Dustin, Mary Elizabeth (Mary Elizabeth Ewing), 1900-1991

Mary Elizabeth Ewing was a student at the University of North Dakota from roughly 1920 to 1923. Born on September 27, 1900, in Tuscola, Illinois, she moved to North Dakota, at age twelve when her father and uncle opened a hospital and nursing school in Kenmare, Ward County. After completing high school, she attended DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, for one year before persuading her father to let her return to North Dakota to pursue her teaching certificate at UND. References to Mary in the official records are fragmentary, and an attempt to locate records of her graduation by Special Collections staff proved unsuccessful. She was listed as a junior in the education program in the student directory for the academic year 1921-1922, but her name does not appear in the subsequent directory for 1922-1923. She was, however, listed (again as a junior) in the 1923 Dacotah yearbook, which adds that she was involved in the Women's Athletic Association on campus. She is not mentioned in the 1924 yearbook. Although she identified herself a member of the Class of 1923 at the beginning of her scrapbook, it is unknown what academic degree, if any, she actually received. Following her time at the University, she spent one year teaching in rural North Dakota, followed by another two years in Burlington, Wyoming, where she met Lester Dustin. They married on August 28, 1924. Their only child, Peggy Jean, was born the next year. The family remained in Wyoming until 1942, when they relocated to Glendale, California. Lester Dustin died in 1970. Elizabeth died in 1991, leaving a daughter, son-in-law, and three grandchildren.

From the description of Scrapbook, 1920-1922 (University of North Dakota). WorldCat record id: 746755875