1857-1946
Superintendent of the Los Angeles School System

First Female Superintendent.

Susan Miller Dorsey made her mark as superintendent of the Los Angeles public-school system. During her tenure the system experienced huge growth in the number of students and employees. Dorsey managed this growth well, making the Los Angeles system a model for the country.

Background as a Teacher.

Miller was born in Penn Yan, New York, the daughter of James and Hannah Benedict Miller. After attending the local public schools and Penn Yan Academy, she majored in the classics at Vassar and graduated with a B.A. in 1877. At Wilson College in Chamberburg, Pennsylvania, Miller taught Latin and Greek for a year before returning to Vassar to teach in the classics department. In 1881 Miller married a Baptist minister, Patrick William Dorsey, and they moved to Los Angeles where he accepted a position at the...