Andrew & Thelma Hamilton Endowed Scholarship

The Andrew and Thelma Hamilton Endowed Scholarship was established by Thelma Hamilton following the death of her husband, Andrew, on January 21, 1988 at the age of 85. Both Andrew and Thelma Mendell attended Ellsworth College with Andrew graduating Magna Cum Laude in 1923 and Thelma graduating in 1924, both with baccalaureate degrees. Andrew received his juris doctorate from the University of Chicago Law School in 1928. The couple was married in 1933. They had no children.
Following his studies at Ellsworth, Mr. Hamilton traveled to Chicago as a caretaker on a cattle train. After trying medical school, he graduated from law school in 1928. He joined the law firm of Kirkland, Fleming, Green and Martin in 1931 and became a partner in 1944. In a sketch about his retirement in 1972 he wrote: “I have been a sort of ‘Jack of all trades’ around the law office. When I retired, my pet two clients were the Catholic bishop of Chicago and the Board of Trade. For more than 20 years, I have enjoyed the privilege of being legal adviser to the church under three cardinal archbishops. For more than 20 years, I never made a trade on the board – probably because of old-fashioned ideas about professional ethics.”
In the 1940s, in addition to The Tribune companies, he represented the Chicago Newspaper Publishers Association throughout a two-year strike. He spent several years in labor relations and handled matters for employers and unions. Mr. Hamilton was a director for 15 years of the North Shore National Bank and a member of its executive committee. He also served for many years on the board of the American Negro College Fund.
Following Mrs. Hamilton’s graduation from Ellsworth, she taught in the public schools in Hubbard and Iowa Falls and two summers at Ellsworth College. She then worked with the U.S. Indian Service for five years at Pipestone, Haskill Institute and Flandreau.
The couple’s primary outside interests were travel with trips throughout the United States, China, the Sahara Desert, Antarctica, the Arctic and up the Mato Grasso by Brazilian riverboat. The couple retired in Sanibel, Florida.
Mr. & Mrs. Hamilton provided the Ellsworth College Foundation with a very generous estate gift following Mrs. Hamilton’s passing in 1995. The gift was included in their endowed scholarship fund with additional memorials from their many friends.