Dorothy Sutton

Dorothy Horrax Sutton was born in Montclair, New Jersey, on 27 June 1878, the daughter of Edwin and Elizabeth Horrax. She was trained as a kindergarten teacher. In 1918, she went to France, where she directed various relief works. In the fall of 1919, Sutton returned to America.

At that time, the Near East Relief Organization sought specialized personnel to direct the establishment of kindergartens in the Near East. She was approached by the organization and agreed to serve for a year as a volunteer. She arrived in Constantinople in 1920 and remained there for six months. Her next assignment was the Caucasus and relief work with the Armenians in the region. At Erivan, D.H. Sutton stayed about a year as director of the Near East work there.

Subsequently, she was sent to Ismit, Anatolia. With the end of the Greek-Turkish War and the subsequent exchange of populations, Mrs Sutton was assigned to oversee the repatriation of people from one country to the other. Sutton was sent to Salonica, where she served for fourteen months. With only a three-week break in the United States, D. H. Sutton continued to work in Greece up to 1926.

Sutton, in recognition of her work in directing the rehabilitation of the Greek refugees, was decorated with the Croix of St. Zaviera by King George of Greece. She was also decorated with the Distinguished Service Medal of the Near East Relief. Dorothy Sutton died in Charlottesville, Virginia, on 18 November 1970.

From: Dorothy H. Sutton Papers, American School of Classical Studies at Athens, https://www.ascsa.edu.gr/index.php/archives/sutton-finding-aid