“Official Publication of the Womanhood of Cleveland.” The masthead of Cleveland Women made an ambitious introduction. Open the weekly’s surviving pages from 1917 and you find the names, clubs, and everyday work behind it.
The journal, published in 1917–1918, recorded women’s participation in the city’s public life. Its pages are useful because they get specific: editors with names, organizations with officers, and activities someone took the trouble to put on the record.
That is where the story comes into focus.
The October 6, 1917 issue names Ella M. Estabrook as managing editor, Emily Warner as associate editor, and Louise Klein Miller as feature editor. Club pages record literary interests and community activity. Read them slowly and the masthead becomes a roomful of people with work to do.
The publication’s confident title was the starting point for our own tribute. It places women at the center of the city’s story, in lettering that does not appear inclined to ask permission.
Our "Cleveland Women" emblem pairs a classical helmeted female bust with the words “Let Your Light So Shine That Others May See Your Good Works.” That combination is our design interpretation of civic spirit. The journal itself supplies the historical starting point; its surviving pages are the place to meet the people behind the name.
The design gives that history an everyday presence. The reason to return to the journal is more personal: to read what its contributors chose to record about their city and their work.
Here’s to a masthead with confidence—and the people who had to get the next issue out.
The emblem in the collection: Find it on a vintage crewneck or dad hat. Then spend a few minutes with the original pages linked below.
Down the Rabbit Hole
Open the Cleveland Public Library scans of the October 6, 1917 staff and directory page and July 14, 1917 club page. Notice how much community life fits into a few columns. For a different use of persuasive print, read the Ohio Anti-Saloon League story.
