Dr. Jeanne Spurlock, a Leader in Psychiatric Medicine and Social Activism

Born in Sandusky in 1921, the first child of Frank and Glodena Spurlock, Jeanne Spurlock spent her early childhood in Sandusky before moving to the Detroit area, where she attended high school. When she was nine years old, she became determined to dedicate her life to promoting caring and empathy in the medical profession, after receiving indifferent care in a hospital when she broke a leg. At first she thought she should become a teacher because she didn't think she could afford medical school, but she eventually achieved both dreams by becoming a highly regarded psychiatrist and educator.

After high school, receiving a scholarship, she enrolled in Spelman College in Atlanta, later transferring to Roosevelt College in Chicago. In 1943, she enrolled in the Howard University College of Medicine, and received her medical degree in 1947. 

By 1950, Dr. Spurlock became a staff psychiatrist in a Chicago hospital, and began a long career in medicine, education, and human services. Among her specializations in her early career in Chicago was child psychiatry, serving in hospitals, academia, and private practice. She later was on the faculty of Meharry Medical College in Nashville. In the 1970s, she was appointed to the National Institute of Mental Health and became Deputy Medical Director of the American Psychiatric Association, serving in the position until 1991. In her biography at the website of the National Institute of Health said that Dr. Spurlock "made significant contributions in focusing the medical community's attention on the stresses of poverty, sexism, racism, and discrimination that effect women, minorities, gays, and lesbians." 

After Dr. Spurlock's death in 1999, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry named two fellowships in her honor; the American Psychiatric Association created the Jeanne Spurlock Minority Fellowship Achievement Award, and, in 2002, the Jeanne Spurlock Congressional Fellowship.

Amy Ruth Kelly, Biographer of Eleanor of Aquitane

An article about Amy R. Kelly appeared in the June 9, 1911 issue of the Sandusky Register. While on faculty at Wellesley College, she and Laura E. Lockwood edited the book, Letters That Live.

Over one hundred fifty letters appeared in the book, representing seventy authors, including Charles Dickens, Lewis Carroll and Emily Dickinson. The New York Times covered the book in its “Review of Books” section on May 7, 1911.

Miss Kelly is best known for her book, Eleanor of Aquitane and the Four Kings, published in 1950 by the Harvard University Press.  It was the first New York Times bestseller for that publisher. Even though it was written over fifty years ago, many maintain that Miss Kelly’s book it is still the best written biography about Eleanor, mother of Richard the Lionhearted; it has been republished multiple times through the 1990s, and remains in print.  While doing research for the book, Amy Kelly made six trips to Europe to retrace Eleanor’s steps. Her research was meticulous. Time Magazine carried an article about the book in an article “The Greatest Frenchwoman” published in June, 1950.

Amy Ruth Kelly was born in Port Clinton, the daughter of Judge Malcolm Kelly. Judge Kelly was a judge of Erie County Common Pleas Court from 1892 to 1897. He also had served in several offices in Ottawa County (including a term as Mayor of Port Clinton), and was held in high esteem by the Bar Association. (He was a grandson of William Kelly, builder of the Marblehead Lighthouse.) Amy’s mother was active in women’s suffrage activities in Erie County; she donated this “Let Ohio Women Vote” poster to the historical collections of the Sandusky Library.

Amy Kelly lived the last years of her life with her sister Elizabeth “Bessie” Kelly  in Miami, Florida, where she died in February of 1962.

Lawrence V. Kerber, Aeronautical Engineer

Lawrence Vincent Kerber was born in Sandusky, Ohio in 1895 to John and Christina (Knauer) Kerber. He graduated from Sandusky High School in 1913. After attending Kenyon College for a time, he graduated with high honors from the University of Michigan in 1918, with a Bachelor’s Degree in mechanical engineering. From 1927 to 1929, he was the Daniel Guggenheim Professor of Applied Aeronautics at the University of Michigan. Mr. Kerber was a pioneer in the aviation industry, and he wrote several aeronautical textbooks and flight manuals. He also published technical reports on airplane performance.  

In his work at McCook Field in Dayton, he designed three pursuit planes. In 1921 John A. Macready achieved an altitude record of 34,509 feet in an airplane designed by Kerber. Later, for several years Mr. Kerber served as president of Spartan Aircraft Corporation. 

After a lengthy illness, Lawrence V. Kerber passed away in California on August 2, 1971. An obituary appeared in the August 17, 1971 issue of the Sandusky Register.

Professor Moses True Brown

Born in Deerfield, New Hampshire, in 1827, Moses True Brown was the first professor of oratory at Tufts University, serving in that capacity from 1866 to 1890. Prior to teaching in New England, Moses True Brown was superintendent of Toledo Public Schools (1861-1866), and was a literary critic. In 1884 Moses True Brown established the Boston School of Oratory, acting as its president until he moved to his wife's home town of Sandusky, Ohio in 1890.

Professor Brown had married Cora B. Barney, daughter of George Barney, in 1863. Mrs. Cora Barney Brown died in 1886 in Atlantic City, but she was buried at Oakland Cemetery in Sandusky. When Professor Moses True Brown died on September 11, 1900, his obituary in the Sandusky Daily Star stated that he was an "eminent educator, a highly respected citizen, and a man of high attainments."

Professor Brown was a mentor to Pulitzer Prize winning author Hamlin Garland. Several well known orators had studied with Moses True Brown, including Anna Morgan, the Chicago dramatist. In his will Moses True Brown left his personal library to the public library of Sandusky which was under construction at that time.

To learn more about about Moses True Brown and other early residents of Sandusky and Erie County visit the Archives Research Center at Sandusky Library.