Elizabeth Lewis Otey

Elizabeth Lewis Otey (1880–1974) was an American economist and suffragist.

Elizabeth Lewis Otey
Born	Elizabeth Dabney Langhorne Lewis (1880-10-04)October 4, 1880 Lynchburg, Virginia
Died	February 28, 1974(1974-02-28) (aged 93) Lynchburg, Virginia
Nationality	American
Education	Bryn Mawr College, University of Berlin
Spouse	Dexter Otey ​ ​ (m. 1910; died in 1933)​ ^[1]

Biography

Otey née Lewis was born on October 4, 1880, in Lynchburg, Virginia. She was the daughter of the suffragist Elizabeth Langhorne Lewis and John Henry Lewis.^[2] She attended preparatory school at Randolph-Macon Woman's College, where she later returned for her higher education, in addition to  Bryn Mawr College. She earned a doctorate in economics from the University of Berlin.^[3] She went on to author reports on labor and employment for the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the United States Department of Commerce and Labor.^[2]

In 1910 Otey became a member of the Lynchburg Equal Suffrage League, which was founded by her mother Elizabeth Langhorne Lewis.^[1] The same year she married Dexter Otey on June 4, 1910 with whom she had one child named Elizabeth Lewis Otey Watson, born in 1911.^[4]

Otey was a member of the Equal Suffrage League of Virginia as well as serving in the Congressional Union for Women Suffrage and the Virginia National Woman's Party.^[2][3] She marched in the 1913 Woman Suffrage Procession^[1] and in 1916 attended the Republican State Convention to advocate for the party's endorsement of woman suffrage.^[2]

After the ratification of the Nineteenth amendment in 1920 Otey ran for the statewide office of superintendent of public instruction.^[5] She won the Republican party's nomination, but lost the election.^[3] In 1931 Otey ran for the Virginia House of Delegates as a Socialist. In 1933 she ran for United States Senate, again as a Socialist against the incumbent Harry F. Byrd and lost.^[2]

In 1933, Otey went on to work for the Social Security Administration and the Foreign Economic Administration. She published a study in 1940 called “ An Outline for Foreign Social insurance and Assistance laws.” She retired in 1948.^[1]

Otey died on February 28, 1974, in Lynchburg.^[1]

In 2018 the Virginia Capitol Foundation announced that Otey's name would be on the Virginia Women's Monument's glass Wall of Honor.^[6][3]

References

1. Tarter, Brent. "Elizabeth Dabney Langhorne Lewis Otey (1880–1974) – Encyclopedia Virginia". Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
2. "Elizabeth Dabney Langhorne Lewis Otey Biography". Dictionary of Virginia Biography. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
3. "Etched into history: Long list of esteemed alumnae included on new Virginia Women's Monument". Randolph College News and Events. 30 October 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
4. Tarter, Brent. "Elizabeth Dabney Langhorne Lewis Otey (1880–1974)". Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved 2024-04-11.
5. ""Her prospects of election": Virginia Women Run for Office". The UncommonWealth. 3 March 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
6. "Wall of Honor". Virginia Women's Monument Commission. Retrieved 6 April 2022.

External links

• Elizabeth Lewis Otey at Find a Grave