Esther Dunshee Bower

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.

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

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. "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. 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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