LASTING MARK

George Ritter impacting library 100 years later

Before her death in 1946, Bessie Roscoe had been a thorn in George Ritter’s side whenever they crossed paths in Vermilion.

A member of the Sorosis Club for women that established the village’s subscription library in the early 1900’s, Roscoe also worked at “The Vermilion News” newspaper and print shop, purchased and owned by her husband Pearl Roscoe.

“My grandmother (Roscoe) worked at the desk and (Ritter) would come in and visit her,” said Vermilion History Museum curator Rich Tarrant. “He kept saying he was going to build a library so she kept after him, kept after him.”

At this time, Ritter had already established himself as a wealthy attorney, according to Tarrant.

Born to German immigrants Louise and John Ritter in Vermilion in 1886, Ritter moved to Toledo in 1913 and became the legal counsel to Willys-Overland Co. in 1925, once the second-largest automobile manufacturing plant in the country, according to the Ritter Public Library’s 100year anniversary booklet, written by Patty Kischman.

“He was their legal counsel, so he made a lot of money,” said Janet Ford, historian of the Vermilion Area Archival Society and previous director of the library. “Since (Ritter and his wife Mary Fowler) didn’t have any children, he gave a lot of money to the Rotary Club of Toledo.

“He paid for the Ritter Planetarium at the University of Toledo. He paid for the Ritter Library at Baldwin Wallace.”

Establishing space

Throughout the early 1900’s, the village’s subscription library stored its collection of books in various local businesses, first in Penning’s news stand then at Harris’ Drug Store, then Nielsen’s Jewelry Store, among others.

“We believe the people of Vermilion are capable of selecting their own books and not dependent on someone with a well-learned lesson concerning up-to-date reading,” a Vermilion News article from 1903 read.

In 1918, Vermilion’s school board appointed the first library board of trustees, making it possible for the now official Vermilion Public Library to receive state funds, according the Kischman.

The library began renting space in a building on Grant Street in 1920, which they eventually bought in 1929.

Roscoe’s persistence with Ritter began during this period and was rooted in the need she saw in the village’s blossoming library.

“The book collection was growing and the board hoped to replace its modest wood-frame building with a modern structure built specifically for the needs of a library,” wrote Kischman.

Ritter, however, never paid his dues in Roscoe’s lifetime.

“The library was still in a very small building,” said Ford. “The trustees at the time saved money and had things like bake sales and so forth and saved enough money to build it over on

Grand Street (in 1935), which is now the Jailhouse Bed and Breakfast.”

Ritter’s donations

Roscoe’s persistent nudging paid off, even if she wasn’t alive to see the plans pull through.

In 1954, Ritter contacted

the Vermilion library board and offered to fund a larger building for the city’s present-day library.

He donated more than $200,000 in cash for the building and an additional 10 feet of land.

$50,000 of those funds were used to purchase 30

tons of marble for the front of the building, as well as the building’s six pillars, wrote Kischman.

The Ritter Public Library’s groundbreaking in 1958 at 5680 Liberty Ave., and was followed by two more expansions, one in 1982 and another in 2009.

Before Ritter died in 1979, he named the library as the beneficiary of his will, which still receives some funds every year from his estate.

Ford said the library joined Clevenet, a consortium of around 40 public libraries over Northeast Ohio, in 1986 because the library’s trustee saved around $20,000 from Ritter’s estate.

The library was the eighth to join the program at the time.

Present day

Vermilion’s library celebrated its 100th anniversary this year, now welcoming more than 350 visits a day and serving about 1,250 people every month, wrote Kischman.

Public programs, classes and story times are just a few of the library’s offerings.

“Our goal is to make it more of a community center,” said the library’s director, Holly Lynn.

“We believe the people of Vermilion are capable of selecting their own books and not dependent on someone with a well-learned lesson concerning up-to-date reading.”

— Vermilion News article from 1903

JORDANA JOY — THE MORNING JOURNAL Director of the Ritter Public Library Holly Lynn organizes shelves

COURTESY OF VERMILION HISTORY MUSEUM Present day Ritter Public Library is located at 5680 Liberty Ave. in Vermilion.

COURTESY OF VERMILION HISTORY MUSEUM Photo of six women in the newly built library on Grand Street in Vermilion in 1934. Previous library board member Bessie Roscoe, middle front row, served on the board from 1918 to her death in 1946. She played a large part in acquiring the library from the Village of Vermilion.

COURTESY OF VERMILION HISTORY MUSEUM The original Vermilion Public Library at 691 Grand St. in Vermilion is shown around 1940.

COURTESY OF VERMILION HISTORY MUSEUM A rare 1940s color photo of the original Vermilion Public Library at 691 Grand St..