Dorothy Harrison Eustis - Early Life and Education

Early Life and Education

The sixth and youngest child of businessman and philanthropist Charles Custis Harrison and his wife Ellen Nixon Waln Harrison, Eustis grew up in a prominent Philadelphia family whose social circle included some of the most influential people of their day. Her father, Charles C. Harrison, was the grandson of John Harrison, who established the first chemical factory in the United States. Charles owned a highly profitable sugar refinery, which he and his partners sold for a reported price of $10 million. He then became the provost at his alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania and raised an estimated $11 million for the university over 16 years.

Eustis’s mother was the great-granddaugher of Robert Morris (financier), who helped fund the American Revolution and the great-great-granddaughter of John Nixon (financier), who was chosen to do the public reading of The Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia four days after it was signed. Ellen Harrison was also active at the University of Pennsylvania, raising money for the university hospital and overseeing the landscaping of the university grounds.

Eustis attended the Agnes Irwin School, a private girls school in Philadelphia from the fall of 1901 through the spring 1903, and then attended the Rathgowrie School in England.