Winifred Starr Dobyns
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Winifred Starr Dobyns | |
|---|---|
 Winifred Starr Dobyns in the 1910s, from the Library of Congress | |
| Born | October 21, 1886 Cook County, Illinois |
| Died | December 30, 1963 (aged 77) Duarte, California |
| Occupations | Suffragist, landscape designer |
Winifred Starr Dobyns (October 21, 1886 – December 30, 1963) was an American suffragist and landscape designer.
Winifred Ursula Starr was born in Chicago, Illinois,[1] the daughter of Merritt Starr and Leila Whadock Starr. Her father was a lawyer. She got married in Christ Church Winnetka to attorney Fletcher Dobyns.[2]
Career
Dobyns became chair of the Illinois Republican Women's executive committee in July 1919.[3] She was in charge of the women's division of the 1920 presidential campaign of Frank Orren Lowden.[4][5] She attended the celebration and convention of the National American Woman Suffrage Association in Chicago that year.[6] In 1927 she wrote "The Lady and the Tiger (or, the Woman Voter and the Political Machine)",[7] in which she described the place of new women voters in party politics.[8] "With some possible exceptions, the aim of the political organizations is not good government, patriotic service, public welfare," she explained,[3] concluding that "the political machine is the greatest menace to democracy that exists today."[9]
Dobyns worked as a landscape designer in Pasadena,[10] and lectured on gardens.[11][12] She was the author of California Gardens (1931),[13][14] which is considered a valuable photographic source in California architectural history.[15][16] "The text by Mrs. Dobyns sketches the rise and growing interest in gardening and shows the historical background underlying California garden art," noted a reviewer in 1932.[17]
