Helen Black –A Tribute to a Conservationist and Environmental Activist
The following eulogy is by Sharon Coolidge, Cincinnati Enquirer, Published June 12th, 2018
To Heidi Black, Helen C. Black was the grandmother who took her on long walks through the woods of Indian Hill, telling her the names of trees, showing her fossils and tracing animal tracks.
Black was her neighbor, her ally in a family of men other than themselves and her idol.
But to anyone who has ever been to the Cincinnati Nature Center, the Edge of Appalachia Preserve or the Cincinnati Museum Center, Black was an environmental force whose work protected green space.
She was a quiet environmentalist, who shunned the spotlight. But behind the scenes, she worked to make Cincinnati, Indian Hill, Adams County, Ohio and her beloved second home, Maine, better.
Black, 94, of Indian Hill, died at home on June 8. She was preceded in death by her husband, Judge Robert L. Black Jr., who died in 2008.
DeVere Burt, emeritus director of Cincinnati Museum of Natural History, recounted that Charley Harper likened Black's demeanor to that of a wood thrush, a North American passerine bird.
"Normally quiet and happy living in the shadows, but when it sings, everyone listens," he said. "(Black) will be deeply missed by so many, but her legacy will echo through the wilds she helped protect and her impact will be felt by the hikers who bask in the beauty of our natural world."
As Heidi Black grew older, she realized her grandmother's conservation work was so much more than the walks they took.
"We had so much fun together in those woods," Black said. "But her work to protect and preserve the environment and the natural world was her mission. She was tenacious when it came to that work."
Heidi Black follows in her grandmother's footsteps, working at StriveTogether and serving on the boards of the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority and Shelterhouse.
Helen Black grew up in Indian Hill, deriving her love of the environment from Louis Brand, who taught her from the second-grade to sixth-grade at the Lotspeich School and was inspired by E. Lucy Braun, a prominent botanist, ecologist and expert on the forests of the eastern United States with whom Black explored the edge of the Appalachian Mountains in Adams County, Ohio.
After graduating from Vassar College with a degree in English, she married Judge Black and they had three sons.
For decades, dating back to the 1960s, Helen Black was a conservationist, dedicated to protecting green space in Cincinnati, Indian Hill, Adams County and in Maine, where she often vacationed.
In 1965, Black was a founding member of the Cincinnati Nature Center, now the nation's largest member-supported nature center. She'd go on to volunteer there for 32 years. In 2012, the center created the Helen C. Black Conservation Fund, which raises funds to be used for land acquisition and purchasing of conservation easements that curb development in wild areas.
In the late 1960s, Black started the Little Miami Conservancy, which is dedicated to conserving the natural splendor of the Little Miami River. She also was a founding member of the Redbird Hollow Association, which has developed conservation protections for a rail-trail and 54-acre woodland in Indian Hill that is associated with the Nature Conservancy and in 1983 was designated an Ohio Natural Landmark.
Black was particularly fond of the Edge of Appalachia, where she discovered a species once thought to have died out in this area. Black avoided the limelight, but was never able to escape the moniker of "Queen of the Edge" by her peers for her unflagging devotion to the preserve, said Josh Knights, director of the Ohio Nature Conservancy., Until recently, Black made the trek out to the preserve each Thursday.
Knights said Black was a guiding force of The Nature Conservancy in Ohio for decades.
When hearing the news of Black's death, one trustee said that "it was as if the forest had just lost its mightiest tree," Knights wrote in an email to supporters. "I think the analogy is apt. But her legacy lives on in the whisper of the oaks, the song of the birds, and the flow of the streams that surround all of us and are a reminder that the actions we take today will benefit those who come after us."
Black was recognized for her conservation work in 1978 when she was admitted into the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame.
In 1983, jointly with her husband, Mrs. Black, played a significant role in the merger that created the Cincinnati Museum Center.
Union Terminal was empty; a grand train station turned failed shopping mall some thought should be destroyed. The Blacks championed the idea of turning it into the Cincinnati Museum Center, with public support for the idea following in 1986.
"She was an enthusiastic advocate for the merger of the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History and Cincinnati Historical Society at Union Terminal, serving a term as chairperson of the capital campaign that assured its success," said Elizabeth Pierce, president and CEO of the Cincinnati Museum Center.
Black joined the board of the center in 1995, serving until 2004 when she was named a lifetime emeritus trustee.
"Her support for nature education has helped countless budding naturalists explore the natural beauty of greater Cincinnati and to appreciate it in all its grandeur," Pierce said.
Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld, whose family has been friends with the Black family for four generations, said Helen Black was compassionate and loving, drawing a fan club bigger than anyone he knows.
"My greatest admiration is for her contributions as an environmentalist, especially since her advocacy began literally decades before the movement grew popular," Sittenfeld said. "Helen left the people whom she touched – and the world – much better than she found us."
Black is survived by sons William Black of Portland, Maine; Steve Black, of Cincinnati; and Luther Black, of Seattle; five grandchildren; two great-grandchildren.
Donations can be made to the Cincinnati Nature Center or the Aldermere Farm program of the Maine Coast Heritage Trust.
