Beulah Elfreth Kennard

Beulah Elfreth Kennard (August 3, 1869 – after 1944) was the educational director of the Association of Department Store Workers, president of the Pennsylvania Association of Women Workers, and president of the Pittsburgh Playground Association from 1900 to 1918.

Biography

She was born on August 3, 1869, in Philadelphia to Reverend Joseph Spencer Kennard and Nancy Reid Jeffers.

She opened Pittsburgh's first public playground at the Forbes School Yard on July 6, 1896. She went on to become president of the Pittsburgh Playground Association from 1900 to 1918.

In 1918 a playground was named in her honor. In 1944 that playground was to be renamed to honor a local judge, Ralph H. Smith. Local opposition prevented the park from changing name, and it is still called "Kennard playground".

Writings

• The educational director (1918)
• Department store merchandise manuals (1920)