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Contribution #338 of 365
Eliza Simmons Bryant
Founder of the Cleveland Home for Aged Colored People
1893–1897
The contribution
How this work helped shape America
Born enslaved in North Carolina in 1827, Eliza Simmons Bryant settled in Cleveland and organized care for elderly Black residents excluded from adequate institutions. She mobilized donations and community support for the Cleveland Home for Aged Colored People, incorporated in 1896 and opened in 1897. The home became an enduring Black-sponsored social-service institution.