Category: Women/Gender

THE ASSOCIATION FOR THE REFORM OF OHIO ABORTION LAWS

THE ASSOCIATION FOR THE REFORM OF OHIO ABORTION LAWS, headquartered in Cleveland Heights, was founded in 1967 and chaired by Richard A. Schwartz, MD. Schwartz was a psychiatrist at the Cleveland Clinic, who used psychiatry and women’s mental health as an argument in favor of abortion.

THE PONI-TAILS

The PONI-TAILS, (1956 - 1960) were an all-female American pop band that was active from 1956 until 1960. Its members included Toni Cistone, Patti McCabe, Karen Topinka and LaVerne Novak. The Poni-Tails are best known for their top 10 hit song “Born Too Late” released in 1958. 

THORNTON-SILVER, EUGENIA

THORNTON-SILVER, EUGENIA (1916-10 March 1992) was a well-known Cleveland book reviewer and lecturer. Born in Chicago, she was raised in Kinsman, O., and attended Lake Erie and Hiram colleges. After experience as a substitute English teacher, she conducted a Cleveland radio show called "People and Places in the News" during WORLD WAR II.

TRANSGENDER DAY OF REMEMBRANCE

TRANSGENDER DAY OF REMEMBRANCE is an annual observance to commemorate the lives of transgender people who have died from discrimination and violence against transgender people and those who are perceived to be transgender. The first observance of Transgender Day of Remembrance took place on November 28, 1999 with vigils in the Castro District of San Francisco and in Boston, Massachusetts.

TURNER, RACHEL WALKER

TURNER, RACHEL WALKER (1868-12 Nov. 1943) was a black soprano who began her career in Cleveland and later toured the U.S. and Europe singing classical selections as well as songs such as "The Last Rose of Summer" and "Swanee River." Rachel Walker, daughter to T.W. and M.L.

TYLER, ALICE S.
URSULINE COLLEGE

URSULINE COLLEGE is a Catholic liberal-arts college for women located at 2550 Lander Rd., PEPPER PIKE. The school was founded on 17 Nov. 1871 when Mother Mary of the Annunciation Beaumont applied for and received a charter to confer college degrees (see URSULINE SISTERS).

URSULINE SISTERS OF CLEVELAND

The URSULINE SISTERS OF CLEVELAND are members of an international Roman Catholic religious community dedicated to Christian education, founded by St. Angela Merici. Bp. AMADEUS RAPPE, who had served as chaplain of the Ursuline nuns of France, invited the sisters to staff Cleveland's parish schools.

VORMELKER, ROSE L.

VORMELKER, ROSE L. (11 June 1895-3 Nov. 1994), though not 5' in stature physically, was regarded as a towering figure in the field of library science. A native Clevelander, she was the daughter of Julius and Amy Hippler Vormelker and went to East High School.

VOTIPKA, THELMA

VOTIPKA, THELMA (20 Dec. 1898-24 Oct. 1972), opera singer with the Metropolitan Opera Co., was born in Cleveland to Emil and Jessie Votipka, and studied at Oberlin Conservatory and with Lila Robeson in Cleveland and Anna Schoen Rene in New York City. Her operatic debut was as the singing countess in the Marriage of Figaro for the American Opera Co. in 1927.

WADE, ELLEN

WADE, ELLEN GARRETSON (18 Jul. 1857 - 21 May 1917) was a prominent Cleveland philanthropist and public benefactor during the late 19th century. 

Wade was born on July 18th, 1857 to Ellen Howe Abbott Garretson and Hiram Garretson in Cleveland, Ohio.   

WAITT, MAUDE COMSTOCK

MAUDE COMSTOCK WAITT, (11 Aug. 1878-13 Dec. 1935) became the first woman from Cuyahoga County to be elected to the Ohio Senate in 1922, two years after the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment. She was born and educated in Vermont, and taught school in Massachusetts, where she met and married her husband Walter G. Waitt in 1903.

WALKER, HAZEL MOUNTAIN

WALKER, HAZEL MOUNTAIN (16 Feb. 1889-16 May 1980), the first black woman principal in the Cleveland public school system, was an educator, an actress, and an advocate for racial integration. 

Walker was born in Warren, Ohio, the daughter of Charles and Alice (Bronson) Mountain. She married George Herbert Walker in 1922; he died in 1954. In 1961, she married Joseph R. Walker.

WALSH, (WALASIEWICZ), STELLA (STANISLAWA)

WALSH, (WALASIEWICZ), STELLA (STANISLAWA) (3 Apr. 1911-4 Dec. 1980), named the greatest woman athlete of the first half of the 20th century by the Helm Athletic Foundation (1951), was born in Wierzchownin, Poland, daughter of Julian and Veronica (Uninski) Walasiewicz.

WALTERS, CLAIRE A.

WALTERS, CLAIRE A. (21 Aug. 1872-18 Nov. 1937) was for 41 years a teacher and psychologist in the Cleveland public school system whose life work was the rehabilitation of underpriviliged children.

WEBB, ELLA STURTEVANT

WEBB, ELLA STURTEVANT (15 Dec.1856-6 Sept. 1931), writer, helped compile the 3-volume Memorial to the Pioneer Women of the Western Reserve (1896-1924) and served as recording secretary of the Women's Department of the Cleveland Centennial Commission (1896). She wrote for publications such as Leisure Hours (Philadelphia).

WELTER, KATHERINE J. KESSLER

WELTER, KATHERINE J. KESSLER (1901-14 June 1992), opened and managed an all-woman real estate office, Katherine J.

WEMBRIDGE, ELEANOR HARRIS ROWLAND

WEMBRIDGE, ELEANOR HARRIS ROWLAND (1882-19 Feb. 1944), psychologist and nationally known author on juvenile delinquency, served as girls' referee for the CUYAHOGA COUNTY JUVENILE COURT (1926-35). Wembridge (half-sister of AMY ROWLAND) was born in Lee, MA, to Rev.

WESTERN RESERVE PRESBYTERIAL ASSN.

WESTERN RESERVE PRESBYTERIAL ASSN. See PRESBYTERIAN WOMEN.

WESTROPP, CLARA E.

WESTROPP, CLARA E. (7 July 1886-25 June 1965), cofounder of WOMEN'S FEDERAL SAVINGS BANK and a leading supporter of Roman Catholic missions, was born in Cleveland to Thos. P. and Clara Stoeckel Westropp, graduated from West High School and Dyke School of Commerce, and later studied at the Savings & Loan Institute in Mercersburg, Pa.

WESTROPP, LILLIAN MARY

WESTROPP, LILLIAN MARY (9 May 1884-15 Aug. 1968), Cleveland Municipal Court judge and cofounder of WOMEN'S FEDERAL SAVINGS BANK, was born in Cleveland to Thos. P.

WHAT SHE WANTS

WHAT SHE WANTS, "Cleveland's Monthly Feminist and Lesbian Newspaper," published its first issue in May 1973. It began as an effort by a group of WOMEN to provide a voice for the woman's movement in Cleveland. The paper was at first distributed on a small scale, in places like Coventry Books in CLEVELAND HTS.

WHITAKER, MAY TARBELL CANNON

WHITAKER, MAY TARBELL CANNON (15 Oct. 1858-14 July 1944) writer and civic leader, was elected to the Cleveland School Council (1900-04), served on the executive committees of both the state and the CUYAHOGA COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY, and was an associate editor for the Cleveland PRESS in 1915.

WHITE, STELLA GODFREY

WHITE, STELLA GODFREY. See BIGHAM, STELLA GODFREY WHITE.

WHITLEY, R.(ROUSARA) JOYCE

WHITLEY, R.(ROUSARA) JOYCE (20 May 1930-22 Dec. 1992), architect, city planner, and writer, served as chief planner for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (1967-68). She received awards for her architectural designs in Chicago and St. Louis.