An ardent supporter of the arts, higher education and medicine in Cleveland, Elisabeth Severance Prentiss established Allen Memorial Library in 1926 in honor of her late first husband, surgeon Dudley P. Allen. After Allen’s death in 1915, she married industrialist Francis F. Prentiss, who she succeeded as president of St. Luke’s Hospital.
In 1928, she became the first woman to receive the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce distinguished public service medal and established the Elisabeth Severance Prentiss Foundation in 1939 to advance healthcare and medical research in her community.
