George and Lolette Hanserd (1910-1984; ? - ?) were well known in the Cleveland, Ohio, African American community for their professional contributions, respectively, in podiatry and social work. George was born in Atlanta, moving to Cleveland with his family in 1924. He attended East Technical High School with Jesse Owens and then Cleveland College. In 1939 he graduated from the Ohio College of Chiropody (now the Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine) then served in the army during World War II. After the war, Hanserd maintained a private practice and served part-time on the staffs of the outpatient podiatric clinic at Cleveland Metropolitan General Hospital to 1981 and the Cuyahoga County Nursing Home from 1963 to 1975. He was a member of the American and Ohio Podiatry Associations, Northeastern Ohio Academy of Podiatrists, Board of Managers for the East-Urban Young Men's Christian Association, Gaylord's Club, and Stadium Club. Lolette was born in Nashville, Tennessee. She attended Fisk University, and then received her Master of Arts from Western Reserve University's School of Applied Social Science. In 1943 she began working for the Cleveland Girl Scouts, becoming program chairperson in 1949 and community advisor for the Great Lakes region in 1951. In 1952 she began working for the Welfare Federation of Cleveland as a member of the Group Services Council. In 1965 she was named director of a four year project to improve interracial and inter-cultural relations for the Federation, after which she became director of the Human Relations Department. In 1971 her position was expanded to include associate director of the Federation of Community Planning, the new name adopted by the Welfare Federation that same year. One year later, she became the first African American to be named social worker of the year by the Cleveland Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. Lolette retired from the Federation for Community Planning in 1984.
The Lolette and George Hanserd Papers, 1939-1984 and undated, consist primarily of Lolette's professional papers from the Federation for Community Planning as well as some personal papers of both George and Lolette.
The collection pertains primarily to Lolette Hanserd's civic activities in Cleveland, Ohio, particularly her work on behalf of the Welfare Federation of Cleveland and the Federation for Community Planning. Thos studying the history of social work and the African American community in Cleveland will find this collection useful. To a much lesser degree, the collection documents George Hanserd's medical career in Cleveland.
The collection is arranged in two series. Each series is arranged by subject and/or document type and then chronologically.
Researchers should also consult PG 369 Lolette and George Hanserd Photographs.
Processed by Bari Oyler Stith in 1988.
None.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 4236 Lolette and George Hanserd Papers, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Lolette Hanserd, 1983, 1984, and 1985.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.