Women's Artistic Network in Honor of Dorothy Daniels

Dorothy Daniels was an author, storyteller and actress. She published the first of her many books in 1940, and followed it with a steady stream of gothic and historical romances. A national writing contest today bears her name, and she made a major impact in inspiring other women to recognize their own creative talents.

A group of like-minded women in Simi Valley, California, established a branch of the National League of American Pen Women and declared their mission to be “women helping women to achieve their goals in the creative arts—whether in writing, art, music, photography, speaking, or other facets of creativity.” In 2003 the group began thinking about how they could make a difference in the lives of college-aged women and that is when they approached CLU. They first established a temporary scholarship award to see how that worked out. The initial awards were made in April 2004 to two students—one for writing excellence, the other for artistic talent. The following year, an outstanding theatre arts student received the award.

Convinced that their plan was accomplishing their goals, the group took a major step to make their award a permanent part of CLU’s scholarship program. Their gift of $7,000 in 2006 established the Dorothy Daniels Scholarship as an endowed fund to be invested with CLU’s other endowed funds. As with their earlier awards, the group decided to keep to their original intent. And so the recipient of this scholarship is to be a woman of sophomore or higher standing who is selected for her creativity in any of the creative arts.

In establishing the Dorothy Daniels Scholarship the Simi Valley group of women tried to erase generational gaps by encouraging women to network with other women, regardless of age. The scholarship they established truly celebrates women’s creativity. CLU is grateful to the Simi Valley Chapter of the National League of American Pen Women for its scholarship gift.