AV 10 Rick's Child Guidance Center

              AV 10
Rick’s Child Guidance Center Collection
Page 1
OHIO HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Audiovisual Collections
AV 10
Rick’s Child Guidance Center Collection
( 1953- 1992)
OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION
Number: AV 10
Title: Rick’s Child Guidance Center
Creator: Elminie Holland Rickman
Dates: 1953- 1992
Media: Black and white and color photographs
Quantity: 1 cubic foot
Location: Ohio Historical Center
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF RICK’S CHILD GUIDANCE CENTER AND ELMINIE
HOLLAND RICKMAN
Mrs. Elminie Holland Rickman established Rick’s Child Guidance Center in the
early 1950s. It is the oldest African- American school and the second oldest kindergarten
in Columbus, Ohio, having been in continuous existence from approximately 1953 until
the present day.
Mrs. Elminie Holland Rickman was born in Oconnee County in Seneca, South
Carolina and was one of nine children. She graduated from the Oconnee County School
System and continued her education at Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina,
where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree and teaching certification for
Elementary Education. Mrs. Rickman taught school in Seneca, South Carolina and then
joined her husband, Attorney James W. Rickman, in Columbus, Ohio in 1947. In 1947
and 1948 she was a teacher at the Religious Training Institute ( RTI) which was located
at 20th and Long streets.
In 1952 Mrs. Rickman began a kindergarten in her home at 1638 Granville Street
with eight children. In approximately 1955 she purchased property at 297 Woodland
Avenue and relocated her school, which had an enrollment of nearly 100 students and a
staff of five trained teachers. She envisioned, founded, built and served as director of
the present Rick’s Child Guidance Center ( Kindergarten- Nursery), which accommodates
two hundred children and is said to be the first all fireproof building for a kindergarten in
the state of Ohio.
From 1953 to 1992, Mrs. Rickman had continuously conducted her kindergarten
with a staff of eight teachers, six substitutes, a cook, a custodian and two bus drivers.
She held annual graduation exercises for her kindergarten students. Graduates from her
school number into the thousands. In addition, she presented several theatrical
productions, programs and recitals over the years. She has received numerous honors