Alexine L. Atherton, professor

Alexine L. Atherton, 80, formerly of Oxford, a retired political science professor at Lincoln University and a proponent of prisoners' rights, died Sunday, Aug. 15, at Jenner's Pond, a retirement community in West Grove.

From the 1980s until several years ago, Dr. Atherton visited female inmates at the Chester County Prison twice a week as a representative of the Pennsylvania Prison Society. She served on the board and was past president of the organization, which advocates on behalf of prisoners and their families.

In a 2001 Inquirer profile, then-Chester County Commissioner Andrew E. Dinniman said Dr. Atherton provided a valuable and independent glimpse into prison life. "Over the last decade, Alexine, because of her integrity, sincerity and hard work, has had a significant impact on prison policy in Chester County. We listen to her because she has earned our respect and gratitude," said Dinniman, now a state senator.

Dr. Atherton said in the article that she saw her role as a liaison between inmates and prison staff, and between the prison and the outside.

Sometimes, she said, it is easy to forget that the people she talked to had committed crimes. "They are not bad people," she said. "They are people who have done bad things - often because of drugs and alcohol. They deserve to be treated with respect."

Dr. Atherton became involved in prison activism in the early 1970s when a Lincoln board member, who was also on the Prison Society board, invited her to Graterford Prison. "I guess it was just meant to be," she told The Inquirer, adding that she traveled regularly to Graterford for 20 years.

Besides her prison activities, Dr. Atherton served on the board of Chester County Cares, which provides food and household items for needy families. She was also past president of Neighborhood Services in Oxford, and developed programs for seniors at the Chester County YMCA.

In the 1950s, Dr. Atherton worked for the American Friends Service Committee, helping establish schools for displaced children in postwar West Germany. She supervised groups of students traveling abroad with the Experiment in International Living in the 1960s. She was on the board of the World Affairs Council.

Dr. Atherton graduated from St. Catherine's School in Richmond, Va., and Bryn Mawr College in 1952 with a degree in German literature.

After receiving a doctorate in political science from the University of Pennsylvania in 1962, Dr. Atherton was one of the first women hired in the political science department. The university had a policy against hiring its own graduates, she later told The Inquirer, but her professors fought hard for her.

An expert in international organization, she spent seven years at Penn and then was on the faculty at Lincoln University from 1969 until retiring in 2001.

She was briefly married to Andrew Green before divorcing.

She was close to her extended family, and spent holidays and vacationed with them on Long Beach Island and the Eastern Shore.

Dr. Atherton, who was affectionately called Ellie Lew by her family, is survived by a brother, Charles; a niece; a nephew; and five cousins.

A memorial service was held on Saturday, Sept. 25, at St. Christopher's Episcopal Church, Oxford.