When Elinor was twelve, the family moved to Washington, D.C.. This was when her father was appointed Assistant Attorney General. Elinor went to Miss Baldwin's School near Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. She next went to Mrs. Flint's School, and Holton-Arms School, both in Washington. She graduated in 1904. At the Corcoran gallery she studied drawing. As a girl, she liked reading books. 