Doris Humphrey

She married merchant seaman Charles Francis Woodford in June 1932. The couple had one son, Charles Humphrey Woodford.

During her later years she developed arthritis in her hip which became increasingly severe with time. She also suffered from arthritic seizures. She died of cancer on December 29, 1958.

She was born on October 17, 1895, in Illinois, as the daughter of Horace Buckingham Humphrey, a journalist cum photographer, and Julia Ellen Wells, a trained concert pianist. Doris was a graceful child who displayed an interest in dance from an early age.

She attended the Francis Parker School in Chicago, from kindergarten to high school. Recognizing her daughter’s interest, her mother arranged for her to receive dancing lessons from famous ballet masters.

At school she learned dance from Mary Wood Hinman who she cited as a great source of inspiration. She undertook a concert tour of the western states as a dancer while still at high school, in a group sponsored by the Santa Fe Railroad for its Workman’s Clubs.

She realized that her true passion was to pursue dance as a career and dreamed of becoming a professional dancer. Her dreams, however, would have to wait because of financial problems.

She opened her own dance school in 1913 when she was just 18 years old. Her mother served as the manager and pianist. Even though she would have loved to further her training in dance, the circumstances forced her to start earning a living.

In spite of her young age, she ably ran the school and soon it was a big success. She offered training in classic, gymnastic and ballroom dance for children and young adults.

She kept in touch with her mentor from high school, Mary Wood Hinman, who advised her to join the Denishawn School of Dancing and Related Arts. Thus the young girl moved to California in 1917 and entered the reputed dance school where she studied, performed and learned choreography.

She had joined the school as a student but because of her brilliance was soon appointed a dancer in the company. She rose to become the company’s leading soloist, and St. Denis, one of the school’s founders, influenced her as a dancer and choreographer.

She began doing choreography work with St. Denis by 1920 and among her earliest works was ‘Soaring’, set to the music of Robert Schumann.

She was inducted into the National Museum of Dance's Mr. & Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney Hall of Fame in 1987.