Family Tree Template: Dorothy Rodham

Monday, September 17, 2012

Dorothy Rodham

Dorothy Emma Howell Rodham (June 4, 1919 – November 1, 2011)[1][2][3] was an American homemaker and mother of U.S. Secretary of State, and former U.S. Senator and First Lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton.Dorothy Howell was born in Chicago, the daughter of Edwin John Howell, Jr. (1897–1946), a Chicago firefighter,[4] and Della Murray (1902–1960).[5][6] Her sister is Isabelle Howell (born 1924).[4]

Dorothy's childhood has been described as Dickensian.[6][7] The family lived as boarders in a crowded house.[6] The parents were dysfunctional and unhappy[8] and prone to sometimes violent fights;[6] they moved Dorothy amongst various schools,[3] and paid only sporadic attention to the children before divorcing in 1927.[4] The children were then sent on a train by themselves, unsupervised (Dorothy was eight, Isabelle younger), to live with their paternal grandparents in the Los Angeles suburb of Alhambra, California.[3][8][9] The sisters endured harsh treatment from their grandparents and Dorothy left home at age 14 at the height of the Great Depression, working as a $3-per-week housekeeper, cook, and nanny in San Gabriel, California