Helen Phillips Arnold was born on the 30th of July in Ashland Ohio in 1875 to Mr. David Allison Phillips and Mary Reep Phillips. She lived out her youth in Ashland, attending Ashland High school and studying for two years at Ashland College. She attended. summer school in Chautauqua, New York before returning to Ashland to teach with the Ashland Public Schools.
At age 23, Helen married John Edwards Arnold on November 23, 1898. They had one daughter, Lois, but her impact on children was not limited to her own family, or even the children she taught in school. Helen dedicated her entire life to Ashland County as the first probation officer of Ashland. She helped between 200 and 400 children per year for 16 years. She dedicated her life to helping children and their parents get through tough situations. It was a relatively thankless job, paying very little and filled with criticisms and protestation. Despite the trials she faced, she was invited to speak at many events where she always pushed for compassion and understanding. She was also a prominent figure in pushing for public welfare, such as healthcare and nursing for the unfortunate and other programs designed to help Ashlanders.
Helen served as president of many social programs, including the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). The WCTU was a group of women dedicated to alcohol reform. This was one of many groups who pushed heavily for prohibition. A quote from their second national president Frances E. Willard helps display their ideals; “The mission of the White Ribbon Women is to organize Christian women for the peace and purity, the protection and exaltation of our homes”. Her involvement in the temperance movement may have been related to her social work. As a woman who engaged with many children from broken homes, it is very likely she saw the direct impact of alcoholism in her daily work, and seeing its negative side so regularly may have helped inform her strong support of prohibition. Helen also served as president of the local Delphian Society. The Delphians were dedicated to securing the future through education. She was also a member of the Womens Relief Corps (WRC), whose mission is “to perpetuate the memory of those who sacrificed much and sometimes all in the American Civil War; provide assistance to veterans of all wars and extend needed aid to them and to their widow(er)s and orphans”. All these different organizations paint a picture of who Helen Arnold was and what she believed. She was a devout Christian woman who dedicated her entire life to service. From work to social life, she spent all her time and effort making Ashland a safe, educated, and caring community.
Helen Arnold died at the age of 60 in 1933, and was survived by her husband, her daughter, two grandchildren, and five sisters. She had a large family of her own, but rather than focus on just her own family, she made all of Ashland her family, working as a probation officer up until 2 weeks before she died, bedridden from her failing health of two years. Her life was dedicated to Ashland and its children, and as the first probation officer, she pioneered the welfare of the less fortunate in Ashland County.
