In 1909, the dormitory-style Anna Louise Inn began its important community service of providing safe haven and affordable housing to young, single, low-income women who had left farms and their family homes to come find jobs in Cincinnati. Boarding houses of that day were clustered among the many taverns and bars of the river city, so many landlords refused to take responsibility for housing young women who were living away from home for the first time.
The inn's modern mission has changed a bit to not only shelter single women--for a day, a week, a year or a lifetime--but also women and children in emergency situations.
After a century of service, the elegant rectangle of a building (designed so every 10-by-10 room has an outside window) is still standing tall. There are five floors and a basement, two lounges, a lending library of donated books, and nearly 200 rentable rooms. Each one is furnished, and linens are provided. Bathrooms are at the end of each hall, and community phones are available to those who don't pay for a personal phone in the room.
The rent of $53 a week includes $13 worth of meals--three a week. (The Anna Louise has always been a boarding house, and that term implies that meals are provided.) A caterer now distributes meals, as cooking is no longer done on site. Old windows have been uncovered in the large dining hall, and the Cincinnati Stencilers group donated time and talents by painting an attractive large-ivy pattern along the walls. Outside the hall filled with many small tables is a long hallway lined with food-vending machines.
For old-time atmosphere and sheer nostalgia, the laundry room still contains some original ironing boards. The tall, curliqued cast-iron stands support wooden boards with padding. There's even an old steamer contraption that is no longer hooked up.
Gretchen Wilson, director of the Anna Louise Inn since 1991, says the 93-year-old building hasn't always aged well, so the steady support of foundations and area companies has helped so much with remodeling efforts and overhead costs.
She says the Anna Louise is only one of three old-fashioned boarding houses from last century that are left in the whole country. She believes there may be one in Chicago and another in New York.
The hardcover cookbook filled with residents' happy reminiscences is organized by decades. There are plenty of amusing photos of young girls using the famous pay phones in wooden phone booths and of the social occasions for their dates, which were well-chaperoned in the elegant Anna Louise Inn parlor.
There have been 36,000 women who made their home at the inn. "We served 364 people in 2001," Wilson said.
There's no limit to the time one can live at the inn. "We have 2 percent of the population here more than 20 years," she said. "Some came as young women and stayed until retirement. Another resident worked at Western and Southern all her life; now she's working part-time for us."
The cookbook with the purple cover and a handy satin-ribbon page marker (300 recipes gathered from friends of the inn and compiled by the GE Elfun Spouse Organization) is a fundraiser for the inn, which remains an operation of the Cincinnati Union Bethel.
The "Bethel" is the oldest social-service agency still in existence west of the Alleghenies. It was concerned with the welfare of low-income workers on riverboats as early as 1830.
David Sinton was a Bethel supporter, and so was his daughter, Anna Sinton, who married Charles Phelps Taft. After learning of the plight of young ladies at entry-level employment, Mrs. Taft secured the property for the boarding house. Thereafter, it was named for the Tafts' daughter, Anna Louise.
Hot-Crossed Tuna Casserole
Ingredients:
2 small cans water-packed tuna, slightly drained
one 10-oz. pkg. frozen baby peas, thawed
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup sliced celery
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup finely chopped onions
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup mayonnaise
one 8-oz. tube crescent-roll dough
sesame seeds
cucumber sauce (see recipe below)
Preparation:
Combine tuna, peas, cheese, celery, crumbs, onion, salt, pepper and mayonnaise. Mix well and spoon into a baking dish. (Size was not provided, but it was tested in a shallow oblong dish that measured approximately 8 x 10 inches.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Separate crescent-roll dough into two rectangles. Press perforations to seal, then cut into four long, then four short strips. Place over tuna mixture in a lattice design. Brush lightly with mayonnaise and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes, until lightly browned on top. Serve with cucumber sauce.
Cucumber Sauce
Ingredients:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 seeded cucumber, finely chopped
1 Tbs. fresh parsley, chopped
1 Tbs. green onions, chopped
1/4 tsp. dried dill
1/8 tsp. pepper
Preparation:
Mix together ingredients and serve.
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Swiss Potato Bake
Ingredients:
2 lbs. frozen hash browns
salt and pepper, to taste
2 cups grated Swiss cheese
1 pint whipping cream
1 stick butter or margarine, melted
paprika (optional)
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put hash browns in a 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Sprinkle potatoes with salt and pepper. Cover with grated cheese, then pour cream evenly over the top. Drizzle with melted butter or margarine. Sprinkle with paprika, if desired.
Bake at 350 for one to 1-1/2 hours.
Yield: 16 servings
Easy Raw Apple German Cake
Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
4 cups thinly sliced, peeled tart apples
2 Tbs. baking soda
1/2 cup oil
2 beaten eggs
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisins or dried cranberries
Preparation:
Mix all ingredients. The batter should be very thick. Place in a 9 x 13-inch pan that has been greased and floured. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes. Frost with cream cheese icing, if desired.
Yield: 12 servings
Warm Shrimp-and-Cashew Salad
Ingredients:
8 cups mixed baby greens
7 Tbs. olive oil
3 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
1 Tbs. each minced fresh dill, chives, cilantro, parsley
salt, pepper to taste
20 uncooked medium shrimp, peeled, deveined
16 cherry tomatoes, halved, or more grape tomatoes
1/3 cup roasted, salted cashews
Preparation:
Place greens in a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate. Whisk oil, lemon juice and herbs in a medium bowl to blend. Season with salt, pepper to taste. Heat two tablespoons of the lemon dressing in a large skillet over medium heat. Add shrimp and saute, stirring until pink--about four minutes. Toss greens with enough remaining dressing to coat. Add shrimp, tomatoes and cashews. Toss again.
Yield: 4 servings
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