Ella M. George

Ella M. George (, Martin; December 4, 1850 – March 31, 1938) was an American teacher, lecturer, and social reformer. For 25 years, she was a teacher in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A long-time leader in temperance and other moral reforms, George served as Pennsylvania state president of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) for 22 years. While she deplored the methods of militant suffragettes, she held that equal suffrage would go a long way toward winning the victory the WCTU sought. She also sat on the board of directors of the National Reform Association, briefly serving as its executive secretary.

Early life and education Eleanor McElroy Martin was born near Freeport, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania on December 4, 1850. She was the youngest of eleven children born to Thomas and Hannah Martin.

At an early age, George moved with her family to Pittsburgh. and in 1872, became president of Geneva College of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. with the Pennsylvania WCTU recording 25,000 members by 1910.

The 1913 state convention, held in Johnstown, reported a record gain in membership of 2,860 for the year, In March 1914, George represented the WCTU at the first State "no-license" convention attended by various supporting organizations which also included the Anti-Saloon League, YMCA, the Pennsylvania Christian Endeavor, the Pennsylvania Grange, and others. At the 48th annual convention, held in Williamsport, membership had reached about 50,000 women in the state. In 1925, at the 51st annual convention, held in Harrisburg, she advocated for the elimination of "impure movies" and the "filthy products of our news stands" as two imperative duties which the WCTU must undertake.

George received the honorary degree of LL.D. conferred on her by Geneva College at its commencement in June 1926.

Refusing to stand as a candidate for re-election in 1929, she took the title of honorary state president that year; in her honor, the WCTU headquarters building, located at Harrisburg, was named the "Ella M. George" House.

Personal life George made her home on College Hill, in Beaver Falls, where she was a member of the College Hill Reformed Presbyterian Church. At one time, she managed one of the old people's homes of her church (Reformed Presbyterian). She was a life member of the Florence Crittenden Home, the National WCTU, the Pennsylvania WCTU, and a number of county unions in Pennsylvania. She was an advocate of woman suffrage.

George had been residing at the home of her nephew in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania for six months before she died there of old age, March 31, 1938. Burial was at the Beaver Cemetery in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania.