Helen Black (1924 – June 8, 2018)
/ref> was an American naturalist and conservationist from the Greater

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

area.

Biography

Helen Black was born in 1924 and grew up in Indian Hill area of Cincinnati. After graduating from

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely foll ...

with a degree in English in 1945, she and her husband settled in Indian Hill and committed herself to conservation, having been inspired by an elementary teacher, Louis Brand, at the Lotspeich School and Dr. Emma Lucy Braun, a prominent botanist, ecologist and expert on the forests of the eastern United States. Black was one of the founders of the

Cincinnati Nature Center Cincinnati Nature Center is a nature center and preserve with two locations, the main site known as Rowe Woods in Milford, Ohio, and Long Branch Farm in Goshen, Ohio. Rowe Woods The 1,025-acre Rowe Woods in Milford features the Rowe Visitor Cen ...

(CNC), the nation's largest member-supported nature center, in 1965 and Little Miami Inc. She served as vice president of the CNC from 1967 to 1977, later becoming a teaching volunteer, land steward, and active honor trustee and lands committee member. Black was president of the Ohio chapter of

The Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in 1951, The Nat ...

from 1976 to 1978 and board member of the

Ohio Environmental Council The Ohio Environmental Council is an environmental organization founded in 1969. Its work includes the environment, clean energy, and democracy. Environment OEC praised Columbus's Climate Action Plan. OEC jointly sought action against pollutio ...

. Black was instrumental in the merger that created the

Cincinnati Museum Center The Cincinnati Museum Center is a museum complex operating out of the Cincinnati Union Terminal in the Queensgate neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. It houses museums, theater, a library, and a symphonic pipe organ, as well as special traveling ...

at Union Terminal in 1983. For 20 years, she was on the board of the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History at Gilbert Avenue advocating the merger between the museum and the Cincinnati Historical Society at Union Terminal. In 1995, she joined the board of directors, serving until 2004, when she was named a lifetime emeritus trustee. She also worked with other regional conservation groups including: Edge of Appalachia Preserve, Greenacres, Indian Hill Garden Club, Redbird Hollow Association, Cincinnati Wildflower Preservation Society,

Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority The Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) is the public transport agency serving Cincinnati and its Ohio suburbs. Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, SORTA operates fixed-route buses, bus rapid transit, microtransit, and paratransit ...

, and Shelterhouse.

Awards and legacy

In 1972, the

Garden Club of America The Garden Club of America is a nonprofit organization made up of around 18,000 club members and 200 local garden clubs around the United States. Founded in 1913, by Elizabeth Price Martin and Ernestine Abercrombie Goodman, it promotes the record ...

awarded Black the Medal of Merit for Conservation. In 1973, she was awarded the Oak Leaf Award from The Nature Conservancy as well as the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Conservation Award. She was inducted into the

Ohio Women's Hall of Fame The Ohio Women's Hall of Fame was a program the State of Ohio's Department of Job and Family Services ran from 1978 through 2011. The Hall has over 400 members. In 2019, the Hall's physical archives and online records were transferred to the ...

in 1978. In 1981, the Garden Club of America presented her with the Margaret Douglas medal for outstanding service to conservation education. She was nominated along with her husband, Robert L. Black Jr., in 1997 for the Jacob E. Davis Volunteer Leadership Award. In 2012, the CNC honored her for her work in conservation in the Greater Cincinnati region at their first Awards dinner, where she received the Wood Thrush Award and the creation of the Helen C. Black Conservation Fund, which raises funds to be used for land acquisition and purchasing of conservation easements that curb development in wild areas. In 2017, she won the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Ohio Environmental Council. In 2020, The Nature Conservancy completed and officially opened th
Helen C. Black Trail
in honor of Black.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Black, Helen Chatfield Place of birth missing Date of birth missing 1924 births 2018 deaths American women scientists Scientists from Cincinnati Vassar College alumni 21st-century American women