Frances C. Allen, first woman elected to the Akron Board of Education, is credited with helping her husband develop the oats cooking process used in the development of breakfast cereal.
Born in Barghill, Ohio, on April 14, 1849, Allen attended Hiram College (Ohio) and taught school in New Castle, Pa., before moving to Akron. She also taught at the old Perkins School in Akron.
She married Miner Jesse Allen in Akron in 1876. He was a partner in Cummings and Allen Flour which, through mergers, became part of Quaker Oats. The Allens developed in their family kitchen the oats cooking process used in the development of breakfast cereals.
Frances Allen was also in the missionary activities of her church, High Street Church of Christ. She was one of the founders and first secretary of the missionary society. In addition, she was a member of the Ohio Christian Women’s Missionary Association.
Allen made local history when she and Mrs. O.L. Sadler, a local suffragist, ran successfully for the Akron Board of Education in 1896. In 1894, the Ohio legislature gave women the right to vote in school board elections. At the same time, women became eligible to hold a seat on the school board. Both Allen and Sadler won in 1896. Both women served their full two-year term. Sadler refused to run again; Allen was nominated but failed to win reelection. Twenty years would pass before the next woman would take a seat on Akron’s school board.
After her husband died in 1915, Allen moved to Cleveland. She helped to establish the Cleveland Heights Christian Church and helped to financially underwrite both its building and maintenance. She also provided funds for educational work in India and the Philippines.
Allen died in 1946. She is buried in Akron.
–Kathleen L. Endres
