Elizabeth Huston Musser played a role in founding many of the children’s health and welfare organizations of early 20th century Akron.
Born in Kankakee County, Ind., Musser attended Bucknell College in Lewisburg, Pa. She moved to Akron in 1887 when she married Harvey Musser, an attorney who went on to become a senior partner in the law firm Musser, Kimber and Huffman. Her husband’s position gave her a measure of affluence that allowed her to concentrate on her benevolent activities on behalf of the children of Akron.
Musser was involved early with the Mary Day Nursery and Ward for Crippled Children and is generally credited with being one of the figures credited with the establishment of Children’s Hospital. She was also a founder (along withElizabeth Saalfield) of the Children’s Charity, a kind of self-help program where Akron children donated money each year toward the purchase of needed hospital equipment at Children’s Hospital.
Musser was also involved in Akron social organizations. She was a member of the Akron Woman’s City Club and an early president of the Akron Chapter of the Needlework Guild of America. She was also a member of the Summit County Woman Suffrage Association, and held a life membership in the Ohio Woman Suffrage Association.
–Stephanie Devers