Ellen Mills Scarbrough

Ellen Mills Scarbrough (13 November 1900 – March 1983) was a Liberian educator and politician. She was elected to the House of Representatives in 1959, becoming the first woman in the Legislature.

Ellen Mills Scarbrough
Member of the House of Representatives
In office
1960–
Personal details
Born13 November 1900
Arthington, Liberia
DiedMarch 1983
Monrovia, Liberia

Biography

Mills Scarbrough was born in Arthington in 1900. After studying at the College of West Africa, she attended Howard University in Washington, D.C., where she earned a BA. She then gained an MA from Columbia University. Returning to Liberia, she worked as a teacher.[1] In 1947 she was a member of the Liberian Delegation to the United Nations.[2] The follpwing year, she was appointed assistant secretary of public instruction. Four years later she was promoted to assistant secretary.[1] She was also made an honorary Doctor of Education by the University of Liberia.[3]

In 1959 she was elected to the House of Representatives,[4] becoming the first woman to sit in either the House or the Senate.[5] She also served as president of the National Federation of Liberian Women.[6]

She later donated land to the government, on which the Catherine Mills mental hospital was established. She died in Monrovia in March 1983.[1]

References
  1. Elwood D. Dunn, Amos J. Beyan & Carl Patrick Burrowes (2000) Historical Dictionary of Liberia p293
  2. Angie E. Brooks (January 1968). "Political Participation of Women in Africa South of the Sahara". The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 375: 82–85. JSTOR 1037892.
  3. Education in Liberia under the Department of Public Instruction Liberia Today, volume 2, number 8 August 1953
  4. Election results Liberia Today, September 1959
  5. Richard A. Henries, A. Doris Banks Henries (1966) Liberia, the West African Republic, p135
  6. The National Christian Council Review, volume 91, p538
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