Category: Charity and Philanthropy

SETTLEMENT HOUSES. Cleveland, along with Chicago, Boston, and New York, was one of the centers of the U.S. settlement-house movement. Local settlement work began in the late 1890s, and within a decade a half-dozen settlements operated in Cleveland neighborhoods.

SHERWIN, BELLE (20 Mar. 1868-9 July 1955), was a notable reform activist and a suffragist who led the national LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS (LWV) during 1924-1934.

SHURTLEFF, GLEN KASSIMER (21 Nov. 1860-5 Jan. 1909), Secretary of the YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION (YMCA) of Cleveland (1 Sept. 1893-1909), promoted the extension of YMCA religious work locally and nationally.

SMITH, ALBERT KELVIN (5 Jan. 1899 - 15 Nov. 1984), a founder of LUBRIZOL CORP. and philanthropist, was born in Cleveland to Mary Wilkinson and ALBERT W. SMITH, who with HERBERT DOW founded Dow Chemical Co.

SMITH, DOROTHY (26 Apr. 1892-30 Dec. 1976) was a prominent social worker born in Springfield, Mo. to James H. and Emily G. (Russell) Smith. She attended Vassar College, and entered social work upon her graduation in 1914, assuming a position with the YWCA in Pawtucket, R.I.

SMITH, HARRY CLAY (28 Jan. 1863-10 Dec. 1941), a pioneer of the black press, was brought to Cleveland at 2 after his birth in Clarksburg, W.Va., to John and Sarah Smith. Shortly after graduating from CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL, he and 3 associates founded the CLEVELAND GAZETTE in 1883.

SNOW, JANE ELLIOT (14 June 1837-27 Aug. 1922), Cleveland lecturer, editor and writer, promoted woman's suffrage, dress reform and the accomplishments of other women. At age 84, she was the editor-in-chief of the women's section of the Cleveland Enterprise and special correspondent to publications such as the Cuyahogan.

The SOCIAL SERVICE CLUB was a successful sociopolitical organization founded in Jan. 1901 by members of the Cleveland YMCA, including General Secretary GLEN K. SHURTLEFF. The club essentially disbanded after Shurtleff's death in Jan.

SOCIETY FOR CRIPPLED CHILDREN OF CUYAHOGA COUNTY, INC. See ACHIEVEMENT CENTER FOR CHILDREN.


SOCIETY FOR ORGANIZING CHARITY. See CHARITY ORGANIZATION SOCIETY.


The SOCIETY FOR THE RELIEF OF THE POOR, also known as the Cleveland Relief Assn., organized on 26 Dec. 1850 and was active for about 2 years.

The SOLDIERS' HOME (12 Dec. 1863-June 1866) grew out of the need to ease and facilitate the transportation of sick, wounded, or disabled soldiers during the CIVIL WAR. Homes, or "rests," as they were often called, were established in all major American cities along popular travel routes.

The SONS OF TEMPERANCE, a national semi-secret fraternal society, organized a Cleveland lodge on 27 July 1847; branches existed in the city for nearly 40 years. The centralized order of the Sons of Temperance organized nationally in 1842 in New York, in the wake of the evangelical Washingtonian TEMPERANCE movement.

The SOUTH WAITE FOUNDATION was incorporated in 1953 by Waite Hill mayor FRANCIS M. SHERWIN and his wife, Margaret Halle Sherwin. The foundation usually contributes to organizations with which it is familiar, stressing community funds, the arts, secondary education, youth, and medical research.

SPALDING (SPAULDING), RUFUS (3 May 1798-29 Aug. 1886), lawyer, judge, congressman and a vocal opponent of slavery and the Fugitive Slave Law, was born on Martha's Vineyard, Mass., son of Rufus and Lydia Paine Spalding. He was educated in Presbyterian schools, and studied at Yale, 1813-17. He moved to Cincinnati in 1818, and the following year to Little Rock, Ark., to practice law.

The SPANISH AMERICAN COMMITTEE, 4407 Lorain Ave., is Cleveland's oldest and largest social service agency serving the area's Latino population. Its mission is to enhance the capacity of Latinos to achieve economic well being, to participate fully in society and to enjoy a full and productive life. SAC opened in 1966 at 4407 Lorain Ave., teaching English as a second language.

SPARLIN, ESTAL EARNEST (7 Aug. 1907-21 Aug. 1998) was the director of the CITIZENS LEAGUE OF GREATER CLEVELAND and a lifelong advocate for good government. He was born in Osage County, Indian territory, in Oklahoma to "Burthie" (Ryan) and Oscar Sparlin and graduated from Ponca City High School.

ST. HERMAN OF ALASKA MONASTERY AND HOUSE OF HOSPITALITY (St. Herman's House of Hospitality), located at 4410 Franklin Blvd. in OHIO CITY, was established to extend Christian charity to jobless and homeless men, and all others who may need it, without regard to race or creed.

The ST. JOSEPH HOME FOR THE AGED, opened 6 Dec. 1943, cared for ambulatory elderly residents from Jan. 1944 until it closed in Jan. 1966. The Franciscan Sisters of the Blessed Kunegunda, newly arrived in Cleveland from Chicago, founded the home, using the former ST. JOSEPH'S ORPHANAGE building at 6431 Woodland Ave.

ST. JOSEPH'S ORPHANAGE FOR GIRLS, est. in 1863 and incorporated in 1889, housed Catholic orphans until 1947, when its residents were transferred to PARMADALE CHILDREN'S VILLAGE. St. Joseph's organized officially as a "country location," 6431 Woodland, near E. 60th St., for 12 younger girls from ST.

ST. MARY'S ORPHAN ASYLUM FOR FEMALES admitted its first child on Christmas Day, 1851, and sheltered homeless girls for 43 years. Bp. AMADEUS RAPPE founded the home, staffed by the Daughters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, from France. Originally located on St. Clair at E. 6th, in 1853 the home moved its 26 orphans to Harmon (E. 20th) St.