Women's Centennial Commission.

The Women's Centennial Commission was founded in 1895 as the Women's Auxiliary of the Cleveland Centennial Commission. The group formally became a part of the Cleveland Centennial Commission on September 25, 1895, when its name was changed to the Woman's Department of the Cleveland Centennial Commission. Mary B. Ingham served as the first president, and Catharine Hitchcock Avery was chairman of the executive board. Woman's Day, a part of the centennial celebration, was held July 28, 1896. In December 1896, an aluminum casket time capsule was filled by members and sealed, to be opened one hundred years later in 1996 during the bicentennial of the founding of Cleveland. The casket was given to the Western Reserve Historical Society for safekeeping. In 1898, the executive committee of the Woman's Department became a permanent organization. Each member designated a successor, and yearly meetings were held. In 1921, a second aluminum casket time capsule was prepared, commemorating the one hundred twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of Cleveland. In 1927, the name of the group was changed to the Women's Centennial Commission. Continued by the successors of the women of 1896 and 1921, a sealed aluminum casket was placed at the Western Reserve Historical Society during the sesquicentennial celebration of Cleveland in 1946. At the one hundred seventy-fifth anniversary of Cleveland in 1971, a fourth time capsule was prepared. The group was revived as the bicentennial of 1996 approached, and in 1996, the contents of the time capsules were unpacked by lineal descendants of the original members.

The Women's Centennial Commission (f. 1895) was created in the summer of 1895 in Cleveland, Ohio. A group of Cleveland women met at the home of Elizabeth Blair to discuss means of celebrating the centennial of the founding of Cleveland in 1896 and how women's work and contributions to the history of Cleveland and the Western Reserve could best be honored during the celebration. The original name of the group was the Women's Auxiliary of the Cleveland Centennial Commission. The group enlarged and formally became a part of the Cleveland Centennial Commission on September 25, 1895, when its name was changed to the Woman's Department of the Cleveland Centennial Commission. Officers and an executive board were created. Mary B. Ingham, an educator, author, and reformer, served as the first president, and Catharine H. T. Avery, also an educator and a member of the Cleveland School Council, was chairman of the executive board. Monthly meetings were held. The group sold certificates of membership for $1.00 to the general female population of Cleveland.

Another mission of the organization was the undertaking of a massive genealogical and biographical project, which culminated in the publication of the five volume Memorial to the Pioneer Women of the Western Reserve, edited by Gertrude Van Rensselaer Wickham. Under Mrs. Wickham's leadership, committees of volunteer women were formed throughout the counties and townships of the Western Reserve. A committee member was put in charge of each of 216 townships. Volunteers interviewed the children and grandchildren of pioneer women who had resided in the Western Reserve prior to 1850 (in some cases, 1840). They gathered genealogical and biographical information on these pioneer women. Much of the biographical information was published in four volumes by the Woman's Department of the Cleveland Centennial Commission in 1896-1897. The fifth volume of the Memorial to the Pioneer Women of the Western Reserve, containing the remaining material and various indices, was published in cooperation with the Western Reserve Historical Society in 1924. The field notes compiled by the army of volunteers were put into typewritten form in the 1940s and bound in thirteen volumes titled "Genealogical Data relating to Women in the Western Reserve Before 1840 (1850)." An every name index and microfilm edition of the thirteen volumes were prepared by the Western Reserve Historical Society in 1976. This compilation is a unique and important source of biographical and genealogical information about the early women of the Western Reserve.

Woman's Day, a part of the summer-long centennial celebrations, was held July 28, 1896. Prominent women (local, state, and national) were invited to attend and to participate in the day-long program, held at the Central Armory of Cleveland. The program consisted of speakers, music, and a reading by the author of the Centennial Prize Ode. Topics of participating speakers included philanthropic organizations such as the Young Women's Christian Association, the National Council of Jewish Women, the Circle of Mercy, the Dorcas Society, and the Cleveland Women's Christian Temperance Union. Speeches also featured more general topics on the role of women and education, pioneers of the Western Reserve and of Cleveland, household economics, women's clubs, and a look at the present and future status of women and the city of Cleveland. Short addresses were also given by Robert E. McKisson, Mayor of Cleveland, and J. G. W. Cowles, president of the Chamber of Commerce. Following the Woman's Day activities a reception and banquet was held that evening at Grays Armory. After a dinner and musical program, a series of toasts and responses were given, led off by Mayor McKisson. As with the daytime program, the majority of speakers at the banquet program were women.

Following the Woman's Day festivities, the Woman's Department continued to meet, planning a ceremony set for December 18, 1896, when an aluminum casket would be filled by members. The casket would serve as a time capsule, to be opened one hundred years later, in 1996, during the bicentennial of the founding of Cleveland. Contents included texts of speeches delivered during Woman's Day, newspapers, pamphlets and reports concerning organizations and issues of the day, ribbons and medals from the various celebrations, and personal letters, genealogies, and photographs to descendants of members. The casket was closed and given to the Western Reserve Historical Society for safekeeping.

During 1897, a series of informal meetings of the executive committee continued, in order to wrap up unfinished business. The executive committee became a permanent and self-perpetuating organization on February 10, 1898. A constitution and bylaws were written, limiting the group to thirty voting members. Each member designated her successor, who would take her place in the group. $100 were placed in an account at the Society for Savings, to gain interest until 1996, when it was to be used by the successors of the original group in "some fitting memorial to the women of 1896." Yearly meetings of the group, along with their designated successors, were held.

By 1921, though few of the original members were still alive, the Woman's Department continued under the leadership of its president, Mrs. William B. Neff. It was decided to fill a second aluminum casket time capsule, to be dedicated to the city July 30, 1921, on the occasion of the one hundred twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of Cleveland. The casket would not be sealed, however, until the publication of volume five of the Memorial to the Pioneer Women of the Western Reserve, edited by Gertrude van Rensselaer Wickham, was accomplished, so that a copy could be included in the casket. On January 10, 1922, the group passed a resolution to formally affiliate with the Western Reserve Historical Society. The name of the group was changed to the Women's Centennial Commission on January 29, 1927. The casket was finally sealed on December 10, 1927, and included materials which had been collected since 1921, along with copies of publications that had been sponsored by the Women's Centennial Commission.

Continued by the successors of the women of 1896 and 1921, the Women's Centennial Commission filled and placed a sealed aluminum casket at the Western Reserve Historical Society during the sesquicentennial celebration of the founding of Cleveland in 1946. Members also participated in the Women's Day program on July 16, 1946, held at Music Hall of Public Auditorium. Again, in 1971 at the one hundred seventy-fifth anniversary of Cleveland, materials were placed at the Western Reserve Historical Society to be opened during the bicentennial celebration of 1996. The materials were not placed in a sealed aluminum casket, but in an archival storage box.

The Women's Centennial Commission, except during the years of World War II and from 1973-1986, continued to meet. The group was revived as the bicentennial year of 1996 approached. On January 6, 1996, in the council chambers of Cleveland City Hall, the contents of the time capsules were unpacked before a large audience by lineal descendants of the original members.