Dorothy Harrison Eustis, American Philanthropist
Dorothy Leib Harrison Wood Eustis (May 30, 1886 - September 8, 1946) was an American dog breeder and philanthropist. In 1927, Eustis was living in Switzerland where she bred German Shepherds as police dogs when she wrote an article for The Saturday Evening Post. The piece described a German dog guide training school for blind veterans of WWI and sparked a flood of mail, including a letter from a blind man, Morris Frank, who promised to help set up a similar school in the United States if Eustis would train him to use a dog guide. Eustis invited Frank to Switzerland, where he spent five weeks learning to work with Buddy, the first of his six dog guides (all named Buddy). For the first years of its existence, The Seeing Eye had no permanent facility, so trainers traveled to different cities to hold their classes. In 1931, Eustis purchased a ten-bedroom mansion in New Jersey that had enough room to house students while they were learning to work with their dogs. Eustis continued to play an active role in the affairs of The Seeing Eye until 1940, when she resigned as president and took on the role of honorary president and a member of the board of trustees. By then she had become more devoted to Christian Science, and started a Christian Science healing practice. She died in 1946 at the age of 60. Bain News Service, 1904-24
