Jelliffe, Rowena Woodham

(1892-1992)

   Rowena Woodham was born in Albion, Illinois. In 1914, she graduated from Oberlin College, where she met Russell Jelliffe, whom she married in 1915. An activist for woman suffrage, she worked with Jane Ad-dams at Hull House in Chicago, and conducted research to choose a city where she and her husband might create a racially integrated cultural center. The Jelliffes settled in Cleveland and devoted their lives to Karamu House and Karamu Theatre there. She made a point of attracting African Americans to participate in the arts at Karamu. Directing most of the plays at Karamu for 30 years, she was an early practitioner of interracial (or color-blind) casting in American theatre.