Clinton League
In the summer of 1912, a book agent promoted an 11-volume set of books entitled The Foundation for Young People. Buyers were entitled to a Certificate of Membership in the Child Welfare League of America. Twenty-five local women pledged, and 11 of them came to the first local meeting. In the early days they met in the guild room of Saint James Episcopal Church. They held readings and had discussions on predetermined topics. They supported Columbus’ Baby Camp; they held Minstrel shows to benefit the Belgian Relief Fund; they sponsored a hot lunch program in the local schools. Clintonville was outside the city limits in these early days and had no city library service, and so club members established a branch of the state library within Clinton School from 1914-1915, and when that was deemed impractical, they had a lending library at Cummings Drugstore located at Clinton Heights Avenue and North High Street—another idea that proved to be impractical. Eventually a Columbus Public Library 
branch was put into Clintonville, and when the local group became aware of the local library’s need for books, they held a “book shower” to bring in book donations. They engaged in war relief work in 1917. They advocated getting rid of some dirty carriage sheds at the Clinton school. In 1915 they were also able to convert two vacant lots owned by J. E. Pierson on Dunedin near Beach Hill Avenue (now Calumet Street) for use as community tennis courts. The club contributed to the community through World War I, the flu epidemic of 1918, the Great Depression, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Over the years their name changed from Clinton Child Welfare League to the Clinton Social Welfare League (1913) to the Clinton Welfare League (1915) to the Clinton League (1925). The group disbanded around 1977. Their papers can be found at the Ohio Historical Society.
From 1945 to 1953, they donated books to the Clintonville Library. In this photograph, Mrs. Miller presents books to the children at the Clintonville Library, on behalf of the Clinton League. (Photo courtesy of the Clintonville Historical Society)
I wonder how long school children have been parading in their costumes on Halloween day. Certainly they were doing so early on at Glenmont Elementary School. In the early days, neighbors probably turned out to watch the parade; nowadays they are more likely to watch from inside their houses. (Photo courtesy of Indian Springs Elementary School)
Okay, who here remembers the Sunbubble–and is willing to admit it? In 1986 it was located at 4495 North High Street, cost $6 an hour, and offered “a private chance to slip into a hot tub, watch some M-TV or a movie, listen to your favorite radio station or cassette tape and have a good time.” Sunbubble was eventually demolished to make way for the Unitarian Church’s expansion and the overhaul of that section of High Street. And note: this photo shows two models in a promotional photo for the hot-tub facility.
This 9 foot by 15 foot Columbus Skyline Mural is all that’s left of the Savings of America National Savings and Loan that was located from 1987 to 1992 at Graceland Shopping Center. The mural was created for the bank by renowned tile artist Marlo Bartels in the mid-1980s. The Casto Corporation donated it to Clinton Elementary School; it adorned the Gail Paris Discovery Garden for awhile and was moved into the cafeteria after the school’s 2011-2012 renovation. (Photo courtesy of Terry Miller)
Until I worked on this book project, I didn’t know what the Charity Newsies–those guys wearing white jumpsuits asking for donations on street corners in December –did and why they did it. But after becoming acquainted with the organization I am so impressed with the group’s charitable accomplishments. Just in case you are as ignorant as I was about the group, here’s what they do: each year they equip needy schoolchildren—about 14,000 of them– with a wardrobe of new clothes for the school year. Every child in the program receives individual attention from a Charity Newsie member. The organization is totally independent and does not receive government money for their effort; they spend the year collecting money for the endeavor. And, they’ve been doing this for 100 years. This photo shows the Newsies when they first moved their headquarters from South High Street to Indianola Avenue (1995). (Photo courtesy of Charity Newsies)
Clintonville Federal Savings was located just north of the Northmoor Fire Station until the bank was demolished to make way for the fire station’s expansion. Note the Northmoor addition pillars marking the entry into that housing development, which was opened in 1921. (Photo courtesy of Melissa Goodrich)