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Ellen Clark Revelle Collection
D.Mss.0003
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Title: Ellen Clark Revelle Collection
Dates: 1906-2009
Collection number: D.Mss.0003
Extent:
8 boxes
Repository:
Scripps College. Ella Strong Denison Library. Claremont, CA
91711.
Abstract: The Ellen Clark
Revelle Collection includes correspondence of Ellen Clark Revelle, Ellen Browning Scripps,
Scripps College alumni and faculty, and family and friends, biographical publications, news
clippings, academic work and notes from Revelle's time at Scripps College, and photographs
regarding Revelle's personal philanthropic endeavors, the Scripps family, and Scripps
College.
Languages of Material: Languages represented in the collection: English and Old English
(ca.450-1100).
Administrative Information
Collection open for research.
Please contact Ella Strong Denison Library staff for all requests for permission to
reproduce or to publish.
[Identification of item], Ellen Clark Revelle Collection (D.Mss.0003). Ella Strong
Denison Library, Scripps College, Claremont, California.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Donated by the Revelle children upon Ellen Clark Revelle's death in 2009.
No additions to the collection are anticipated.
Processed by Jessica Lee, Martha Serrano, Jeanette Lomeli, and Helen Anderson, Summer
2022.
Biography / Administrative History
Ellen Clark Revelle, formerly Ellen Virginia Clark, was born in 1910 in La Jolla,
California, where she went on to spend much of her life. Revelle was a member of the first
graduating class of Scripps College in 1931, which her great aunt Ellen Browning Scripps
founded four years prior. She majored in Psychology. While at Scripps, in 1927, Revelle
met Pomona College student Roger Revelle at a Valentine's Day dance, whom she married
shortly after her graduation on June 22, 1931. The two went on to live in Norway,
Washington D.C., Cambridge, Massachusetts, and La Jolla, California in pursuit of Roger's
remarkable medical career. The couple had four children, three daughters and one son. As
of 2009, their family had grown with 11 grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren. Ellen
Clark Revelle supported Roger in his career, including aiding in the founding of
University of California, San Diego. Revelle also followed in the footsteps of her
philanthropic ancestors, and served on various boards and made generous donations
throughout her life. Most prominently, she remained closely tied to Scripps College,
serving on the Board of Trustees, working with the Alumni Association, and delivering a
commencement address in 1991. The Revelle House on the Scripps College campus was named
for the esteemed alumna. After Roger's death in 1993, Revelle remarried a friend, Rollin
Eckis, a Pomona College alum. While at Pomona, Eckis majored in Geology, which he used to
find success in the oil industry. Eckis died in 1993. Ellen Clark Revelle died on May 6,
2009 at 98 years of age.
Scope and Contents of the Collection
The Ellen Clark Revelle Collection includes correspondence of Ellen Clark Revelle, Ellen
Browning Scripps, Scripps College alumni and faculty, and family and friends, biographical
publications, news clippings, academic work and notes from Revelle's time at Scripps
College, and photographs regarding Revelle's personal philanthropic endeavors, the Scripps
family, and Scripps College. The bulk of the collection is found in Correspondence of Ellen
Clark Revelle, including her letters from her time at Scripps College (1927-1931), with
Ellen Browning Scripps, regarding Scripps College affairs, and with her personal and
professional connections. Also of note are the news clippings, photographs, and also
academic work, newsletters, and pamphlets in the Ellen Clark Revelle Collection document
Scripps College history. Additionally, the news clippings, and photographs, and also
publications document Revelle's life, and that of the entire Scripps family.
The collection is arranged into the following series and subseries:
- Series 1: Associations, 1971-2008 and undated
- Series 2: Awards, 1923-2008 and undated
- Subseries 2.1: Ellen Browning Scripps, 1966-2007 and undated
- Subseries 2.2: Ellen Clark Revelle, 1923-2008 and undated
- Series 3: Books, 1926-2003 and undated
- Series 4: Calendars, 1942-2009 and undated
- Series 5: Clippings, 1928-2008 and undated
- Series 6: Correspondence, 1906-2009 and undated
- Suberies 6.1: Revelle, Ellen Clark, 1926-2009 and undated
- Subseries 6.2: Revelle, Ellen Clark and Roger Revelle, 1931-1989
- Subseries 6.3: Scripps, Ellen Browning, 1906-1930 and undated
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
library’s online public access catalog.
Alumni and alumnae
Claremont Colleges (Claremont, Calif.)
Claremont Graduate University
Clinton
Commencement ceremonies
La Jolla (San Diego, Calif.)
La Jolla Historical Society (San Diego, Calif.)
La Jolla Playhouse, Inc.
Pomona College (Claremont, Calif.)
Revelle, Ellen, 1910-2009
Scripps College (Claremont, Calif.)
Scripps, Ellen Browning, 1836-1932
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
University of California, San Diego
Awards
Calendars
Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.)
Correspondence
Publications
Speeches, addresses, etc.