Ethel Elizabeth Harpst (October 27, 1883 – January 12, 1967) was an American educator, caregiver, and founder of the Harpst House in

Cedartown Cedartown is a city and the county seat of Polk County, Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 10,190. Cedartown is the principal city of and is included in the Cedartown, Georgia Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is i ...

, Georgia. She moved from

Boaz, Alabama Boaz is a city in Marshall and Etowah counties in the U.S. state of Alabama. The Marshall County portion of the city is part of the Albertville Micropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 10,107. Boaz was ...

Cedartown, Georgia Cedartown is a city and the county seat of Polk County, Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 10,190. Cedartown is the principal city of and is included in the Cedartown, Georgia Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is i ...

, then a mill village, in 1914 after being appointed to serve in the town's Goodyear Mill Village by the Methodist

Women's Home Missionary Society {{Context, date=August 2013 The Women's Home Missionary Society had joined with the Women's Missionary Society of the Pacific Coast in 1893. Together they opened the "Oriental Home for Chinese Women and Girls" at 912 Washington Street in San Franc ...

, replacing Bertha Addington. Harpst cared for the sick in Cedartown, which was in the midst of outbreaks of

scarlet fever Scarlet fever, also known as Scarlatina, is an infectious disease caused by ''Streptococcus pyogenes'' a Group A streptococcus (GAS). The infection is a type of Group A streptococcal infection (Group A strep). It most commonly affects childr ...

, typhoid fever,

influenza Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptoms ...

, and tuberculosis. She also was a teacher, giving classes on how to read and write. Her activities were based out of the Deborah McCarty Settlement House, which was modeled after Jane Addams's and

Ellen Gates Starr Ellen Gates Starr (March 19, 1859 – February 10, 1940) was an American social reformer and activist. With Jane Addams, she founded Chicago's Hull House, an adult education center, in 1889; the settlement house expanded to 13 buildings in ...

's Hull House in Chicago. Harpst established the Harpst Home in March 1924, which had been purchased, renovated, and given to Harpst by Cedartown

city clerk A clerk is a senior official of many municipal governments in the English-speaking world. In some communities, including most in the United States, the position is elected, but in many others, the clerk is appointed to their post. In the UK, a Tow ...

J. C. Walker. Located on Bradford Hill, the home quickly needed to be expanded, and Harpst traveled to raise funds for this purpose. In 1927 James Hall was constructed; at the time this three-story brick building was the tallest in Cedartown. The

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

caused even more strain on the still-growing Harpst Home. A new boys' dorm was opened in 1933. Through Harpst's relentless fundraising and with the assistance of New York City couple Henry Pfeiffer and Annie Merner Pfeiffer, the home expanded over the next twenty years, adding more buildings and acquiring hundreds of acres of land. In 1984, the Women's Division of the United Methodist Church combined the Harpst Home with the Sarah Murphy Home to create the Murphy-Harpst Children's Centers in Cedartown. Murphy-Harpst continues to operate to this day, helping care for hundreds of abused children in partnership with the Georgia Department of Family and Children's Services and the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice. Harpst retired in 1951 at the age of 68. She was awarded the Good Neighbor Orchid Award in 1948 in an appearance on the

radio show A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio networ ...

'' Breakfast in Hollywood''. In 2012 she was inducted into the Georgia Women of Achievement Hall of Fame.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harpst, Ethel 1883 births 1967 deaths 20th-century American women educators 20th-century American educators People from Commerce, Georgia