Frank H. Nelson of CincinnatiHerrick, Warren Crocker
Religion
Frank H. Nelson of Cincinnati
Herrick, Warren Crocker
Nelson, Frank Howard, 1869-1939
Among the many tributes paid at the time of Mr. Nelson's death, was one
given by the Reverend Jesse Halsey, the beloved former minister of the
Seventh Presbyterian Church, who culled the phrase "An Unmitered
Bishop," a title which is signally descriptive of the man by reason of
the many civic causes to which he was spiritual advisor, and thus a
father-in-God to diverse groups scattered over the seven hills and in
the "bottoms." He actively furthered many humanitarian causes: the
Juvenile Protective Association, the Anti-Tuberculosis League, the
Branch Hospital, the Community Chest, the Council of Social Agencies,
the Helen S. Trounstine Foundation, the Hospital Social Service, St.
Michael's Convalescent Home, and many others. Now that he is gone, the
long list of social enterprises ceases to be a mere string of activities
and becomes a roll of drums.[11] His whole life seems to exemplify the
words of the philosopher Bacon: "The nobler a soul is, the more objects
of compassion it hath." His spirit breathed out upon men, and in his
lifetime the city felt its beauty and greatness, drawing from his
constancy the courage to endure. He protested impatiently against the
nonsense often bandied about concerning the alleged immorality of city
folk compared with country folk, and cited confuting evidence out of his
pastoral experience to prove his conviction saying, "Heroes of these
days are the poor people who live in our big cities."
One of the heroines of Cincinnati, though not one of the poor, was Helen
S. Trounstine, a remarkable young woman of Jewish faith, who was
responsible for making Mr. Nelson the first president of the Juvenile
Protective Association. She was a pioneer in social service work, but
her career was tragically cut short when she died at the early age of
twenty-six. At her memorial service held in Christ Church Parish House
January 21, 1917, Mr. Nelson made the principal address and some of his
words indirectly reveal much of himself:
I remember the organization of the Juvenile Protective
Association; I first met her then. I had never known her before
and I said to myself: "Here is another person with an enthusiasm
come to complicate my life." I tried to get out of it, but
because I wanted to help little children (I built this parish
house for the young people, making my people support it for their
sake), and she knew it, with infinite patience and constant humor
and courtesy she kept forcing me, until gradually she landed me
in the Presidency of the Juvenile Protective Association, utterly
ignorant of what I was to do or what was to be done. And with the
same humor and patience she went ahead and did the work and made
me and the board responsible for it--made us stand behind her,
until at last we were ashamed that our consciences were so dull
and poor that we had not seen it long ago. And then we set out to
do something.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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