The Works of Helen Ebersole

The Works of Helen Ebersole
Center Displays a Slice of Historic Hanover Tree
By Sharon Witchey

 

Her smile is wide, her demeanor is pleasant. She describes events with objective positivity. When asked to sum up her life so far in one word, Helen Ebersole committed to the word lucky, and because she is a master of words, she offered fortunate as a synonym.   “I always seemed to be in the right place at the right time,” and for those of us who like history, museums, libraries and books we are happy that she was.

Helen Good was born on St. Patrick’s Day in 1923. She grew up near Youngstown, Ohio with an older sister and a younger brother and two parents who valued education. After her sister went to Juniata College, Helen followed two years later because her sister “made college sound like so much fun!” It was at Juniata that Helen met her future husband, Glen Ebersole.

That was in 1943 and World War II was raging in Europe. As a member of a church that promoted peace, Glen was a conscientious objector to the war and was obliged to serve 2 years of government service. The two years of service interrupted his education at Juniata and separated the couple. Helen began teaching near her hometown. In 1945, Helen and Glen were married but their relationship continued as a long distance one-she remained in Poland, OH and he continued his government service in Lyons, New Jersey. After a year spent together in Plainfield, New Jersey, the couple moved to Philadelphia where Helen taught in a private school on the Mainline and Glen completed medical school.

The Ebersoles had four children before settling in Lakewood in 1963. Helen enjoyed being a mother but in 1968 after realizing that “I couldn’t ski or play golf very well”, Helen enrolled in a Master’s degree program at State University College at Fredonia. Her Master’s Thesis was the basis for the book entitled Electricity and Politics: Jamestown, 1891-1931. In all, Helen has written seven books. The most recent one, Grit and Grain, is about the Grist Mill in Busti. The others are: Off the Pedestal: Jackson in Jamestown 1909-1934, One Hundred Years in Lakewood New York, Trolleys of Jamestown and Chautauqua Lake, Chautauqua Lake Hotels, and An ImPRESSive Record: Jamestown Journal 1826-1941. These books help the reader to understand historical segments of time in our communities.

Helen has served the community in other ways. She was a past president of the Fenton Historical Society in the 1980s where she researched local history topics. Helen served as the Lakewood Village Historian in the 1990s to early 2000s and was a board member of The Southwestern Central School District as well. One of the more significant affiliations was when Helen sat on the board of the Lakewood Memorial Library during the Library Renovation Project. Karen Dennerlein, a Lakewood resident and library board member, describes how she really came to respect Helen’s abilities and “gracious sense of giving back to the community while working with her at the library. Helen had the foresight, connections, and energy to jump right in” when the time came to improve the Lakewood Library. An addition was added to the library, and items that were on a long list of “to-dos” were completed as part of the project. As Helen describes that time in her life, she says, “it never occurred to me to be paid for any of this.” When asked if she ever felt that being a woman held her back in any way, her answer was a simple “No”.

Helen Ebersole is a person who has chosen to use her talents well. She has been described as “a walking treasure of knowledge about our local history and lore.” She continues to share that knowledge and will be at the Lakewood Library on May 19^th for “Lakewood Legends and Lore: A Round Table Conversation with Helen Ebersole.” This conversation will include others with special memories of Lakewood and will be one of the many things to do that day at the library to celebrate Lakewood’s 125^th Anniversary. Come to the library on May 19^th to meet this woman who serves as a fine example of volunteerism and achievement.