Ella Hamilton Durley

Ella Hamilton Durley (, Hamilton; pen name, Judith Jorgenson; ca. 1852 – August 14, 1922) was an American educator, newspaper editor, and journalist. She was also a peace activist and supported woman's suffrage. Durley did noteworthy work on the Saturday Mail, a Des Moines weekly publication, but her professional life was mainly given to the Des Moines Daily News, of which her husband, Preston B. Durley and her brother, John J. Hamilton, with herself, were the principal owners. Under the pen name of "Judith Jorgenson", she conducted a column of stories of real life, "Around the Evening Lamp", for many years, and it was considered especially creditable. circa 1852. She was the oldest daughter of William Hamilton, a Union soldier and his wife, Catherine (née Logan; d. 1905). She had three siblings: a sister, Mary H. Hamilton, and two brothers, John J. Hamilton and LaMonte Hamilton.

Affiliations She was the founder of the Des Moines Home for the Aged, the largest institution of the kind in Iowa; and led in the organization of the Deutsche Gesellschaft, a club for German literature and conversation.

As a girl at Iowa City, she became acquainted with Susan B. Anthony and Mary A. Livermore; and as a clubwoman at Des Moines, she became the friend of such women as Julia Ward Howe. Her own home at Des Moines was for years the rendezvous of the Iowa Press and Authors' club, which she organized. Iowa's most eminent men and women of letters, people such as Emerson Hough, Woods Hutchinson, and Alice French (Octave Thanet) met there to exchange experiences. In 1911, she and her son moved to California, and became residents of Los Angeles. Durley's son died in California in December 1919. Ella Durley died in Redlands, California, August 14, 1922.

Selected works Books My Soldier Lady (1908). She uses "Ella H. Durley" on the book cover, and "Ella Hamilton Durley" on the frontispiece. The Standpatters (1912)

Judith Jorgenson, editor Des Moines Daily News Northwestern JOurnal of Education