Ellen Browning Scripps — the benefactress whose philanthropic spirit is immortalized through charitable trusts she left to La Jolla — will be honored for her 175th birthday on Oct. 18. A fixture in La Jolla from the time she moved there in 1897 until her death in 1932, Scripps founded key institutions and left a lifetime’s worth of philanthropic trusts to La Jolla’s schools, sciences, art, libraries, hospitals, research institutions, parks and churches of various denominations. She even patronized modern, progressive architecture in La Jolla by advancing the works of renowned architect Irving Gill and his designs at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, The Bishop’s School and the La Jolla Woman’s Club. “She is remembered for her extraordinary generosity, her wisdom and humanity,” said Molly McClain, history professor at University of San Diego and author of a forthcoming biography of Ellen Browning Scripps. “She also should be characterized as a strong-minded, even ambitious, professional woman who ignored the rules and conventions of Victorian society and embraced modernity and reform.” As the only college-educated sibling of 10 — highly unusual for women at the time — she was conscious of the fact she was an anomaly of sorts, not adhering to the traditional standards set for women of the time and always pushing the envelope for women’s rights. “She believed in the equality of the human race, the equality of the sexes and the potential for human creativity,” McClain said. “She particularly liked to see women apply their intelligence and education to real world problems, writing ‘it is so good to find women doing things instead of spending their time in cooking dainties and embroidering underwear.’” Scripps, who never married or had children, amassed much of her fortune through her own hard-earned work and investment in her brothers’ Midwestern newspaper franchise. McClain, editor of “The journal of San Diego History,” said Scripps was an astute businesswoman and clever accountant, yet she despised “Gilded Age monopolists” who accumulated vast fortunes and founded family dynasties — an ambition she saw in her brothers, James and Edward. “She saw inherited wealth as fundamentally undemocratic, tending toward the creation of an American aristocracy,” she said. “Ellen Scripps was not going to help her brothers turn a middle-class family into plutocrats. As a result, she gave away as much money as possible to institutions that aimed to improve society and to advance democratic principles.” She considered the gifts she left, often anonymously, to be investments — “a trust for the benefit of humanity” — not a trust that would only benefit and potentially corrupt the Scripps family in the future. The legacy of La Jolla’s most notable patron will certainly prevail for many more years to come in through education institutions, innovations in science, maintenance of history and culture and advancements in the general welfare of La Jollans well into the future. For now, La Jollans will celebrate the life and works of Ellen Browning Scripps with several events throughout the village. The Bishop’s School will host “Portraits of Excellence” to honor Scripps’ birthday and the legacy she left in the community. The evening celebration will begin at 6 p.m. on Oct. 22 with drinks and socializing at the school’s Rahr Terrace. At 7 p.m., guests will relocate to the Eva May Fleet Athletic Center for dinner, an awards presentation and live music by alumni musician Gary Jules and party band Dirty Bird to celebrate the school’s founder and honor exceptional alumni and faculty who embody her spirit and character. The La Jolla Historical Society will also host its annual Ellen Browning Scripps birthday luncheon from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Oct. 15 at UCSD’s Ida and Cecil Green Faculty Club. Special guest speaker Mary Beebe, founding director of the Stuart Collection and sculptor of a new bust of Scripps now on view at the Historical Society, will give a tour of selected works from the collection following the luncheon. Ellen Browning Scripps donated so much of her time and money to various institutions around San Diego, it is impossible to list them all. Here is a partial list of some of what she helped create in La Jolla: • (1903) Scripps Institution of Oceanography • (1909) The Bishop’s School • (1911) North Grove and estuary of Torrey Pines State Reserve • (1914) La Jolla Woman’s Club • (1915) Children’s playground and La Jolla Recreation Center • (1915) Birch Aquarium at Scripps • (1915) Scripps Park • (1918) La Jolla Sanitarium • (1921) La Jolla Library • (1921) La Jolla Art Association Gallery • (1923) Torrey Pines Lodge • (1924) Scripps Memorial Hospital and Scripps Clinic • (1931) Children’s Pool — Courtesy of Molly McClain