Houghton, Dorothy Deemer, 1890-1972

Dorothy Deemer Houghton was born in Red Oak, Iowa in 1890. Her mother was an active club-woman and her father a justice on the Iowa Supreme Court. Houghton graduated from Wellesley College and married Hiram Cole Houghton in 1912. She began her public life as a member of the Monday Federated Women's Club in Red Oak, then became president of the Iowa Federation of Women's Clubs, and also the national leader of the General Federation of Women's Clubs. Houghton served on the Iowa Board of Education overseeing the state universities and as president of the Iowa Library Association. An active Republican, she worked in both of Eisenhower's presidential campaigns, co-chairing the 1956 Citizens for Eisenhower committee, and also serving as president of the Electoral College that formally reelected Dwight Eisenhower in 1956. Houghton was an official with Eisenhower's Office of Refugees, Migration, and Voluntary Assistance and the National Civil Defense Adisory Council. She won many awards and honors. Dorothy Deemer Houghton died in 1972.