The Virginia Judy Esterly Papers contain correspondence, documents, newspaper clippings, periodicals, printed material, pamphlets, and ephemera that document Mrs. Esterly's varied interests in women. The items reflect her interest in domestic workers and household employment, and the national effort to organize these women into unions in the period between the First and Second World Wars. As a Scripps College faculty member and administrator, Mrs. Esterly's syllabi and lectures from her course on the American Home, and speeches made to students, can be found in the papers. Mrs. Esterly was instrumental in establishing the Ida Rust Macpherson Collection, the earliest major collection on women at any women's college in the United States.

Virginia Judy Esterly was born 25 April 1882, at Hillsboro,Oregon to Fredericka Bremer Kelly and Martin Judy. She married Ward Benjamin Esterly before she completed her studies at the University of California, Berkeley, and had two daughters, Josephine and Virginia. After the death of her husband, she proceeded to complete her studies at the University of California for her B.A. degree in 1923. From 1923 to 1930, she was Dean of Women at the University of Oregon. In 1923, she was Acting Dean of Women during the Summer Session of the University of California, and Dean of Women of the Summer Session in 1924. She completed work for her M.A. degree at the University of California in 1929 after a first-hand study of the education of women in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland. She carried on further graduate study at both the University of Oregon and the University of Southern California. After leaving the University of Oregon, she moved to the community of La Jolla in San Diego, California and became president of the San Diego Y.W.C.A. in 1933.

9.4 linear feet.

Property rights reside with Scripps College. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. All requests for permission to reproduce or to publish must be submitted in writing to Ella Strong Denison Library.

This collection is open for research with permission from Ella Strong Denison Library staff.