About Our Chapter

Midwest Ohio Chapter History

Dr. Doris Twitchell Allen, the founder of Children’s International Summer Villages, after doing much research on international traveling for children decided that she wanted to try a village experience with rural children rather than children from the city (Cincinnati). In 1954 she met M. L. Routson, the principal of Concord School, at a teacher conference in Columbus and discussed her ideas with him. Doris then came to Concord school herself and choose the first delegation to attend a village in 1954. That is how our chapter began.

We had our first village here in Miami County in 1956 and have been an active chapter ever since. The father of one of the first delegates, Mr. William Mathews, served as Secretary General of CISV International. The National Office was located in Miami County for about 20 years where Hildreth Miller served as National Secretary, followed by Sally Stein. The National Office was moved to Cincinnati several years ago where it will remain. From 1956 until July 2019, we were known as the Miami County chapter. However, in August 2019 we changed our chapter name to Midwest Ohio to better reflect our membership, as we have families from more than just Miami County, Ohio. Midwest Ohio has sent over 100+ delegations to villages and we host a Village, Youth Meeting, or Step Up every 3 years.