By Dr. Dipa Sarkar
Since October is breast cancer awareness month, it is only appropriate to remember Clara Fairbank’s contribution to women’s causes and benefits. She had lifelong commitment to women in need.
Clara Collett Fairbanks was born Aug. 14, 1840 to Stephen and Sarah Collett and was the youngest of nine children. Her father was a state senator representing Vermillion and Parke counties. She lost her father when she was 3 and her mother when she was 12 years old. She was raised by a loving aunt, Susana Flanders. Her father left a large fortune and Clara was able to attend the Porter School and the Episcopal Seminary known as Agnes Hall.
She was married to a local, very successful businessman, Crawford Fairbanks, on Dec. 31, 1872 and lived on Cherry Street. They had only one daughter, Sarah.
Clara was a deeply religious, devout woman and lived a very simple, but busy life. She was always interested in women’s causes and particularly their health. She involved herself in many charitable organizations and donated a large amount of time and money, much of which was never made public.
In 1924, her loving husband Crawford Fairbanks built a large brick home at the corner of North Seventh Street and Eighth Avenue and dedicated it as a memorial to his wife. It was named Clara Fairbanks Old Ladies Home. It was a haven for aged women who were alone, rather poor, and needed care. It gave the older women comfort, shelter and dignity. Fairbanks kept $250,000 in trust to run this home. In 1971, it merged with another women’s home, the Chauncy Rose Home, and existed until 1986. The home closed in February 1986 and the property was purchased by Union Hospital.
In 1996, the home was demolished and a women’s health center was established in the building formerly occupied by the pathologist, Dr. Leon Blum. It was named Clara Fairbanks Women’s Health Center in honor of Clara Fairbanks for her lifelong dedication to women’s health and needs.
The facility is now housed within the Hux Cancer Center. This new center has all the modern facilities to serve the needs for health care, particularly breast cancer diagnostic care. Clara’s compassion, dedication and generosity of heart still lives on in the women’s health care facility. Union Hospital marked the site with a memorial wall containing the original cornerstone.
Portraits of Clara and Crawford Fairbanks hang in the Victorian Parlor on the Vigo County Historical Museum’s second floor.
