, OH
Born in Bristol, England, Elizabeth Blackwell (1821-1910), moved to Cincinnati in 1838. Blackwell applied to several medical schools before being accepted to Geneva Medical College in New York. In 1849, she received a medical degree, becoming the first fully accredited female doctor. In New York, Blackwell provided free outpatient care to women and children, and in 1857 opened a full-scale hospital, the New York Infirmary for Women and Children. As a lecturer in England and the founder of the Women’s Medical College at the Infirmary, Dr. Blackwell was a pioneer in opening the medical profession to women.
, OH
Art Tatum was born in Toledo on October 13, 1909, the son of Arthur Tatum, Sr. and Mildred Hoskins Tatum. Despite being blind in one eye and only partially sighted in the other, he became one of the greatest jazz pianists of his era. To deal with his sight disability, he attended the Ohio State School for the Blind in Columbus from 1918-1920. He came from a musical family and had some formal training at the Toledo School of Music, but was largely self-taught. Influenced by famed Fats Waller, Tatum began playing his music on a local radio station at age 18 and then lived in Chicago, New York City, Cleveland, and Los Angeles, playing and recording extensively both as a soloist and in small groups. His ability to improvise set him apart as a musical genius. Tatum died in November 1956 and was named to the Jazz Hall of Fame in 1983.
, OH
The Village of Poland officially incorporated in August 1866, a year after the end of the Civil War. In April 1867, the citizens elected John Leslie as mayor. As of 1880, Poland’s population exceeded 400. Through its history, the village has consisted of a four-acre village green, churches, schools, hotels, a sawmill, gristmill, post office, tannery, and foundry, as well as carriage, tin, and cabinet shops; drug, dry goods, and hardware stores, and doctors, blacksmiths, and shoemakers. Residents swam in and skated on Yellow Creek. The Poland Municipal Forest was established in 1938 and annexed later as the Village continued to grow. In 1966, the residents held a three day Centennial Celebration, featuring an address by Governor James Rhodes. The centennial year also saw the publication of a history of Poland and the restoration of Centennial Gardens.
, OH
Poland Township’s school board built the Center School- the “Little Red Schoolhouse”- in 1858. The brick school replaced a previous wooden building dating to the early 19th century. One of several schools in the township in the latter half of the 19th century, the Center School served children living within a surrounding two mile radius. Under state and county-wide reorganization plans, the Poland Village and Poland Township schools consolidated to educate all children within the village and township. Consequently, the Center School closed in 1915 and the building came to be used for other purposes, such as 4-H activities, public meetings, a church, and township equipment storage. In 1979 the Poland Township Historical Society formed to preserve the school. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
, OH
Hebrew Union College (HUC), founded in Cincinnati in 1875, is the oldest institution of higher Jewish learning in the United States. Its founder, Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise (1819-1900), was a leading proponent of Reform Judaism in America. In 1950, the college merged with the Jewish Institute of Religion (JIR), a liberal Jewish seminary in New York founded by Rabbi Stephen S. Wise (1874-1949) in 1922. A third center opened in Los Angeles in 1954 to serve Jewry on the West Coast and, in 1963, a fourth campus opened in Jerusalem. As of 2003, HUC-JIR educates rabbis, cantors, communal, and educational professionals. It also offers advanced academic training for scholars of all faiths. The holdings of the school’s Klau Library constitute one of the most extensive Jewish libraries in the world.
, OH
Edward Bebb, father of William Bebb and first Welshman to settle in Paddy’s Run, Morgan Township, Butler County purchased this cabin in 1801. Originally the cabin stood four miles southeast of this site on the Dry Fork of the Whitewater River. It was here that William Bebb was born on December 8, 1802, the first white child born in Butler County west of the Great Miami River. At the age of twenty, after attending district schools, William Bebb became a teacher. In 1826 he became the first teacher at Paddy’s Run School. Two years later Bebb and his wife opened a boarding school on his father’s farm. While teaching school he began the study of law and in 1831 passed the state bar examination. A year later he began to practice law in Hamilton, where he soon became an active politician. In 1840 he stumped the state for Harrison and Tyler and in 1846 he was nominated for Governor by the Whig party. He was elected on the slogan “Wm. Bebb and a Home Currency against David Tod and Pot Metal.” After his term as governor, Bebb served in a number of government positions until his retirement to his farm near Rockford, Illinois. He died on October 23, 1873.
, OH
The Lincoln School building stood at 2402 Central Avenue for almost a century. In 1919, a twenty-year bond levy provided for the construction of five schools, including the “new east school” Lincoln Elementary. Construction began in 1921 on the eight-acre site while students attended classes in temporary structures. Lincoln School opened in 1923 with 500 students enrolled. Lincoln Field, football grounds for McKinley High School’s “Middies,” stood behind Lincoln from 1930 until 1950 when Barnitz Field Stadium was built on South Main Street. Additions to the original Lincoln building included a maintenance annex in 1935 and a gymnasium in 1959. Lincoln School closed in November 1980 during a 1980-1981 Middletown City School District reorganization. Students from Lincoln and Sherman schools moved to the refurbished Roosevelt School at 2701 Central Avenue.
, OH
St. Vincent-St. Mary High School is the oldest continuously operating, public or private, high school in Akron. With roots extending to the late 19th century, St. Mary High School graduated its first three students in 1901. St. Vincent High School opened in September 1907 in an effort to extend educational offerings beyond the eighth grade. The first class, comprising four students, graduated in 1910. The two schools merged in late 1972 to become a single co-educational college preparatory high school. “In the spirit of the Gospel, we are committed to educate the whole person,” the St. Vincent-St. Mary High School mission statement pledges, “to lead and to serve, enlightening the mind, developing the body, touching the heart and inspiring the soul.”