Dorothy Howell Rodham

Dorothy Emma Howell Rodham (June 4, 1919 – November 1, 2011) was an American homemaker and mother of First Lady, U.S. Senator, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Early life

Dorothy Howell was born in Chicago, the daughter of Edwin John Howell, Jr. (1897–1946), a Chicago firefighter, and Della Murray (1902–1960). Her sister is Isabelle Howell (born 1924). Her ancestry included Welsh, English, Scottish, French, and distant Dutch; her paternal grandfather was an immigrant from Bristol in Gloucestershire, and many of her recent forebears had lived in Canada.

Dorothy's childhood has been described as Dickensian. The family lived as boarders in a crowded house. The parents were dysfunctional and unhappy and prone to sometimes violent fights; they moved Dorothy amongst various schools, and paid only sporadic attention to the children before divorcing in 1927.

The children were then sent on a train by themselves, unsupervised (Dorothy was eight, Isabelle younger), to live with their paternal grandparents in the Los Angeles suburb of Alhambra, California. The sisters endured harsh and unloving treatment from their grandparents. The grandmother favored black Victorian dress and punished the girls for trifling acts. After Dorothy was caught trick-or-treating during one Halloween, an activity the grandparents forbade, she was confined to her room for an entire year except for attending school, and was not even allowed to eat in the kitchen or play in the yard.

Dorothy Howell

Dorothy Gertrude Howell (born 25 February 1898, Birmingham; died 12 January 1982, Malvern) was an English composer and pianist.

Biography

Howell grew up in Handsworth, and received a convent education. At age 15, she began studies at the Royal Academy of Music, where her teachers included John McEwen and Tobias Matthay.

Howell achieved fame with her symphonic poem Lamia, which Sir Henry Wood premiered at The Proms on 10 September 1919. Wood directed Lamia again that same week, on 13 September 1919. He subsequently conducted Lamia again in the 1921, 1923, 1924, 1926, 1930 and 1940 Proms seasons, but in subsequent years Lamia was neglected, until its revival in the 2010 season of The Proms. Howell dedicated Lamia on its 1921 publication to Wood. Among other compositions by Howell, Wood conducted Koong Shee in 1921, her Piano Concerto in 1923 and 1927 with the composer herself as pianist on both occasions, and The Rock in 1928. He was scheduled to conduct the first performance of Three Divertissements in 1940, but the concert was cancelled owing to The Blitz. Three Divertissements, Howell's last known orchestral work, did not receive its premiere until the 1950 Malvern Festival.