Former University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee English professor Elisabeth K. Holmes was born in Milwaukee on July 25, 1900 and graduated from the University of Wisconsin in Madison with a degree in journalism in 1922. After briefly working in the training department of Schusters' stores, she received her first appointment as an instructor in the English Department at the University of Wisconsin Extension Center in Milwaukee in 1926. Eventually she served as chairman of the department for fifteen years. In 1976 Mrs. Holmes published The Urban Mission Anticipated: A Biography of the University of Wisconsin Extension Center in Milwaukee.
Mrs. Holmes completed an M.A. in English in 1933, continuing her graduate study through 1938. In 1956 she moved to the English Department at Milwaukee State Teachers' College, which later became the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, remaining there until her retirement in 1969. For the Extension Mrs. Homes taught freshman composition and literature of the Romantic and Victorian periods; after moving to UWM she specialized in Victorian literature.
In 1949 Mrs. Holmes was persuaded to run for a position on the Milwaukee Board of School Directors. She was elected and then reelected in 1955 and 1961. In 1956 and 1962 she served as president of the board. In 1964 Mrs. Holmes, who was widely known both on campus and in the community for her involvement with the problems of Black citizens and youth, was appointed vice-chair of the school board's Committee on Equality of Educational Opportunity which studied the problems of the school's inner city schools. In 1964 she was appointed director of the UW-Milwaukee Project Destiny, a project which aimed at preparing disadvantaged high school students for higher education.
Mrs. Holmes, who was married to John E. Holmes, also a teacher, belonged to the American Association of University Professors, the Modern Language Association, the UWM Renaissance Guild, and the American Federation of Teachers.
