Uretta Amis Hinkhouse was an alumna of Hunter College in New York City. After graduation she spent some time working for the Y.W.C.A. in the city but then joined her parents in Egypt. Her father was working for Standard Oil of Egypt at the time. She taught in Cairo at the United Presbyterian Mission’s American College for Girls and the Ezbekish Girls School.
The August 12, 1921, edition of the Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette contained the headline “Meet besides pyramids, marry at Hopkinton.” Uretta and Paul Hinkhouse were wed on August 10, 1921, in Iowa. The ceremony was officiated by the groom’s father. The couple met by chance in the shadows of the pyramids. At that time, Paul was a term teacher in Assiut College. According to the newspaper wedding announcement:
At the end of his term he traveled extensively over India, Siam, China, Korea and Japan. He was on the ill-fated Mongolia that stuck a German mine 25 miles out from Bombay and sank in 18 minutes. On coming home he spent some time in Columbia University specializing in journalism and is connected with the Continent in Chicago writing the world editorials.
The couple lived in New Jersey but were world travelers. She was a member of the Women’s Press Club of New York City, the National Farm and Garden Association as well as past president of the Women’s Presbyterian Society of Morris and Orange. In addition, she was a YWCA trustee in the New Jersey cities of Orange and Maplewood.
Honolulu Star Bulletin, January 23, 1957
An article in the May 22, 1958, edition of the Quad-City Times described her as having had “a distinguished career in clubwork.” She was a dedicated member of P.E.O. and served as president of New Jersey State Chapter and was chair of the International Peace Scholarship Committee. From 1946-1953, she was a member of P.E.O.’s Peace Participation Committee and served as an accredited United Nations observer.
As second vice-president she was the official visitor to the 59th convention of the Illinois State Chapter of P.E.O. That convention was held on the campus of Southern Illinois University Carbondale in the Student Center. She was installed as president of the Supreme Chapter of P.E.O. in 1963.
Paul Hinkhouse, president of Hinkhouse Lithography in New York City, died in early November 1963. Uretta died on June 13, 1964 at the age of 70. She never had the opportunity to preside at the 1965 biennial convention of the P.E.O. Sisterhood.
A garden at the P.E.O. Executive Office and Centennial Center in Des Moines is named for her. Built in 1971, the Hinkhouse Center at P.E.O.’s Cottey College in Nevada, Missouri, honors the couple.
