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The Collection | George Elliston | Artwork

The Collection

20th-century poetry collection of over 10,000 books, magazines, records, and recordings.

George Elliston

Born in Kentucky in 1883, George Elliston led an extraordinary life. She was a reporter for the former Cincinnati Times-Star for over 40 years. At a time when most newspaperwomen were forced into writing for the society or cooking sections, George Elliston was a hard-news reporter covering crime, murder, and local tragedies. While her professional life was spent reporting, much of her personal time was devoted to writing poetry that appeared in newspapers and magazines in the U.S. and reproduced in anthologies in France, Germany, Great Britain, and China.

Upon her death in 1946, both the community and then-UC president Raymond Walters were shocked to learn that George Elliston had left nearly a quarter of a million dollars to the University. Most people, even those close to her, assumed George Elliston to be a poor woman because of her modest lifestyle. They all knew her to be a lover of poetry, though, and it was this lifelong love that led her to leave the bulk of her estate to UC. It was her wish that the University “…establish a trust fund to be known as the George Elliston Poetry Trust Fund…the income from which is to establish, as far as practicable, a chair of poetry to encourage and promote the study and composition of poetry.”

Artwork

Upon visiting the Elliston Poetry Room, you may be surprised to find not only poetry, but also paintings by local artists. Mr. Cummins added the art in an effort to “…make [the Elliston Poetry Room] not only a room of poetry, but also a room of art,” he said. “George was a lover and supporter of all art – music, painting, theatre – and in her spirit I wanted to add paintings to accompany the poetry.”

Read more about George Elliston in Source.