COVINGTON, Ky. — The Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Cincinnati will remove former Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott's name from its Covington club, the organization announced Wednesday evening.
Since 2001, the club at 30 W. 26th St. has been known as the "Marge Schott-Unnewehr Boys and Girls Club" and serves over 400 children annually. On Wednesday, the group's Board of Directors decided her name should come off the building.
"As we have been given the opportunity to reflect, we realize the appropriate thing for us to do is remove the name," the organization said in a statement Wednesday. "That being said, it is important to know that the foundation has been a very generous contributor to the Boys and Girls Club and because of this we have been able to continue our mission to help those kids in desperate need of our services."
The organization is currently looking at how it "can support current efforts in the community and how we can help educate and inspire positive change."
Recently, Schott's name has been removed from UC's baseball stadium, and St. Ursula Academy also decided last month to remove her name from Schottzie Stadium and an academic building.
Schott owned the Cincinnati Reds from 1984 to 1999 and died in 2004. She was known for making repeated offensive remarks against African Americans, gay people, Jews and others in public and in private.
The Marge and Charles J. Schott Foundation has been a "significant donor" to The Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Cincinnati and many other area charities.
"While we cannot make excuses for the rhetoric made by Mrs. Schott decades ago, we can ask you to learn from Mrs. Schott’s mistakes as well as her great love for Cincinnati," the foundation said in a statement. "We appreciate what these great organizations bring to Cincinnati and we fully support the decisions made by the organizations who have received grants from the Foundation."
