Ella Estabrook

Submitted by lmcshane on Mon, 01/17/2022 - 10:10.
 

 
 
 
Ella's Story
 
 
      
Ella M. Davidson was born in Nova Scotia in 1874 and moved to the United States May 1877.
By 1906 Ella and her husband Austin Estabrook were becoming established in Cleveland, Ohio. Ella opened her own tailoring business and employed 20 women from her neighborhood and became passionately involved in her community.
In 1917 Ella became more involved in local and state level women’s clubs and published her own paper called “Cleveland Women”.
Ella noticed the inequities in her community and took on leadership roles that allowed her to dedicate herself to the improvement of various social groups that were not receiving the attention they needed.
 Around 1919 Ella founded the Women’s Civic League of Brooklyn and held banquets that were inclusive regardless of sex, race or religion.  Ella had an unsuccessful attempt as the first woman to run for The Cleveland City Council however she paved the way for more women to follow in her footsteps.
In 1920 Ella had appealed the city of Brooklyn for a community house where members could go to feel safe and enjoy recreational activities without judgement or bias.  In 1957, that appeal was answered and the Ella Estabrook Recreation Center still stands and is a vibrant part of the community.
Ella passed away in 1937,  and many Cleveland organizations recognized her contributions and a dedicated bookshelf can still be found today at the Brooklyn Public Library.
 
 
Here is some of the text, abstracted from “An Emergency Ordinance” by City Council by the City of Cleveland:

Ella M. Estabrook was know to many life-long residents of the area for her service to the community. That in tribute to the long and devoted years of service and accomplishments of Ella and in appreciation of her courageous and persistent efforts to give to Cleveland the highest possible standards in the field of public recreation to be found anywhere in America. Her civic mindedness manifested itself at once in her work to aid and improve schools and recreational facilities by her activity in the Cleveland Mothers Club, the forerunner of the present Parent Teachers Association. While serving as President of the Cleveland Mothers Club, she was instrumental in bringing the first Young Men’s Christian Association and Young Women’s Christian Association interests to the community. Her participation in the League of Women Voters did not include as many of the residents of the community as she would have liked, and she worked long hours to promote and found the Women’s Civic League of Brooklyn. While serving as the first President of the Women’s Civic League, she established a League “Home” with club room and dining facilities both in South Brooklyn and at Chippewa Lake. At the time, nearly every civic improvement accomplished in this area stems back in part to her work. In July25, 1919 she sent an appeal to the Brooklyn Business Chamber and the Brooklyn-Parma-Royalton Civic Association to enlist their help in obtaining for this area a “community house” in which recreation could be had for persons of both sexes, and all races and creeds. “That in tribute to the long and devoted years of service and accomplishments of Ella M. Estabrook and in appreciation of her courageous and persistent efforts to give to Cleveland the highest possible standards in the field of public recreation to be found anywhere in America, it is hereby determined that the official designation of the new recreation center on Fulton Road and Shadyside Avenue, be and the same shell henceforth by known as the “Ella M. Estabrook Memorial Community Center”. 

( categories: )

Brooklyn Twp - Ella Estabrook's legacy

Amie Appling at OB Historical Society Friday 3/10

DISCOVER THE HISTORY OF KELLEYS ISLAND

September 1, 2022

Dear Historical Society of Old Brooklyn Members,

Welcome back to the 40th year of our existence.  Our next meeting is September 9, 2022, at 7 p.m. The evening’s talk will be DISCOVER THE HISTORY OF KELLEYS ISLAND by Leslie Korenko, Island author and historian will present a slideshow and talk about the remarkably rich history of Kelleys Island. Compiled and preserved by its settlers, its history is visible in the houses, businesses, historic structures and the stories the residents shared. The entire island is on the National Register of Historic Places.
 
Leslie Korenko is the author of 7 books about the history of Kelleys Island (in Lake Erie) with each book focusing on a specific period of time. She has written historical columns for the Black Swamp Trader & Gazette, and articles for the Ohio Genealogical Society QuarterlyInland SeasAnchor News (Wisconsin Maritime Museum) and Heart of Ohio, among others. She also has a History Blog, writes the Kelleys Island News column in the Put-in-Bay Gazette and a history column in Kelleys Life, the local newspaper. Her stories of Island soldiers during the Civil War have appeared in the Ohio Civil War Genealogy Journal and the Sandusky Register. She was the secretary for the Kelleys Island Historical Assoc., is on the Board of the Erie County Historical Society and does genealogy research for people with Island roots.
 
Leslie received the Henry Howe Award for outstanding Ohio history books from the Ohio Genealogical Society in 2012. Leslie’s fifth book received honorable mention in the 2015 Independent Scholar Category for the Center of Archival Collections' Local History Publication Award. Bowling Green State University wrote: [These] Kelleys Island [books are] highly recommended and [represent an] impressive regional history that could well serve as a template for similar local histories for other parts of the country.

This past summer has been very active in many ways.
 
-          The future of our museum has been threatened.
-          We honored our mission statement by assisting in the fight to keep two of our historic buildings, St. Luke’s United Church of Christ and the Greenline Building.
-          We have acquired the “George Shuba Collection” of negatives.
-          We have had interns and volunteers who share our values of preserving the history of Old Brooklyn, by performing the tedious tasks of our projects.
-          We have identified the veterans at Brookmere Cemetery and have taken pictures of their headstones.  Now we know which ones need to be replaced.
-          Our July 8, potluck picnic was enhanced by the very informative talk by architect, Chris Lobas, who spoke about the architecture of James Ford Rhodes High School.
-          Our August 6, Lake County Captains, baseball history night game was a winning success.
-          We have recovered some items that were missing for 30 years from our collection, including a portrait of Claude Foster, the inventor who donated the money to build the YMCA.

Attached please find the May 13, 2022 minutes and the 2021/2022 Fiscal Report will follow.

Please remember that 2022 – 2023 dues are paid in September.

Sincerely yours,

Constance M. Ewazen
 
President