Written by: Kristie Lindblom
The above reflection, sourced from a detailed history of The Children’s Home of Pittsburgh written in 1993, highlights how women have played a pivotal role shaping our organization from its genesis. While Reverend W. Henry Thompson, an orphan himself, is named as our founder, documents reveal his wife by his side, administering to the children that came to their care and assisting in finding families for those children to join. Mrs. Ella L. Thompson, who had the title of Assistant Superintendent of Placements, was not alone as a women engaged in the work at hand. The first board had two women—Mrs. Theodore Tonneli and Mrs. J.A. Jackson sat at the table with the first board.
In the early days, the hardest work of the home was given to the “field workers,” which entailed not only taking collections but finding the children who needed homes as well as the families willing to take them. These workers were described as “filled with compassion for the plight of the homeless child.” Among them was Mrs. Bessie Russel, a particularly dedicated worker so tireless that records show she traveled almost two thousand miles from October 1897 to March 1898, as she traveled to various homes in hopes of finding a place for the children of the state. Documents demonstrate the diligence of these early workers placing major concern on the inspection of the home and foster family. In the coming years, women would be at the helm of efforts in the field. Among those were Marion Groff, Katherine Hawley, and Mrs. Maher. Additionally, Miss. Sarah Smith who, with Blanche Gibson as a nurse assistant, replaced Mrs. Thompson as Matron of the home of Temporary Care.
The women of the Board played a significant role, and it’s noted that in reality, these women ran the society. It is a shame they were seldom mentioned in the minutes, as this could provide insight into their activities, which would have detailed the day-to-day care children had in the early days of The Children’s Home. Beyond that, the Women of the Board were responsible for managing the Home of Temporary Care which was established in 1930 as a place to “prepare our beneficiaries for their new homes” both physically and spiritually. They responded to the children in the home by assisting the matron on both a regular and emergency basis. Further, they augmented the society’s income through parties, benefits, and fundraisers. In 1926, Reverend Harter, who was Superintendent of the time, gave the first public acknowledgment of their efforts and would continue to do so. In addition to thanking his wife, Priscilla, for her work, he praised Mrs. Mercer, Mrs. Gerst, Mrs. Henry K. Holmes, Mrs. C. Bradley Gibson, and Mrs. S.B.Heppenstall for their leadership in “popularizing our work.”
The decades that followed saw the torches of these women carried on. When Frances Eisman stepped down after leading Adoption from 1936-1950, Elizabeth McConnell became head of the Home until 1955 as the Home’s first trained worker. She eliminated many old ideas and practices, organized records, and changed procedures. Liz McConnell recommended Rena Rapp (later Hohosh) as her predecessor, who was a forward-thinking woman, by all accounts. She became known as “Mrs. Children’s Home,” and retained the title for 20 years. In 1978 Marlene West was hired to be the Home’s first executive director, and is described to have “social worker empathy combined with administrative skills.”
While The Children’s Home grew in many different areas beyond adoption, the founding Adoption Program remained strong and grew and changed over time. Under the leadership of Director of Adoption, Connie Bach, the Home went from being an infant adoption program only, to adding on SWAN Services by becoming a SWAN affiliate in 2012, providing families with the services of matching, placement, family profile writing, child preparation, child specific recruitment, finalization, and post permanency services. Under the management of, at the time SWAN Program Manager, Erika Schmitt, our services grew to include adding adoption from foster care as an adoption option for families wanting to adopt. In 2016, Erika and the SWAN program expanded to adding county contracts and providing foster care services to county agencies for this purpose. Presently, as Director of Counseling & Family Support Services (formerly Director of Adoption & Permanency Services), Erika Schmitt, is working to expand our programming to include an Outpatient Counseling Program, to help individuals, couples, children & families within all of The Children’s Home’s programs and beyond.
The legacy of women in leadership at The Children’s Home of Pittsburgh is not limited to adoption and foster care. Miss Adah Martz was the first registered nurse on staff. It was she who worked with Dr. Ellsmer Piper to start a student nursing program that gave many women a strong foundation or a career in nursing. When Transitional Infant Care (TIC) opened in 1984, it’s inception was guided by Marlene West as a professional consultant, along with board members Priscella Ebert, Betsy Wiegand, Dotty Beckworth, and others.
As CEO of the Children’s Home of Pittsburgh from 1993 until today, Pam Keen lobbied heavily for legislation to create licensure for pediatric extended care centers in Pennsylvania, places where children with special medical needs can receive care and education in a day care setting, while parents go to work. Her vision was the impetus for the creation of Child’s Way in 1998, the state’s first licensed prescribed pediatric extended care center. Pam also developed a pivotal partnership between The Children’s Home of Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh Penguins part-owner and legend Mario Lemieux. This partnership brought on the Lemieux Family Center when he donated $2 million. This allowed the Friendship building to have many family spaces throughout, including an enlarged family living area, our Lemieux Family Center, and “Austin’s Playroom” for healthy siblings.
In recent years Pam has built an all-woman management team that includes Stacy Schesler as COO, Kim Phillips as CFO, Christine Roman-Lantzy, Ph.D. as Pediatric VIEW Program Director, Beverly Brown, MD as President of Medical Staff/ Hospitalist, Erika Schmitt as Director of Counseling and Family Support Services, Bethany Bartilson as Program Relations Manager, C. Renee Gwin as Director of Therapy Services, and Lisa Houlihan as Chief Nursing Officer. At the helm of our board, we have Theresa Heck as President, Amy Bass as Vice President, Emily Landerman-Goldberg as Secretary, and Julie Kline as Treasure. These women have led the expansion of the Pediatric Specialty Hospital and started programs such as Ready.Set.Home, TEMP, Therapy Services, & Pediatric View.
American journalist and editor, Elaine Welteroth, once remarked, “Friends. Sisters. Mothers. Professors. When women affirm women, it unlocks our power. It gives us permission to shine brighter.” Having women in positions of influence is not only critical to the career advancement of women, but stands to generate societal impacts on pay equity, changing workplace policies in ways that benefit both men and women, and attracting a more diverse workforce (4). Families in Western Pennsylvania are fortunate to have 150 years of women leading the way at The Children’s Home of Pittsburgh, promoting the health and wellbeing of infants and children through services that establish and strengthen the family.
- Governor, Pennsylvania Office of the. “Governor Corbett Ceremonially Signs Law to Help Medically Fragile Children.” PR Newswire: Press Release Distribution, Targeting, Monitoring and Marketing, 30 June 2018, www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/governor-corbett-ceremonially-signs-law-to-help-medically-fragile-children-164883406.html.
- Manges, Dana F, and Priscilla R Ebert. “The Children’s Home of Pittsburgh: A Century of Service and Caring.” The Children’s Home of Pittsburgh, 1993.
- Schmitt, Ben et al. “Helping Children Heal and Thrive.” Pittsburgh Quarterly, 9 Feb. 2020, pittsburghquarterly.com/articles/helping-children-heal-and-thrive/.
- “Women in Leadership Why It Matters.” The Rockefeller Foundation, 2023.