Arthur (1903-1974) and Murtis Taylor were community leaders active in the Cleveland, Ohio, African American community and several African American organizations. They met at Karamu House wehre Arthur served as administrative assistant and Murtis served as education director. After their marriage, both worked at the Outhwaite Homes Housing Project as management assistants. Arthur joined Dunbar Life Insurance Company in 1945 and four years later received his certificate as a chartered life underwriter, the first such to be awarded in Ohio to an African American. He retired from the Supreme Liberty Life Insurance Company in 1967. Murtis, a graduate of Western Reserve University's School of Applied Social Science, continued in social work in directorships at social agencies, including the Mount Pleasant Community Center which she co-founded. In 1971 she joined the Federation for Community Planning as coordinator of the Project on Aging. To celebrate her dedication, the Community Services Center of Mt. Pleasant was renamed the Murtis H. Taylor Multi-Service Center in 1976. Bruce and Howard Taylor, sons of Arthur and Murtis, became equally prominent. Bruce (b. 1942) graduated from Kent State University with a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering in 1971 and worked as a biomedical engineer researching artificial arteries at Akron City Hospital. Howard Taylor received his Ph.D. in sociology from Yale University in 1966, then became associate professor of sociology at Syracuse University in 1969. The entire family was honored as the Outstanding Family of the Year in 1968 at the 50th anniversary of the Urban League of Cleveland, just four years after Arthur and Murtis received the Artha-Jon Ukaya Award for their community contributions.
The Arthur and Murtis Taylor Family Papers, 1895 and 1935-1979, consist of biographical items, correspondence, newspaper clippings, writings by family members, and miscellany including a marriage license, programs, and certificates.
This collection pertains largely to the careers and community activities of an educated African American family in Cleveland, Ohio, during the mid-twentieth century. Of special interest are the materials on social work.
The collection is arranged by document type, then by family member, and then chronologically. It is maintained in five folders.
Processed by Bari Oyler Stith in 1989.
None.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 4439 Arthur and Murtis Taylor Family Papers, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Murtis Taylor-Mills, 1980.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.