Category: Women/Gender

9TO5, NATIONAL ASSN. OF WORKING WOMEN, with 25 local chapters, representatives in 200 cities, and headquarters in Cleveland from 1977-93, advocates equal pay and rights for WOMEN in the workplace. It has worked closely with its research and training arm, the 9to5 Working Women Education Fund.

ADAMS, ALMEDA C. (February 26, 1865-September 8, 1949) overcame sightlessness to help found the CLEVELAND MUSIC SCHOOL SETTLEMENT and achieved a long career as a teacher, author, and lecturer.

FLORENCE ELLINWOOD ALLEN, (March 23, 1884-September 12, 1966) was a jurist whose career marked a series of firsts for women.

The AMERICAN WOMAN SUFFRAGE ASSOCIATION (AWSA) was founded in Cleveland on November 24-25, 1869, at CASE HALL.

AMES, LYDIA MAY (1863-October 1, 1946) was a distinguished landscape painter and one of Cleveland's first woman artists. Born in NEWBURGH, she was the daughter of Ashley Ames, who operated a livery service.

The ASSOCIATION OF POLISH WOMEN IN THE U.S.A. was a benefit society begun by local Polish women who preferred to have the dues they paid to the Polish Women's Alliance remain in the Cleveland area. Discussions leading to its formation began in 1911, the first general meeting was on December 12, 1912, and the first association convention met on February 12, 1913.

BABIN, VICTORIA (VITYA) VRONSKY (August 22, 1909-June 28, 1992) was a distinguished pianist and teacher long associated with the CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF MUSIC (CIM). A native of Yevpatoria in the Russian Crimea, she was the daughter of Michel and Sophia Blinkoff Vronsky.

BAER, ALICE DOROTHY (March 2, 1911-February 24, 1993) was a publishing company executive and the founder of MODERN CURRICULUM PRESS, INC. Born in Coloma, Michigan, to George and Elizabeth Breidinger Lorenz, Baer graduated from Coloma High School in 1929.

BAGE, HELEN (August 29, 1901-July 26, 1992) was one of the first WOMEN in the United States to own and operate a lighting fixture manufacturing company.

BALDWIN, LILLIAN LUVERNE (1888-September 11, 1960) served the CLEVELAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS for a quarter-century as supervisor of music appreciation. She was born in Marion, Indiana, and received her undergraduate education at Glendale College.

BEAUFAIT, DORIS E. O’DONNELL (21 June 1921–27 Sept. 2015) was one of Cleveland’s pioneer woman journalists, specializing in crime, racial, and investigative reporting for four local newspapers over a span of four decades.  Born in Cleveland, she was the daughter of John L. O’Donnell, a city firefighter, and Stella A.

BECKWITH, ADA BEL (February 27, 1886-May 17, 1964) was regarded as an innovative educator during a long tenure as art supervisor in the LAKEWOOD Public Schools. Daughter of Havel and Alida (Haight) Beckwith, Ada was born and educated in Cleveland, graduating from CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL and Cleveland Normal School.

BELL, MYRTLE JOHNSON (November 17, 1895-September 2, 1978), teacher, administrator and community activist, was the first African-American assistant high school principal in the CLEVELAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. Bell was born in Warrensville, Ohio, the third youngest of eight children, and moved to Cleveland when she was seven.

BICKFORD, CLARA L. (GEHRING) (25 Sept. 1903-13 Dec. 1985), musician, teacher, and collector, founded and served as the first president (1933-35) of the Women's Committee of the CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF MUSIC (CIM).

BIGGS, IONE KENNY (6 May 1916 – 16 Dec. 2005) was an outspoken advocate for peace and human rights, locally and around the globe.

BIGHAM, STELLA GODFREY WHITE (September 24, 1907-August 3, 1991) was an AFRICAN AMERICAN community activist, columnist for the Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, and the first woman to serve on th

BIRTH CONTROL. See FAMILY PLANNING.

 


BIRTHRIGHT, INC., which opened its first Cleveland office at West 147th Street and Detroit Avenue in March 1971, is a nonsectarian volunteer organization offering pregnant WOMEN of all ages an alternative to abortion. It counsels single and married women experiencing emotional or financial difficulties who wish to continue pregnancies to term.

The BLOSSOM HILL SCHOOL FOR GIRLS, founded in 1914 as the Cleveland Girls' Farm, was one of the first juvenile rehabilitation centers of its type in the United States. The girls' farm, privately run for forty-four years, emphasized a secure social setting, work away from home, and education as necessary to changing delinquent behavior.

BOLTON, SARAH KNOWLES (15 Sept. 1841-21 Feb. 1916), was a prolific writer of biographical studies, poetry, and a temperance novel. Born in Farmington, Conn., the daughter of John Segar and Mary Elizabeth Miller Knowles, she came to Cleveland in 1866 after marrying Chas. E. Bolton, a Cleveland businessman and active worker in temperance activities.

BONDER, EVELYN DARNOVSKY  (10 Dec. 10 1918 – 15 April 2015) was an early tireless advocate of opportunities for women. She was born in Hartford, Connecticut, to Joseph and Mary (Cohen) Darnovsky.

BOURKE-WHITE, MARGARET (14 June 1904-27 Aug. 1971), was a prominent photojournalist who began her career in Cleveland. Born in New York, she graduated from Cornell University in 1927 and after a failed first marriage came to Cleveland, where her widowed mother had moved.

BROOKS, MINERVA KLINE (1893-5 May 1929) campaigned for suffrage for WOMEN in the 1910s, helped organize the precursor of the CLEVELAND PLAY HOUSE (1915), and introduced interpretive dance in both Cleveland and New York City. Born in Cleveland to Virgil P.

BROWN, ANNE HATHAWAY (16 Mar. 1852- 6 Sep. 1928) was born in East Greenwich, Rhode Island. Brown was the namesake and headmistress of HATHAWAY BROWN SCHOOL in Shaker Heights, Ohio, from 1886-1890.

BROWNE, MARY KENDALL "BROWNIE" (3 June 1891-19 Aug. 1971), championship golfer and tennis player, was born in Ventura County, California, the daughter of Albert William and Neotia Rice Browne and attended high school in Los Angeles. Only 5 ft., 2 in. she learned the man's all-court tennis game from her brother Nat, and developed into a sound shot maker and an aggressive player.