Additional Resources
You can learn more about Grey Gables, AARP, and Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus through these additional resources:
AARP.org
Ethel Percy Andrus: One Woman Who Changed America
Illustrated book available in PDF form on the AARP website
National Retired Teachers Association
Nevertheless, She Persisted
2018 article in AARP Bulletin about Dr. Andrus for Women's History Month by AARP CEO Jo Ann Jenkins
What is NRTA?
Study Guide
This study guide is meant to accompany the book, The Dignity They Deserve: The Story of Grey Gables of Ojai And Its Founder, Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus. Written in an engaging narrative style, the book describes Dr. Andrus’ remarkable life and her enduring achievements in education and social reform. It covers her formative years at Hull House in Chicago, her career as a pioneering high school principal in Los Angeles, her experimental retirement community (Grey Gables of Ojai), and her founding of AARP — America’s largest non-profit membership organization. The Dignity They Deserve is an excellent supplementary resource for a variety of school subjects, including American history, sociology, and women’s history.
A Case Study on:
1. The Progressive Era and its long-term impacts
2. Social reform movements in U.S. History
3. The settlement house movement
4. U.S. social advocacy and lobbying groups that work for equity and social justice
5. Great American humanitarians
6. Progressive education
7. The legacy of John Dewey and Jane Addams
8. The high school movement (1910-1940)
Education Level: This study guide is designed for use in high school and college courses. Reading the book and implementing a selection of study guide activities requires about one week.
The Dignity They Deserve:
The Story of Grey Gables of Ojai and its Founder, Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus
Through text and images, explore the interesting history of Grey Gables of Ojai, the 1954 model for a new type of American retirement living.
Written by Craig Walker and Mark Lewis, this book dives deep into the story of this historic building and its founder. The birthplace of AARP was a home for retired teachers from across America.
Purchase this illustrated book at the Ojai Valley Museum for $10 plus tax during normal museum open hours. Email Ojai Valley Museum to order and ship the book.
Although the focus of the book is on Grey Gables of Ojai, an innovative retirement community that transformed what it means to grow old and retire, it is a fascinating read for students of all ages. High school and college students will immediately see the book’s relevance to their own lives, where ageism and institutionalization have played a role in their social development.
ARCHIVE OF DOCUMENTS RELATED TO DR. ANDRUS, AARP, AND GREY GABLES
AARP
Incorporation letter from Jack Fay, Dr. Andrus' Ojai Attorney, to Hyman Cohen, Washington DC attorney, on the incorporation of a new organization — AARP. Courtesy: Gables of Ojai
Opening The Acacias article from the NRTA Journal, June 1959
Dr. Andrus
Ethel Percy Andrus biographical information with extensive information about NRTA and AARP
Ethel Percy Andrus, Women's Libber article from AARP's Modern Maturity magazine, 1973
Letter from President LB Johnson to AARP on the death of Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus. Courtesy: AARP
I Remember Ethel article from "Inside AARP" staff newsletter, 1998
Robert Preston Eulogy for Dr. Andrus. Preston, an actor, attended Lincoln High School when Dr. Andrus was principal.
Letter from actor, and Lincoln High School alumnus, Robert Preston to Ed Wenig, NRTA Treasurer, after the death of Dr. Andrus. Courtesy: Patty Wenig Atkinson
Contemporaries of Dr. Andrus
Oral history of Jack Fay, Dr. Andrus' Ojai Attorney, by the Ojai Valley Museum
Reprint of Aldous Huxley's Commencement Address at the Happy Valley School in Ojai. Courtesy: The Gables of Ojai
Ojai Quarterly, Summer 2019 edition, article on Alee Barbee Sanford, by Craig Walker. Courtesy: Ojai Quarterly
Education
Page from the 1949 Lincoln High School Yearbook about the school's diversity. Courtesy: Lincoln High School, Los Angeles, CA
Article "School Spirit" from the NEA Journal, 1918, by Ethel Percy Andrus. Courtesy: NEA Journal Page 1 Page 2 Page 3
Articles from OjaiHistory.com
More Info:
BACK
DR. ANDRUS
GREY GABLES
ETHEL & ELEANOR
OJAI SENIOR (55+) POETRY CONTEST
This poetry competition aimed to celebrate the originality and individuality of Ojai seniors through poetry. It was organized by local high school student Gary Liu as a tribute to Ethel Percy Andrus, who founded AARP and Grey Gables in Ojai. It also aimed to honor National Poetry Month and Older Americans Month. The contest ended on May 31, 2023. Thank you to all the wonderful writers who submitted their work to this contest.
Read the winning poems here.
This section of our website has been funded by the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Telling the Full Story Preservation Fund, with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed on this website do not necessarily represent those of the National Trust or the National Endowment for the Humanities.