| Jane Edna Hunter | |
|---|---|
| Born | Jane Edna Harris December 13, 1882 Pendleton, South Carolina |
| Died | January 19, 1971 (aged 89) Cleveland, Ohio |
| Citizenship | United States of America |
| Alma mater | Baldwin-Wallace College Cleveland-Marshall College of Law |
| Occupation | Social work |
| Employer | Phillis Wheatley Association |
| Known for | Work for African-American children and families |
| Board member of | NAACP |
| Spouse | Edward Hunter |
| Parents | Edward Harris Harriet Milner |
Jane Edna Hunter (December 13, 1881 to January 13, 1971), an African-American social worker, was born near Pendleton, South Carolina. In 1911 she established the Working Girls Association in Cleveland, Ohio, which later became the Phillis Wheatley Association of Cleveland.[1][2][3][4]
Her parents were sharecroppers on the Woodburn Plantation Farm. After her father died in 1892, she did housework for local families. She began school at age 14 at the Ferguson Academy in Abbeville, South Carolina. She graduated with an eighth-grade education in 1900. She returned to work as a domestic.[2][4][5][6][7]
She was briefly married to Edward Hunter, who was about 40 years older. She moved to Charleston, South Carolina. She began nursing training at the Cannon Street Hospital and Training School for Nurses. In 1904, she completed her training at the Hampton Institute in Virginia.[1][2][6]
She moved to Cleveland, Ohio. In 1911, she founded the Working Girls Association to offer shelter, assistance, and education to women. In 1912, it became the Phillis Wheatley Association of Cleveland, named in honor of the African-American poet Phillis Wheatley.[2][3][6]
In 1925, she graduated from the Cleveland Law School,[1][8] which was then affiliated with Baldwin-Wallace College.[9][10] She was admitted to the Ohio Bar.[1][6]
She served as executive director of the Phillis Wheatley Association of Cleveland until she retired in 1947.[1][3] She wrote an autobiograpical book A Nickel and Prayer that was published in 1940.[11]
She held honorary degrees from Allen University, Fisk University, Central State University and Tuskegee Institute.[1][3] She was on the Board of Directors and was a Vice President of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.[1]
Her health failed in the mid 1950s. She lived in a nursing home from the early 1960s until her death on January 13, 1971 in Cleveland.[2][3]
The Cuyahoga County Department of Children and Family Services Agency named its principal building the Jane Edna Hunter Social Services Center to honor her work with children and families.[12] The Jane Edna Hunter Museum is at the Phillis Wheatley Center in Cleveland.[4]
Jane Edna Hunter: a case study of Black leadership is a book about her life.[13]