Specific Pioneering Contributions
Jane Edna Hunter (1882-1971) was a pioneering advocate for African American girls and women in Cleveland during a time when they had few options. She arrived in Cleveland in 1905 in search of work and a better life after growing up in South Carolina. Her early life experiences gave her a unique understanding of the vulnerabilities faced by young Black women who relocated to urban areas alone.
In 1911, Hunter met with a group of close friends to address these issues. Together, they established the Working Girls’ Home Association, later renamed the Phillis Wheatley Association (PWA) in honor of the first published African American poet. The PWA became a nationally recognized model of social support. In 1930, the National Association of Colored Women established a Phillis Wheatley Department, which Hunter chaired. By 1939, ten Phillis Wheatley homes were in operation across the country, providing housing, social services, and meeting facilities for African American women and girls.
Hunter’s decision to collaborate with both white and African American leaders for the betterment of young African American women was pioneering for the time. She raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to meet the growing need for housing and social services. The Cleveland PWA began in a 23-room house with a small employment office. Over time, it expanded to offer homemaking training, educational courses, and recreational opportunities. In 1927, the PWA completed construction on a nine-story building at 2265 East 40th Street in Cleveland, which still stands today.
Hunter was also a pioneer in moving beyond individual assistance to address systemic community issues. She was deeply concerned about the impact of organized crime on vulnerable young women in Cleveland. When a local crime boss gained influence with politicians, firefighters, and police officers, Hunter did not back down. Instead, she mobilized the community through grassroots organizing to raise money, speak out against crime, and encourage civic engagement, including voter participation. Like today’s social workers, she believed in social and racial equity and the importance of political advocacy.
Career Highlights
In 1911, Hunter founded the Working Girls’ Home Association to create a safe haven for African American women relocating to Cleveland during the Great Migration. She served as its first president. According to original records, the organization was later incorporated as the Phillis Wheatley Association, where Hunter served as Secretary to the Board of Trustees. As Executive Director, she dedicated her life and career to the PWA’s funding, growth, and advancement.
Under her leadership, both the physical footprint and the breadth of services provided by the PWA expanded. In 1925, the organization launched a campaign to raise $550,000—the largest fundraising effort of its kind at the time—and broke ground on a new 11-story facility in 1927. Hunter developed programs including:
• The Sarah C. Hills Training School for domestic work
• A beauty school
• An educational assistance program
• An employment office
• Recreational and cultural opportunities, such as dances, concerts, and summer camps
Hunter served as Chair of the Phillis Wheatley Home Department of the National Association of Colored Women (NACW) when it was established in 1931. The NACW supported PWA institutions in nine cities in addition to Cleveland. She also served as Vice President and Executive Committee Member of the NACW, and was an active member of the NAACP.
In 1925, Hunter graduated from law school, passed the bar exam, and was admitted to the Ohio Bar. In 1943, she founded the Civic Women’s League of Cleveland.
Hunter served as Executive Director of the PWA until 1947, when she reached the mandatory retirement age of 65. She then established the Phillis Wheatley Foundation, a college scholarship fund for African American students—initially focused on those studying social work. Today, the PWA in Cleveland continues her legacy by awarding approximately $100,000 in scholarships annually in her honor.
Biographic Information
Jane Edna Hunter was born in 1882 in Pendleton, South Carolina. Her father, Edward Harris, was born into slavery, the son of an African American woman and a white overseer. Her mother, Harriet Milliner Harris, was born on the day the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, making her legally free from birth. Her parents worked as sharecroppers and also held various wage jobs, including at Clemson Agricultural College.
Her father died when she was just 10 years old. Fortunately, he had previously moved the family to a location where the children could attend school. After his death, family members were dispersed, and Jane began working in private homes—caring for children, cooking, and cleaning to earn her keep.
Hunter stayed with various relatives and mentors who supported her education. She attended Ferguson and Williams College, a boarding school in Abbeville, South Carolina, and graduated with the help of missionary funding and work-study arrangements. After graduation, she lived in several locations and was briefly married to Edward Hunter, a man 40 years her senior. The marriage lasted 15 months.
Hunter began her nursing career in Charleston, South Carolina, first informally and then through formal training. She graduated from the Cannon Street Hospital and Training School for Nurses, and completed specialized training at the Dixie Hospital and Training School for Nurses at Hampton Institute in Virginia. Her skill and professionalism earned the respect of physicians, who helped her overcome racial barriers to employment.
Initially considering a move to Florida, she instead joined friends relocating to Cleveland in 1905. Upon arrival, she and her companions unknowingly approached a brothel in search of housing but were soon able to find safer accommodations. Hunter quickly found work as a nurse, formed friendships, and integrated into the local church community.
In 1910, after her mother’s death, Hunter experienced a period of intense grief. Having hoped for a reconciliation after a difficult childhood, the opportunity was lost. This time of reflection led her to a calling: to help other young African American women who arrived in urban centers unprepared. Inspired by the spiritual “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child,” she recognized that the experience of a struggling migrant woman could easily have been her own. After helping one such woman, her life’s purpose became clear.
In her later years, Hunter’s health declined. She moved into a nursing home in the early 1960s, where she remained until her death in 1971. She is buried at Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland, Ohio.
Significant Achievements and Awards
• 1937: Nominated for the prestigious Spingarn Medal by the NAACP
• Received honorary degrees from:
o Fisk University
o Allen University
o Central State University
o Tuskegee Institute
• The Jane Edna Hunter Social Services Building in downtown Cleveland is named in her honor
• Featured in “Women Builders” (1945), a painting by William H. Johnson from his “Fighters for Freedom” series,
now part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum collection
• 1978: Inducted into the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame
• 2012: Inducted into the Anderson County (South Carolina) Museum Hall of Fame
Significant Publications
In 1940, Hunter published her autobiography, A Nickel and a Prayer, at a time when it was still uncommon for African American women to tell their own stories in print. A second edition followed in 1941. The first edition was reprinted in 1984, and the 1941 edition was reissued in 2011 with a new foreword, introduction, and additional materials edited by Dr. Rhondda Robinson Thomas.