Dorothy Woodruff Hillman Papers, 1916-1996

The Sophia Smith Collection owns copyright to materials created by Dorothy Woodruff Hillman. Copyright to other materials may be owned by the creators, or their heirs or assigns. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights. Permission to publish reproductions or quotations beyond "fair use" must also be obtained from the Sophia Smith Collection as owners of the physical property.

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Biographical Note

Dorothy Woodruff (Hillman) was born in Auburn, N.Y., January 13, 1887, the daughter of Caroline Porter Beardsley and John Herman Woodruff. She attended Rye Seminary in Rye, N.Y., and graduated from Smith College in 1909. In 1916 she went to Routt County, Colorado with childhood friend and Smith College alumna, Rosamond Underwood, to teach for a year at the Elkhead School, built for the children of homesteaders who had come to settle in the Rocky Mountains. Woodruff later married Lemuel Serrell Hillman, with whom she had two daughters, Caroline and Hermione, and two sons, Serrell and Douglas. Throughout her life, Woodruff was active in civil and charitable work; she was executive director of the Grand Rapids (MI) chapter of the American Red Cross, and later became regional director for western Michigan. She died May 13, 1979.

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

Photographs, correspondence, and printed materials describing one academic year (1917-18) Woodruff and fellow Smith College alumna, Rosamond Underwood, spent teaching the children of homesteaders at the Elkhead School in Routt County, Colorado. The materials offer a small, compelling glimpse into rural life in the Rocky Mountains, as seen from the perspective of a young woman from the eastern United States.

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