Minnie J. Ellet photo provided by The University of Akron Archives & Special Collections
Why She’s Notable: From a young age, Minnie J. Ellet was an advocate for the temperance and women’s suffrage movements and Christian ideals. “She, as a young girl, was out there praying in front of saloons and bars to try to keep men from drinking,” says Leianne Neff Heppner, president and CEO of the Summit County Historical Society of Akron,OH, which has the Women's History Project for which Ellet was honored. “Minnie Ellet was a fireball.” She became a columnist and correspondent for the Akron Beacon Journal in 1882, according to the Akron-Summit County Public Library, and she wrote about faith and women’s issues. She remained an activist and philanthropist until her death.
Her Local Impact: Ellet is often remembered for her conviction and commitment to her community, Heppner says, adding that the Ellet neighborhood is named after her family. Her work with the temperance movement is particularly notable. “She was an ardent feminist,” Heppner says. “She’s trying to help women whose spouses are drinking away their paychecks.”
Her Legacy: She saw women gain the right to vote in 1920. Although Ellet lived long enough to see Prohibition, change was not at the level she had hoped, so she continued advocating. “She was involved in a movement of women to try to show the results of alcoholism,” Heppner says. “She really stood her ground for what she believed in.”
