{"id":7819,"date":"2021-12-23T14:37:52","date_gmt":"2021-12-23T18:37:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bratenahlhistorical.org\/?page_id=7819"},"modified":"2021-12-26T12:42:28","modified_gmt":"2021-12-26T16:42:28","slug":"jo-hershey-selden-copy","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bratenahlhistorical.org\/index.php\/jo-hershey-selden-copy\/","title":{"rendered":"Jo Hershey Selden"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\n\t\tPeople\n\t<\/h1>\n

\n\t\tNotable People\n\t<\/h2>\n

\n\t\tJo Hershey Selden, Philanthropist\n\t<\/h3>\n

\n\t\tBratenahl Place\n\t<\/h5>\n\t

Jo Hershey Selden had a lifelong passion for philanthropic deeds in support of her community.\u00a0 She founded The Hershey Foundation which provides Northeast Ohio children from all socio-economic and cultural backgrounds with special opportunities for personal growth and development.\u00a0 Her generosity to the Western Reserve Montessori School in Concord, Ohio, caused the School’s Board of Trustees in 1989 to rename the school Hershey Montessori School.\u00a0 Her tireless work on behalf of the Bratenahl community, especially the Bratenahl Community Foundation, was recognized on June 13, 1990, when the foundation named the former kindergarten room at the Bratenahl Community Center as “The Selden Room.”<\/p>\n

Josephine “Jo” Ethel Rosenberg was born in 1916 and graduated with honors from Cleveland Heights High School.\u00a0 She married Alvin A. Hershey in December 1936.\u00a0 They had four children.<\/p>\n\t

Alvin Hershey was the president and board chairman of the Capital Insurance Co. of Ohio.\u00a0 He built the insurance company from one salesman in 1964 to 150 by 1974.\u00a0 He was chairman of the Life Underwriters Training Council, and taught courses in underwriting. \u00a0After raising her children, Jo entered the business world and worked with Alvin at Capital Insurance.\u00a0 She was an officer and director when she retired.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\"Alvin\n\t\tAlvin A. Hershey\n\t

Jo and Alvin moved to Bratenahl Place in the early 1970s.\u00a0 They loved living on Lake Erie.\u00a0 They bought a small boat named The Hershey Bar which they docked at the inlet adjoining Bratenahl Place.<\/p>\n

Alvin died suddenly on April 3, 1974, at the age of 58.\u00a0 After Alvin’s death, Jo continued her civic and cultural pursuits in support of women’s rights, volunteering at the Bellfaire\/Jewish Children’s Bureau, and supporting the Cleveland Playhouse.<\/p>\n

On July 7, 1977, Jo married George G. Selden<\/a>, who also lived at Bratenahl Place.\u00a0 Both Jo and George were active members of the Bratenahl Community Foundation.\u00a0 She joined the foundation’s Board of Trustees in 1984 and ran the foundation’s membership committee for many years.<\/p>\n\t

In 1986, Jo established The Hershey Foundation, through which she sought to honor her late husband, Alvin, through philanthropic deeds in support of her community.\u00a0 Initially, Jo used the Hershey Foundation as a vehicle for distributing annual gifts.\u00a0 She was able to support the arts and the area’s many cultural institutions.<\/p>\n

Her interest in education was heightened by her grandchildren’s experiences in Montessori schools. She saw the benefits of Maria Montessori’s educational philosophy and directed considerable support to Montessori schools in northeast Ohio.\u00a0 Jo made a grant to the Western Reserve Montessori School in Painesville that allowed the school to purchase land to build a new facility designed for children from birth to age 12.\u00a0 This property, consisting of 11 acres, would become the Concord campus.\u00a0 The school’s Board of Trustees recognized Jo’s contribution by renaming the school Hershey Montessori School. Today, the dedicated work of the Hershey Foundation continues under the direction of Jo and Alvin Hershey’s children and grandchildren.\u00a0 In 1999, the Hershey Children’s Garden opened at the Cleveland Botanical Gardens through funding from The Hershey Foundation. As a lead donor, The Hershey Foundation supported Stonebrook Montessori, the first public Montessori charter school in Ohio.\u00a0 Many other organizations have benefited from Jo’s philanthropic vision.<\/p>\n

Jo Hershey Selden died of lung cancer at her home at Bratenahl Place on May 24, 1990.\u00a0 She was memorialized by the Bratenahl Community Foundation with the following words:<\/p>\n

“We who knew her will remember Jo’s spirit, her vivacious manner and intelligent questioning mind.\u00a0 Her legacy to us is her positive, caring attitude; one that encouraged us to do the best we could; to live each day, as did she, with joy from simple things coupled with a dedication to improving the quality of life.”<\/em><\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBack to People\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNotable People List\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

People Notable People Jo Hershey Selden, Philanthropist Bratenahl Place Jo Hershey Selden had a lifelong passion for philanthropic deeds in support of her community.\u00a0 She founded The Hershey Foundation which provides Northeast Ohio children from all socio-economic and cultural backgrounds with special opportunities for personal growth and development.\u00a0 Her generosity to the Western Reserve Montessori…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-7819","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nJo Hershey Selden - Bratenahl Historical Society - Bratenahl, Ohio<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Jo Hershey Selden - The Bratenahl Historical Society serves as a repository of historical documents, photos and other information pertinent to the Village of Bratenahl, Ohio and its residents.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bratenahlhistorical.org\/index.php\/jo-hershey-selden-copy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jo Hershey Selden - Bratenahl Historical Society - Bratenahl, Ohio\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Jo Hershey Selden - The Bratenahl Historical Society serves as a repository of historical documents, photos and other information pertinent to the Village of Bratenahl, Ohio and its residents.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/bratenahlhistorical.org\/index.php\/jo-hershey-selden-copy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Bratenahl Historical Society\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-12-26T16:42:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/bratenahlhistorical.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Alvin-A.-Hershey.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bratenahlhistorical.org\\\/index.php\\\/jo-hershey-selden-copy\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bratenahlhistorical.org\\\/index.php\\\/jo-hershey-selden-copy\\\/\",\"name\":\"Jo Hershey Selden - Bratenahl Historical Society - Bratenahl, Ohio\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bratenahlhistorical.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bratenahlhistorical.org\\\/index.php\\\/jo-hershey-selden-copy\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bratenahlhistorical.org\\\/index.php\\\/jo-hershey-selden-copy\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bratenahlhistorical.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/12\\\/Alvin-A.-Hershey.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-12-23T18:37:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-12-26T16:42:28+00:00\",\"description\":\"Jo Hershey Selden - The Bratenahl Historical Society serves as a repository of historical documents, photos and other information pertinent to the Village of Bratenahl, Ohio and its residents.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bratenahlhistorical.org\\\/index.php\\\/jo-hershey-selden-copy\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/bratenahlhistorical.org\\\/index.php\\\/jo-hershey-selden-copy\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bratenahlhistorical.org\\\/index.php\\\/jo-hershey-selden-copy\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bratenahlhistorical.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/12\\\/Alvin-A.-Hershey.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/bratenahlhistorical.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/12\\\/Alvin-A.-Hershey.jpg\",\"width\":262,\"height\":256,\"caption\":\"Alvin A. 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