Elizabeth (“Lizzie”) Undine Slade Voris helped organize many of Akron’s institutions and women’s organizations.
Elizabeth Undine Slade was born in Columbus, Ohio, the daughter of William Hooker Slade and his wife, Marion Elizabeth Bell. She was the great-granddaughter of William Slade and John Alvord, two influential corporals in the Revolutionary War.
Slade received her bachelor’s degree from Buchtel College (now The University of Akron) in 1877 and her master’s degree from the same institution in 1880. During this time, she was a math tutor in the Preparatory Department of Buchtel College.
During her college years, Slade was a charter member of the Akron chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma women’s fraternity. She represented them in the Akron Pan-Hellenic Association.
Slade married Edwin Voris, an attorney with Voris, Vaughn, and Vaughn, in 1879. He was the son of local Akron hero, Maj. Gen. Alvin Coe Voris, and Lydia Allyn. They had four children, Lydia (Voris) Kolbe, Elizabeth (Voris) Lawry,Marion Voris and William. William’s wife, Louise Voris, was also active in Akron community work.
Elizabeth Voris helped organize two important women’s organizations in the city. She was a charter member of the College Club of Akron, an organization committed to the intellectual improvement of college-educated women, and the Women’s Benevolent Association, one of the pioneering welfare groups of the city. As a member of the College Club, she took part in the Division of Literary Extension in the Applied Education Department.
Voris was also a member of the Women’s Universalist Missionary Association, the Fifty Year Club of Akron, the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Dames of the Loyal Legion. From 1919-1920, she was the treasurer of the Katherine Claypole Student Loan Fund, an organization to provide worthy college students with enough money to continue their education. Voris was on the first committee of this organization, representing the Daughters of the American Revolution.
She died in September of 1930.
Photo courtesy of The University of Akron Archives.
–Stephanie Devers