Stark Library is celebrating Black history, and particularly that of Esther Archer.
"Each year here at Stark Library we plan programs, curate displays, organize book lists, and encourage our community members to learn more about Black history through celebration and conversation," notes Hannah Van Sile, adult services programming specialist at Stark Library's main branch, on a page called "Inspiring Change: Black Voices in Our Community" on the library's website.
"We spend so much time and effort preparing for these experiences because we understand the importance of uplifting Black voices within our community," Van Sile wrote. "Canton would not be what it is today without the resilience of Black men and women like Esther Archer, who, when elected a Canton City Council member in 1948, became the first Black woman elected to municipal office in the state of Ohio."
Van Sile goes on to speak of other notable Black individuals in the Stark County community.
"The efforts of folks like Bill Powell, the first Black man in the nation to design and run his own golf course, or J.B. Walker, Canton’s first Black physician, who helped organize the Canton Urban League, are still benefitting our community in tangible ways today."
We single out Esther Archer here. She left a legacy in Canton and Stark County.
Former Canton City Council member Thomas West once noted that pioneering government officials such as Archer "set the stage" for him and other Blacks who have served on the board since her four terms on the city's governing body in the 1940s and 1950s.
Archer born in the South
According to the book "African Americans of Canton, Ohio" by Nadine McIlwain and Geraldine Radcliffe, Archer was born in 1905 in Alabama and was orphaned by the time she came to Canton in 1920 with her brother and grandmother.
She graduated from McKinley High School and early in the 1940s became one of the first Blacks hired at what was then Timken Roller Bearing Co. Working as an inspector, she was an employee at Timken for 26 years, retiring in 1968.
"As a result of her factory employment during World War II, when most men were at war and even black women could find work, she worked hard and was able to put her four children through school and college," said the book's section on Archer.
After her friend and colleague on City Council, Vera Elliott, sold Archer her first home, Archer began working as a real estate agent herself, said Radcliffe.
"She was such a delight and very good for the African American community," recalled Radcliffe. "It was a time when it was tough for us (Blacks) to get houses. She would intercede to help Blacks get loans. She helped Blacks in securing nice homes in the northeast section. In fact, she even bought herself a home.
"She made an impact."
Served 10 years on city council
It was Archer's decade on Canton City Council that she is remembered for the most.
"In 1947, Canton city government was a white man's world when Esther Archer became the first African American woman to be elected to Canton City Council or (any city council) in the state of Ohio," records Radcliffe's and McIlain's book, which collected submissions from more than two dozen contributors. "The entire Black community, including the churches, got involved and registered Blacks to vote in record members."
Her job as councilwoman for the Fourth Ward was difficult, Archer said in a recollection quoted in the book.
"You had to fight to get in there and then after you got in there, you had to fight to stay," she often said.
That fight that she fought is not lost on Radcliffe, McIwain and others, who are involved in an effort to get a Black history museum built within the McKinley Presidential Library & Museum, where a picture of Esther Archer already is displayed in the museum's "Stark County Story" permanent exhibit.
"She left her mark," said Radcliffe, "and we want to keep her legacy alive in the Black community.”
Library offers Black history resources
Telling the stories of Archer and others in the Black community can serve to draw attention to "overlooked accomplishments and contributions made by Black Americans, giving these achievements the attention and credit that is well deserved," notes Van Sile on the library's website.
As sources of education about Black history, Van Sile recommended such books available at the library as "The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration," a 2010 Pulitzer Prize-winning saga of the migration of blacks from the Jim Crow South to the North and West.
If readers' idea of recognizing Black History Month means financially supporting the Black community, Van Sile noted that the library also keeps a list of area Black-owned businesses.
"Whatever your plans, if you find yourself near downtown Canton this month, you’ll want to stop into the Main Library to view 'A Place For All People,' a collaborative Smithsonian and local history exhibit created to showcase both local Black history and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture."
Gary Brown
Special to The Canton Repository
