Finding aid for the Jane Lee Darr Papers

Biography of the Bertha Blue Family and Jane Lee Darr

Bertha Blue (ca. 1877-1963) was a member of a well-known African American family in Cleveland, Ohio. She was the first cousin to Welcome T. Blue, a prominent real estate dealer in Cleveland in the early twentieth century. Bertha Blue was a teacher at the Murray Hill Elementary School from 1903-1947. Murray Hill School was located in Little Italy, an Italian immigrant neighborhood on Cleveland's east side in which it was unusual for a person of another ethnicity to work. Miss Blue, an African American, was an exception as was well received in that community. She was revered because she taught recent Italian immigrants to Cleveland, both parents and children alike, how to read and speak American English. Upon her retirement, Miss Blue was offered a position on the Board of Trustees for Alta House Settlement in Little Italy. Jane Lee Darr (1925-2006), Miss Blue's foster daughter, was interested in international affairs, particularly those which promoted better relations through the exchange of art and culture. Mrs. Darr continued Bertha Blue's dreams of racial harmony with efforts to establish an art and cultural educational park in Hawaii to be named for the Blue family.

Scope and Content

The Jane Lee Darr Papers, ca. 1920s-1998 and undated, consist of artwork, biographies, correspondence, newspaper clippings, notes, and publications.

This collection will be useful to researchers studying the history of the African American community in Cleveland, Ohio, particularly African American educators in the Cleveland Public Schools located in the Little Italy neighborhood in the 1900s-1940s. Those interested in the life and career of Bertha Blue, particularly in the recollections of her as a teacher by her former students and her daughter, will find this collection useful. The collection also contains documentation regarding the Blue family of Cleveland, Ohio.

Statement of Arrangement

Restrictions on Access

None.

The researcher should also consult MS 4630 Bertha Blue Family Papers; and PG 475 Bertha Blue Family Photographs.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects:

Preferred Citation

[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 5184 Jane Lee Darr Papers, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio

Acquisition Information

Gift of Jane Lee Darr in 1996.

Processing Information

Processed by Margaret Burzynski-Bays in 2014.

Detailed Description of The Collection