Eleanor B. Rainey Memorial Institute.

One of Cleveland's (Ohio) oldest settlement houses, first organized by Anna Edwards as a reading and lunch room for boys and workmen in Cleveland's E. 55th & Superior Ave. area. The institute was named for Eleanor Rainey, whose financial support helped found the settlement in 1904. Following the death of Anna Edwards in 1923, her sister Flora served as director until 1949. The institute joined the Neighborhood Settlement Association in 1959. Since 1967, the institute has attempted to achieve its goals through music, doing so in cooperation with the Cleveland Music School Settlement.

historical sketch courtesy of the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History

The Rainey Institute was founded in 1904 as a settlement house in Cleveland, Ohio, to encourage self-confidence and self-discipline among Hough-area residents through music, dance, and other arts programs. Eleanor B. Rainey created the institute to support the efforts of Anna Edwards, who had been providing physical, industrial, and moral training, as well as wholesome recreational facilities, for the people in the community around East 55th Street and St. Clair Avenue. Rainey built a house to accommodate these activities and provided financial support. When she died in 1905, the building was named the Eleanor B. Rainey Memorial Institute. During the next 20 years, the Rainey family supported the institute through the Women's Philanthropic Union. Edwards managed the institute until her death in 1923, when her sister, Flora Edwards, became director. In 1949 Jessie L. Peloubet, daughter of an early institute associate, succeeded Edwards and remained director until 1959.

That year, trustees joined the Neighborhood Settlement Association (later known as the Greater Cleveland Neighborhood Centers Association). In 1960 they hired a full-time social worker to direct the institute and, the next year, organized a board of managers. The Rainey Institute later joined the Welfare Federation of Cleveland. Since 1967 the institute, under the direction of Zandra Richards, has cooperated with the Cleveland Music School Settlement, offering music theory and therapy, dance, and private instrumental classes. Located at 1523 East 55th Street, Rainey also offers art and creative writing, and operates a Head Start facility and a summer camp. United Way Services monies, foundation and government grants, fees, and private donations supplement the E. B. Rainey Endowment funding. By the 1990s, Rainey Institute served about 225 children annually in its programs, which had expanded to include drama and African dance. In 1995 Zandra Richards was executive director.

click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for the Eleanor B. Rainey Institute