Category: Depression (1930-1939)

Every concert presented by the Tuesday Musical Club in Akron, Ohio, is a lasting testament to Mary Zipperlen Schumacher. It was Schumacher’s bequest that made the concerts economically viable.

In the early days of the Tuesday Musical Club, the organization faced an uncertain future. Even a fund-raising campaign championed by the city’s newspaper, the Beacon Journal, could not guarantee the future of the concerts. Schumacher, a pianist and a long-time member of the Tuesday Musical Club, assured that future by leaving a sizable amount – some $50,000 – to the organization to underwrite the costs of concerts. She also endowed scholarships for students at the Ferdinand Schumacher School and left a large bequest to the Sumner Home for the Aged.

Mary Schumacher was the second wife of the “cereal king” of Akron. Ferdinand Schumacher was almost 40 years older than his bride.

Mary Zipperlin was born in Cincinnati in 1860. The daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Adolph Zipperlin, Schumacher had one sister, Hermine Hansen, who became another prominent Akron community leader.

Schumacher was involved in a number of other Akron women’s organizations as well. She was a charter member of the Akron Women’s City Club. She was also active in the Akron and Summit County General Federation of Women’s Clubs and the Sumner Home for the Aged.

Schumacher traveled extensively which helped the Tuesday Musical Club enormously. She cased the world for musical organizations and up-and-coming artists.

Her travels also meant that she would be a popular speaker to the various clubs and organizations in the city. She talked about her trips to the Pacific (Tristan da Cunha), Africa as well as Europe. Her travels also led her to an interest in aviation. She flew on a plane for the first time in 1919 and soon affiliated with the Akron women’s organization affiliated with the National Aeronautical Association.

Schumacher died in Akron’s City Hospital in September 1936. She had been ill for several weeks. Cremation took place in Cincinnati.

Photo courtesy of the Beacon Journal.

–Kathleen L. Endres

Mary Paul, a quiet and gentle-spirited woman, broke new ground for women in Summit County by being the first woman to hold public office.

Paul was born in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, the daughter of Robert Spencer Paul and Sarah M. Romig. The third of four children, Paul attended Spicer School and Akron High School. After graduating, Paul worked as office manager for her family’s engineering firm.

When her brother, Edward W., was elected county engineer in 1913, she joined him at the courthouse and served as county recorder for 12 years. Always known for her keen sense of detail and precision, Paul was elected county recorder. She was the first woman in the county to hold such a position and won re-election twice.

Under the guidance of the Republican Party, Paul ran for mayor of Akron in 1929, but withdrew because she failed to receive the endorsement of the local newspaper, theBeacon Journal. She also studied law at Akron Law School, but never took the bar exam, saying, “I didn’t think I’d make much of a lawyer.”

Never married, Paul worked for public welfare with the Works Progress Administration under President Roosevelt’s New Deal Cultural Program. She also worked with the National Youth Administration and the Barberton Welfare Department. She was a title transfer clerk for the county auditor’s office until a few years before her death.

In her spare time, Paul was a member of the Pythian Sisters and the Royal Neighbors of America. The Past Chiefs Association and Nomads of Avrudaka show her on their membership lists as well.

An avid stamp collector all her life, Paul also enjoyed music, reading and nature walks. She prepared baskets for needy families during holidays and often helped people financially. Her interest in writing prompted her to contribute a chapter entitled, “Environs and Landmarks,” in the 1925 Centennial History of Akron.

Those who worked with her remembered Paul as “Miss Precision.” A story in the Dec. 18, 1961 issue of theBeacon Journal said, “You might never guess she knew anything-unless you asked her. Then, whatever it was, you could be sure of a ready, complete and accurate answer.”

Photo courtesy of the Women’s History Project of the Akron Area

–Penny Fox

Miss Carita McEbright was a member of the speech department at The University of Akron and a devoted Shakespearean student. She was a founding member of the Mary Day Nursery and Children’s Hospital and devoted much of her time toward the development of it.

When she became a member of old Buchtel College (now The University of Akron) faculty in 1910, McEbright served as the entire speech department. The Beacon Journaldescribed her as “one of the most beloved figures on the university campus for 25 years.” She remained in the speech department throughout her career, which ended with her retirement in 1935.

Her father, Dr. Thomas McEbright, who was one of Akron’s leading physicians and president of the board of education, influenced McEbright’s interest in education and the hospitals. Her early work experience included teaching physical education and expression in Akron public schools and one year at Congregational College in Yankton, S.D.

As a young woman, McEbright studied under famed Shakespearean actor Robert Mantell and she produced the first Akron Shakespearean program at a Central High graduation. She produced many dramatic programs and participated in early amateur theatricals around 1900.

McEbright attended old Buchtel College as a student for three years and finished her studies at Cornell University in 1887. At Cornell she became a charter member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and later served as faculty advisor for the Akron chapter of the sorority. She was also a member of the Akron Panhellenic Association.

McEbright shared the same commitment to community activities as her sister Katherine McEbright Milliken. McEbright held the position of secretary in “Daughters of the King” and she served on the original Mary Day Nursery board and as president of the organization. In 1905 she helped establish the Mary Day Nursery’s Ward for Crippled Children and from 1918-1919 she served on the Mary Day Nursery publicity committee.

Until her death in 1940, McEbright was a member of the Women’s Board of Children’s Hospital and she served as secretary of that board for a time. In 1911, she became a charter member of the College Club. McEbright was a founding member of the Little Theater movement in Akron and she served as honorary president of the Cornell Club of Akron as well. She was a member of the First Congregational Church throughout her life and she had membership in the Burns Club and the Art and History Class.

At the age of 75, McEbright suffered a stroke and died suddenly. She died in her home, 386 East Market St., which had belonged to the McEbright family since 1903.

Photo courtesy of The University of Akron Archives.

–Janelle Baltputnis

Mrs. Frances G. Hunsicker served as head of the two most important women’s organizations in the city of Akron, Ohio, in the 1920s: the Home and School League and the Federation of Women’s Clubs.

Hunsicker served first as assistant secretary treasurer of the Akron and Summit County Federation of Women’s Clubs and was later elected president of the organization in 1926. For several years she was instrumental in the Federation’s annual Christmas Seal campaign. Hunsicker was elected as president of the Federation again in 1928 for a second term.

During the year of her re-election, Hunsicker served as the TB clinic chair of the General Federation and a story in the Akron Beacon Journal said that she “spent many weary hours when the building [TB Clinic] was in the process of renovation in consultation with lawyers, decorators, carpenters, plumbers and insurance men.” The newspaper also described her as a “clear-thinking and active citizen.”

After being treasurer in 1917, Hunsicker held the position of president of the Akron Home and School League for several terms, including the 1921-1923 term. In 1922, the president of the Central Home and School League asked other leagues to help in a project to assure that crippled children would have a means of transportation to the hospital. In 1926, the president of the General Federation said, “It seems to be Mrs. Hunsicker’s policy to do what she can in one life and then step quietly out and take up the next thing that offers itself.”

Hunsicker was also secretary of the Liederfel Ladies Society and a commissioner of the Girl Scouts Akron Council. In 1927, she was president of the Girl Scouts and in 1936, she was a board member for the organization.

Hunsicker was a member of the Fifty Year Club and the First Universalist Church. She was president of the Dandelions Club and active in the Fairlawn Civics Club.

She was married to Arthur Hunsicker, a builder and contractor; they had six children. The Hunsickers resided at 726 Sherman St.

Photo courtesy of the Beacon Journal.

–Janelle Baltputnis

Blanche Hower, social feminist and vocational education advocate, helped to further the equality of women in Ohio.

Born in Valentigney, France, Hower came to the United States with her family when she was very young. She attended a one-room school in Akron and married Milton Otis Hower, director and vice president of the American Cereal Company, in 1880.

During her life, Hower was exposed to successful self-made men, namely her father and her husband. She understood the importance of education and it was her duty-first, pleasure-second attitude that enabled her to assume the presidency of the Akron-Selle Company after her husband’s death in 1916.

An avid traveler, Hower brought treasures from all over the world home to Hower House, a beautiful Victorian mansion now operated as a museum by The University of Akron.

Hower’s community memberships included the Portage Country Club, Akron Art Institute, where she served as a trustee, and the Summit County Federation of Women’s Clubs. She served as vice president of the Fifty Year Club of Akron and was honorary president of the Italian Cultural Club.

In answer to the need for vocational training for young people, Hower donated space downtown for the city’s first trade school. The school was named in honor of her husband.

Although she preferred not to march in demonstrations, Hower did have a lifetime membership in the Ohio Woman Suffrage Association. The first time women were allowed to vote, Hower made sure that she and all the women who worked in her household went to the polls.

One of the most remarkable traits about Hower was her determination to effect positive social change. She began her political career at age 67, when she ran for Akron Board of Education. Hower won by a landslide because she stood firmly on educational issues, and because she was the only candidate to campaign over the radio.

Just when she was about to end her political career, Hower was nominated for Ohio State Representative and won the seat in 1935. She was the only Republican woman elected that term. Because she was so well received and respected by her fellow legislators, Hower was named “Mother of the 91st General Assembly,” and was presented with a flag for her service.

In tribute to her longtime local and state involvement, a quote from the Beacon Journal on October 21, 1953, says she was “one of the finest citizens in Ohio and the nation…and representative of the kind of women who should get into politics and politics would be better for it.”

Photo and campaign ad courtesy of The University of Akron Archives.

–Penny Fox

Mrs. Catherine W. Garrett was one of the early female members of the Akron Board of Education.

The first woman had been elected to the Akron Board of Education in 1896, but after that Akron public schools had gone 20 years without a woman on its school board. In 1918, Mrs. A. Ross Read was elected and four years later in 1922, Garrett joined her on the board. In 1925, both women resigned in protest when the four-man majority, said to be dominated by the Ku Klux Klan, engineered the hiring of a new superintendent in a secret session.

Garrett was heavily involved in local educational organizations even before her election. She was one of the founders of the Findley School Parent Teacher Association and a lifetime member as well. She also served as president of the Akron Council PTA.

In addition to her interest in education, Garrett also participated in other city activities. She was one of the founders of the Fifty Year Club and she served as a trustee for that organization. She was a member of the Monday Study Club, the Women’s Universalist Missionary Association, the Akron and Summit County Federation of Women’s Clubs, the Alumni Association of the Akron and Summit County Federation of Women’s Clubs and she was a chairman of committees for the Woman’s City Club.

In 1917, Garrett held the position of recording secretary of the Akron Home and School League and she served as president of that organization from 1919-1921. In 1931, she was the Universalist Women’s Club representative to the Akron and Summit County Federation of Women’s Clubs. She also attended the First Universalist Church in Akron.

Garrett, who was born in Liverpool, England, came to live in Akron when she was 1 year old. She married Charles W. Garrett, who was a broker. She was widowed in 1948. When she died in 1962, she left behind two daughters, Margaret and Jean. The Garretts resided at 3533 Bath Road.

Garrett died in Akron in 1962 after a short illness.

Photo courtesy of The University of Akron Archives.

–Janelle Baltputnis