Women’s History Month

Celebrating the history of charitable women helping others in our community

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Julia Shaw Patterson Carnell

In 1921, visionary thinking and caring individuals came together to help individuals from different walks of life find a way to have their charitable wishes stand the test of time. From this idea blossomed The Dayton Foundation, one of the nation’s first community foundations. The individual behind the idea was Dr. D. Frank Garland, director of Welfare for the National Cash Register Company. Support for this idea came from NCR founder John H. Patterson, with the initial seed money of $250,000 coming from him, his nephew, Robert Dunn Patterson, and his sister-in-law, Julia Shaw Patterson Carnell. Their collective gift established The Dayton Foundation and created its first unrestricted endowment fund.

In addition to her integral role in helping to establish The Dayton Foundation, Julia Shaw Patterson Carnell was the first woman in Dayton to sit on a bank board of directors. She was known as an astute businesswoman and community leader and was a major philanthropist. Other notable gifts include $2 million for the construction of The Dayton Art Institute in 1930 and a gift that created a building in her late husband’s name at Miami Valley Hospital, among others.

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Marie S. AullMarie S. Aull Fund

As the widow of prominent paper box manufacturer John Aull, who died in 1955, Marie Aull’s passion for nature and the environment had a profound impact on the Dayton community. Aullwood Audubon Center and Farm, founded in 1957, became the model for nature centers nationally, and in 1977 Mrs. Aull gave her home and famed garden to the Park District of Dayton-Montgomery County, which later became part of Five Rivers MetroParks. She continued living in her home, which overlooks the Stillwater River, while keeping her garden open to the public.

The center, farm and garden were three of Mrs. Aull's many philanthropic undertakings. She also had a love of children and the environment and made gifts to charities fostering health care, theology, social services, literacy and education. In 1992, she established the Marie S. Aull Fund for United Way, which has distributed more than $54,000 to the United Way of Greater Dayton Area. When she passed away in 2002 at age 105, Mrs. Aull left a $3.8 million estate gift, one of the Foundation's largest gifts to date, to the Marie S. Aull Fund which she created in 1986 to assist with the operating expenses of Aullwood. Now in its 28th year, the fund has awarded more than $3.9 million in grants.

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Jeraldyne BlundenThe First 200 Fund

Jeraldyne Blunden began dancing at the age of eight under the guidance of Josephine and Hermene Schwarz. Later she studied with dance pioneers Martha Graham and George Balanchine, who helped shape her vision and dreams for the future. At the young age of 19, Ms. Blunden took over the dance school started by the Schwarz sisters and in 1968, created the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company (DCDC).

To honor Ms. Blunden, DCDC established a designated fund in 1995 to inspire minority young people through DCDC contemporary dance classes.

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Ellen Jane Lorenz PorterEllen Jane Lorenz Porter Fund

Ellen Jane Lorenz Porter’s roots in the Dayton community run deep. Her grandfather came to Dayton in the 1800s to edit denominational hymnals for the United Brethren. Though he later moved to Pennsylvania to serve as president of a college, he returned to Dayton and founded the Lorenz Publishing Company in 1890. Ms. Lorenz Porter, like other members of her family, joined the family business. She first served as music editor and later, editor-in-chief. Ms. Lorenz Porter’s deep love of hymnology was inspired by her role at Lorenz Publishing Company and her grandfather’s collection of hymnbooks, eventually leading her to receive a doctorate degree in hymnology at the age of 71. Her musical compositions were played all over the world, including on the Taft Carillon in Washington, D.C., on the occasion of President Reagan’s inauguration. Locally, she was a longtime supporter of the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra and for many years wrote the program notes and served as emcee for the children’s concerts.

In 1990, Ms. Lorenz Porter established a permanent fund with The Dayton Foundation, utilizing a life income plan. Though she passed away in 1996, her fund has granted more than $242,000 to support the community she loved and that her family has called home for generations.

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Virginia W. KetteringVirginia W. Kettering Dayton Holiday Festival FundVirginia W. Kettering Fund

The contributions of Virginia Kettering – the generous and gracious, warm and vivacious daughter-in-law of famed Dayton inventor and Delco founder Charles F. Kettering and widow of his only son, Eugene – are well known in Greater Dayton. From Kettering Medical Center to the Kettering Tower, as well as many area arts groups and higher education facilities, Virginia Kettering’s support was instrumental in the development of many community institutions. In addition to her financial contributions, which have been conservatively estimated at $150 million during her lifetime, Mrs. Kettering did more than support good causes; she had a hand in crafting their design. In 1971, she founded the Dayton Holiday Festival, a community tradition that generations of Daytonians have come to enjoy. To preserve this event, she created the Virginia W. Kettering Dayton Holiday Festival Fund through The Dayton Foundation. This fund has granted $494,178 since 1990 to promote cultural activities in connection with holiday celebrations downtown. Before her passing in 2003, she also established the Virginia W. Kettering Fund, which has awarded more than $2.2 million to nonprofits since 2001.

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Josephine SchwarzJosephine Schwarz Dayton Dancers Endowment Fund

Born in 1908, Josephine Schwarz spent her life nurturing the arts, especially dancers. After studying in Chicago, New York and Europe, and performing in New York, she became a notable choreographer, with almost 80 works to her credit. “Miss Jo,” as she became known, and her sister, Hermene Schwarz, also founded what became the Dayton Ballet School and the Dayton Ballet. Dancers whom Miss Jo taught in Dayton went on to perform with dance companies, such as the New York City Ballet, or became artistic directors or mentors to young dancers. But her influence didn’t stop there. For example, Miss Jo suggested that the ballet company start collaborating with other performing artists, such as those involved in the opera and the orchestra. This suggestion resulted in Dayton's first performance of The Nutcracker in 1993. Before her death in 2004, Miss Jo established two funds through The Dayton Foundation to help nurture performing artists long after her lifetime. Since 1991 The Allegro Fund, established in honor of her sister Hermene, and the Josephine Schwarz Dayton Dancers Endowment Fund together have granted more than $146,000 to support the art and artists they loved.

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Pearl A. DalePearl A. Dale and Audrey Parker Scholarship Fund

Born in the South in the early 1900s, Pearl Dale experienced firsthand the barriers that African-Americans of her generation faced in pursuing a better life for themselves. Ms. Dale’s parents owned a farm in Kentucky where she and her brother, Walter, and sister, Audrey, were raised. The Dales managed to send all of their children to college, which was no small feat for African-American families of that era. The three siblings eventually became teachers, with Pearl Dale and her sister Audrey moving to Ohio in the 1940s and taking positions in Dayton Public Schools. The sisters went on to attain master’s degrees and continued teaching in Dayton until their retirement in the late 1970s.

In a letter written to The Dayton Foundation in 1990, Ms. Dale recollected the many hardships she encountered as a single African-American woman trying to make her own way. The desire to help others pursue their dreams without the difficulty she endured decades ago is what inspired her to create the Pearl A. Dale and Audrey Parker Scholarship Fund through African-American Community Fund. Though she passed away in 2009, Pearl Dale will continue her family’s legacy of helping to educate others through her fund, which has awarded $48,000 in scholarships to date.

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Anne GreeneMr. and Mrs. John B. Greene Fund and the John and Anne Greene Fund

Born and raised in Cincinnati, Anne Greene came to Dayton in 1945 and achieved a number of firsts for Greater Dayton women. In 1975, she became the first woman board president of United Way of the Greater Dayton Area; in 1978, the first woman director of the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce; and in 1979, the first woman director of First National Bank, now PNC. Known for her political savvy and for having a head for business, she became the first woman on The Dayton Foundation's Governing Board in 1980 and served for 10 years. She involved herself in important community efforts, such as taking the reins at the Victoria Theatre in 1980 when it was close to bankruptcy and helping to raise funds that turned the theater around by 1981. She also was a leader in race relations in her day, agreeing to chair the Dayton Human Relations Commission in 1964 during a racially tense time in the city's history. Ms. Greene was a role model and mentor, not just to the women she helped bring to the attention of corporate leaders in the community, but also to her eight children and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Over the years, she and her husband, John B. Greene, an investment broker, gave financial support generously and broadly. They created two Dayton Foundation funds: The Mr. and Mrs. John B. Greene Fund, established in 1988 to provide unrestricted funds to meet changing community needs, and the John and Anne Greene Fund, established in 1996 to benefit various charitable organizations. Though she passed away in 2003, Anne Greene’s legacy continues through these funds, which collectively have distributed more than $262,000 to nonprofit organizations to date.

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Lura I. McEvoyLura I. McEvoy Fund

As a regular visitor to several area hospitals and nursing homes, Lura McEvoy found great enjoyment in her volunteer work. There was no mistaking her and her dog, Brewster, when they would visit patients. At 33 inches tall and 110 pounds, Brewster, a rescued golden retriever, had a commanding presence, but a gentle demeanor, that made both him and Mrs. McEvoy favorites of the visiting pet therapy program. Mrs. McEvoy’s gentle and therapeutic nature helped to bring out the best in patients, often encouraging them to come out of their shells and engaging them both physically and emotionally.

In 2007, when Lura McEvoy realized that her three-year battle with cancer was coming to an end, she and her husband, Jack McEvoy, contacted The Dayton Foundation to create a charitable fund that would perpetuate her love of animals. As retired certified financial planners and longtime Charitable Checking Account donors, the McEvoys understood the value of giving back to their community, as well as the importance of planning one’s estate. Days before Mrs. McEvoy passed away, they established the Lura I. McEvoy Fund to benefit Mrs. McEvoy’s favorite charities, including the Greater Dayton Labrador Retriever Rescue and Referral Group. More than $9,000 has been awarded to date to designated nonprofits.

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Ellen MalahyThe Ellen C. Malahy Fund

Helen Malahy Morris believed that people with disabilities, like her younger sister, Ellen Malahy, were “blessed special children of God.” Described as a “second mother” to Ellen, Helen took great care of her sister throughout her life. Though Ellen resided at the F.F. Mueller Residential Center in Springfield, Helen Morris was an active participant in her sister’s care and often would visit her, taking her on a drive or to get a milkshake.

Concerned about the plight of those with mental and physical disabilities, Mrs. Morris gave generously throughout her life to ensure that individuals like her sister could enjoy extras, such as birthday parties, outings to the zoo or baseball games. She saw that Ellen achieved more of her potential through the mental and emotional stimulation from these happy occasions and wanted to find a permanent way to help care for other individuals with disabilities. When Ellen passed away in 2002, Mrs. Morris established a designated endowment fund with The Dayton Foundation to honor Ellen’s memory and to thank the F. F. Mueller Residential Center for more than 30 years of loving care to her sister. Since 2005, The Ellen C. Malahy Fund has awarded more than $231,000 in grants to the Center for activities that give pleasure and enrichment to its residents.

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Thyrsa Frazier SvagerThyrsa Frazier Svager Scholarship Fund

Born in 1930, Thyrsa Frazier Svager achieved what few African-American women of her generation have in the field of education. A brilliant mathematician with a genius level IQ, Dr. Svager graduated from the Wilberforce University Preparatory Academy at the young age of 15. She attended Antioch College for her undergraduate studies and was one of only four African-American students at the time. Another student was her close friend, Coretta Scott King. Dr. Svager earned her master’s degree and doctorate from The Ohio State University, becoming one of the first African-American women in the United States to earn a Ph.D. in mathematics. She had a long and distinguished career at Central State University that began in 1954 as an assistant professor of mathematics and concluded upon her retirement in 1993 as provost and vice president for academic affairs.

After she passed away in 1999, her husband, Aleksandar Svager, established the Thyrsa Frazier Svager Scholarship Fund through the African-American Community Fund of The Dayton Foundation. To date, the fund has awarded scholarships totaling $67,000 to assist African-American women in completing their degrees in mathematics at an accredited college or university. In addition to making current gifts to the fund, Mr. Svager has made plans for a significant legacy gift after his lifetime.

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Virginia ToulminHarry A. Toulmin, Jr., and Virginia B. Toulmin Fund

When Virginia B. Toulmin, widow of Harry A. Toulmin, Jr., Esq., son of the attorney who secured and defended the Wright Brothers’ flying machine patents, passed away in 2010, she left a more than $26-million unrestricted gift to endow a Dayton Foundation fund for the benefit of Greater Dayton. She wanted to give back to the community that meant so much to her and her husband, but she didn’t want to “rule from the grave.”

Thanks to her generosity, her fund has helped the Foundation to support significant community efforts, including the Montgomery County Ohio College Promise program and the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance merger.