This sign is located atop the High Point Trail and Overlook at Torrey Pines State Park.
It reads:
"ELLEN BROWNING SCRIPPS
'the heart of a nurse, the courage of an astronaut, and a capacity to giv both generously and wisely.'
-Thomas O. Scripps
The philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps (1836-1932) holds a special and endearing place in the annals of Torrey Pines. Without Miss Scripps, this mesa might resemble what you see to the east: a tangle of roads, houses and businesses.
Although the city of San Diego had set aside some land to preserve the Torrey pines, the best and densest groves remained in the hands of developers who planned to subdivide and commercialize the area. Miss Scripps bought these lots in 1908, 1911 and 1912.
She hired naturalist Guy Fleming to care for and protect this wonderful place in 1921 and funded the construction of his house on the property.
The Torrey Pines Lodge, now used as a visitor center and ranger station was built with her funds and donated to the people of San Diego. It opened as a restaurant in 1923.
Finally, she bequeathed the City of San Diego the groves of Torrey pines asking that they 'be held in perpetuity as a public park," and requesting "that care be taken to preserve the natural beauty of the area" in 1932.
Today's visitors may thank Ellen Browning Scripps for having the foresight to protect this unique place in the California landscape."
Wikipedia (
visit link) adds:
"Ellen Browning Scripps (October 18, 1836 – August 3, 1932) was an American philanthropist who was the founding donor of several major institutions in Southern California. She made a fortune by investing in a growing chain of newspapers in the West...
When their brother George died, Ellen and E.W. inherited his stock in The Detroit Evening News, causing a three-year battle over the estate.[5]:p.72 Ellen won the suit and added immensely to the wealth she already had accumulated.
Interested in science and education, she donated the bulk of her fortune to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, The Bishop’s School in La Jolla, and the Scripps College in Claremont, California. She also financed the construction of the La Jolla Women's Club, the La Jolla Recreational Center, Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, and the La Jolla Children's Pool, and she was an important early supporter of the San Diego Zoo. After a stay in the hospital due to a broken hip, Ellen helped to found the Scripps Memorial Hospital and funded the Scripps Research Clinic. These organizations eventually became The Scripps Research Institute, and two of the core providers now comprising Scripps Health—Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla and Scripps Clinic:p.86 During her lifetime, she gave gifts and donations to charitable causes that totaled more than $2 million (equivalent to $34,688,000 in 2015) dollars.
Her home, designed in 1915 by modernist architect Irving Gill, was transformed into the Museum of Contemporary Art in La Jolla.
Death
Ellen Browning Scripps died in her La Jolla home on August 3, 1932, a few weeks before her 96th birthday.:p.112 Shortly thereafter, the leading newspaper trade journal Editor & Publisher praised her contributions to American journalism: "Many women have contributed, directly and indirectly, to the development of the American press, but none more influentially and beneficently than Ellen Browning Scripps." The New York Times, meanwhile, recognized her as "one of the pioneers in modern American journalism." Her obituary described her as a woman who had perfected "the art of living" as well as the art of giving."