|
Cory
Bussey Hillis
"Cora's
sensitivities were acute and her visions reached beyond her own life
and beyond Des Moines, Iowa to a regeneration of the race through
enlightened parenthood."
— Ginalie Swaim, Palimpsest, Vol. 60, 1979
Cora
Bussey Hillis is most famous for her long and effective campaigns
to improve child welfare. The Iowa Child Welfare Association,
which she organized in 1914, successfully pushed for legislation
establishing the child welfare research station at the University
of Iowa in 1917. The research station was the first in the United
States to be incorporated in a state university and became the
roots of The University of Iowa's complex for research and the
study of child development and behavior. Hillis also organized
the first Parent Teacher's Association branch in Iowa and served
as president of the organization for six years. Born in Bloomfield
in 1858, she died in 1924 at age 66. Hillis Elementary School
in Des Moines is named for this children's advocate. Hillis was
inducted into the Iowa Women's Hall of Fame in 1976.
|
|
|
