Students in Sara Olding’s Senior English classes at Sidney High School partnered with the Shelby County Historical Society to explore the stories of early residents and visionaries of Sidney, Ohio. Turning their research into writing, they spent time “Learning About Legacy.”
SIDNEY — What could a mountain in Alaska, a college in North Carolina, and the Great Stone Castle in Sidney, Ohio, have in common? The answer: Ida Haslup Goode. Born on Oct. 4, 1858, in Sidney, Ohio, to George Griffith and Margaret Bingham Haslup, Ida Haslup was the youngest of nine children. She graduated from Sidney High School in 1875 and went on to Indiana Wesleyan University.
After returning home with a degree, she spent her early professional life working as a teacher at Sidney High School. She taught for eight years before becoming the first female principal in the state of Ohio in the late 1880’s. Soon after, Ida Haslup accepted a similar position in Pueblo, Colorado. Working as the principal of a school, she remained there until the death of a close friend brought her back to Sidney in 1899. Her return to her hometown is also marked by her marriage to William Henry Collier Goode. Together they lived in Great Stone Castle and she became a mother to his seven children.
W.H.C. Goode was the creator and owner of the lucrative business. The American Steel Scraper Company. After his death in 1923, Ida Haslup Goode took over his world-renowned American Steel Scraper Company, where she continued to make it a profitable business for many years. During this time period, shortly after World War I, even though the women’s suffrage movement was in full swing with the passing of the 19th Amendment, most women were not afforded the chance to be a CEO of a business, but Mrs. Goode was ahead of her time. She succeeded in this aspect of life, and was a pioneer for women in the United States.
Despite this accomplishment, Mrs. Goode felt called to something higher. As she aged, she decided to pass the CEO position off to another person, and took up missionary work with the Methodist Church. Leaving her hometown once again, her missionary work took her to amazing places all over the world including Alaska, Hawaii, the West Indies, Puerto Rico, and even France. While these places sound like great vacation destinations, that is not what Mrs. Goode spent her time doing. She did not vacation; she spent time talking about the importance of education and helping people understand the value of building schools. Many of these places named the schools in her honor because the people were so grateful for her help. She served as president of the West Ohio Conference of Women’s Home Missionary Society. Recognizing her strength of leadership, she soon became the national president of the Women’s Home Missionary Society in 1926. In this capacity she was responsible for directing the merger of the missionary activities of the Methodist Church and this became known as the Methodist Women’s Society of Christian Service.
During the 1940’s, her travels took her to North Carolina. Recognizing a need, she became involved with a college for disadvantaged black women. As a member of the Board of Trustees, Ida Haslup Goode was a driving force for Bennett College. In the fourteen year span that she working with the board, she increased enrollment numbers from 10 students to over 350 students.
A religious woman, Ida Haslup Goode continued going to church meetings up until a month before her death at the age of 99. She left behind an unmatched legacy of community service. Her motivation She was always trying to help others as much as possible. It was her passion. She never expected anything in return and never wanted recognition. She cared about women having a role in their communities and she refused to buy into the racial discrimination that plagues most of the country.
Learning about the work of Ida Haslup Goode has made me stand a little taller both as a student of SHS and as a woman of Sidney, Ohio. I think the legacy of Ida Haslup Goode is knowing that women can succeed in industry and in service to their community. She exemplifies an unwavering faith that allowed her to be fearless in her pursuit for good. All Sidney, Ohio residents should be proud of her legacy.
