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“Lifting As We Climb”: The Cincinnati Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs (CFCWC) was organized May 6, 1904, during a meeting called by Mary Fletcher Ross at the Allen Temple A.M.E. Church. Gathering together eight existing African-American women’s clubs, the CFCWC sought to unite in their work promoting “the betterment of the community.” At a time when both government and private philanthropies overlooked the needs of Black Americans, CFCWC members helped to organize the city’s first kindergartens for Black children, taught in Cincinnati African-American public schools –including the Walnut Hills Douglass and Stowe schools—and raised money for the Home of Aged Colored Women. Since 1904, the Cincinnati Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs has ensured the civic and constitutional rights of all African Americans while meeting the needs of their city.
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A bond issue passed by the voters of Parma and Parma Heights Township in 1919 funded the construction of Parma’s first high school. It was located at this site on Ridge Road, south of Ridgewood Drive (then Bean Road) and was dedicated in October 1921. Charles W. Bates designed the school as a single story building, but two years later a second story was added. The first graduating class in 1922 consisted of six students, two boys and four girls. In 1928, the land behind the school became the football field. The Parma High School building became a junior high in 1937 and then in the 1950s, Ridge Road Elementary. From 1962 to 2006 the old high school was the Parma City Schools’ Board of Education. The building was demolished in October 2010.
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Built in 1894, the original eight-room Southwood Elementary School cost $16,000 to construct on this site purchased from a local family for $3,000. The school originally had five teachers and a teacher-pupil ratio of 50-1. Mary Esper was the school’s first principal and German language instructor, staying until her retirement in 1923. Children attended grades one through eight and special biweekly classes in carpentry and cooking. The school had its first graduation ceremony in 1896, with six boys and seven girls being promoted to high school. By 1912, the school had grown to 17 rooms with 16 teachers and 735 students. A Parent Teacher Association (PTA) was formed in 1917, raising money for school supplies and equipment, food and clothing for needy Great Depression families, trees for the school grounds, cookies and candies for service men in World War II, scholarships, a new library, and much more. [continued on other side]
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In 1907, the Templin-Bradley Company’s Children’s Flower Mission was developed in response to the Cleveland Public Schools Horticulture Program, supplying seed packets for 1 cent each–commonly referred to as Penny Packet Seeds. This earned the company a reputation for being the nation’s largest distributor of seeds for school garden programs. Although only nine varieties of plants were offered, interest was so great that nearly 50,000 packages were sold during the first year with no expense to the public-school teachers. With great success realized in the local school gardening program, interest grew exponentially across the nation and programs began in other cities. For fifty years, the Templin-Bradley Company sold flower and vegetable seeds at low costs to student members of garden groups throughout the country, cultivating many generations of gardeners.
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In 1907, the Templin-Bradley Company’s Children’s Flower Mission was developed in response to the Cleveland Public Schools Horticulture Program, supplying seed packets for 1 cent each–commonly referred to as Penny Packet Seeds. This earned the company a reputation for being the nation’s largest distributor of seeds for school garden programs. Although only nine varieties of plants were offered, interest was so great that nearly 50,000 packages were sold during the first year with no expense to the public-school teachers. With great success realized in the local school gardening program, interest grew exponentially across the nation and programs began in other cities. For fifty years, the Templin-Bradley Company sold flower and vegetable seeds at low costs to student members of garden groups throughout the country, cultivating many generations of gardeners.
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Founded in 1914, Holy Name High School was one of the first co-educational Roman Catholic high schools in Cleveland. Originally located at Harvard and Broadway Avenues, the school opened under the direction of Holy Name Parish with educational leadership of the Sisters of Charity from Cincinnati. In 1978, Holy Name High School moved to its present location in Parma Heights, the former home of Nazareth Academy. Throughout its history, Holy Name High School has served the community by providing a Catholic, college-preparatory education. The Holy Name spirit lives on through its alumni, who have made a difference around the world.
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“Uncle” George Lathrop Cooley (1861-1939) was known as the “Champion of the Farmer” for his advocacy on behalf of rural interests. He was born on a farm at the northwest corner of Dover and Hilliard Roads in Dover Township (Westlake). He attended area schools and Ohio Northern University and, in 1887, married Clara Hall. Cooley served as Dover Township trustee from 1901-1905 and as president of Dover’s village council in 1916. Cooley’s interest in better roads led him to supervise the hard-surfacing of Dover Center Road, which ran by his house. From about 1900 to 1913, he was involved in road construction and helped to organize state highway departments in Ohio, Louisiana and California. (Continued on other side)
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Over its 145 years, the Old Canal Winchester School building played a significant role in the community. The original four-room building opened in 1862 and its first high school class graduated seven in 1886. Canal Winchester’s growth is reflected in the school’s several additions, the first of which was in 1875. Other expansions include a separate high school building in 1909, a three-story connector in 1929 between the 1862 and the 1909 buildings, and elementary school wings in 1956 and 1967. The school was also the site of continuing education and vocational classes for adults in the 1930s and 1950s, agricultural programs for veterans after World War II, and a cannery from the time of that war to 1952. The school was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2017 and it remains the district’s administrative center and a community gathering space.
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