as the ninth president of the Soroptimist Federation of the Americas in 1946. She studied drama at Emerson College in Boston and the New York Dramatic Academy. After coming to Seattle in 1917, she organized the Pilgrim Community Players, the first church-theatre group in the United States. She was an associate professor of speech at the University of Washington and later established the Sandall School of Speech and Drama. Sandall also served as drama director for the Mountaineer Players from 1924 to 1950.

Mabel Seagrave was a Seattle physician and Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. Born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, she moved to Seattle with her family at age five in 1889. She graduated from Wellesley College in 1905 and Johns Hopkins University in 1912. Seagrave worked in Southern France during World War I with the Overseas Hospital Service, treating influenza patients. She later worked at King County Hospital and as chief of staff of Seattle General Hospital. She served on the Board of Directors of the Soroptimist Club.

Gertrude L. Winsor Spencer was born in Port Huron, Michigan, and came to Seattle in 1885 with her parents. She attended Seattle High School and the University of Washington. She and her husband founded the George A. Spencer Realty Co. and she was a member of the Seattle Real Estate Board. She served as president of the Soroptimist Club and was a charter member. Spencer lived at 4303 13th Avenue South.

Gretchen M. Starr was the first president of the Soroptimist Club of Seattle. She was a member of the club from 1925 to 1927 and served as a delegate to the San Francisco preliminary organization conference in 1927. She later was elected as corresponding secretary of the International Federation of Soroptimist Clubs. She was also a member of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority.

Evelyn H. Sheppard was owner of the Sheppard Service Bureau Employment Agency and was a charter member of the Soroptimist Club.

Leora Stewart was born in Nevada and was active in the Seattle Soroptimist Club as the President in 1928 and later as the editor of the club's newspaper. She married Ralph Stewart.