Breaking News from Cleveland Memory:
The Cleveland Press Collection is digitized at last!
After years of anticipation and hard work, the 104-year run of the Cleveland Press has finally been digitized. This monumental achievement marks a significant milestone in preserving Cleveland's rich history and making it accessible to the public.
Background
Several years ago, a surge in public and private interest sparked a detailed plan to digitize the Cleveland Press, the evening newspaper that played a pivotal role in Cleveland's journalism landscape from 1878 to 1982. The Cleveland Press Collection, now part of Cleveland State University's Special Collections, includes hundreds of thousands of photographs which the Michael Schwartz Library at Cleveland State University has shared for over 20 years through our Cleveland Memory web site. But the bulk of the content – the stories, columns, and editorial commentary – have only been available to researchers on microfilm… until now.
The Digitization Process
Cleveland State University partnered with Newspapers.com to bring this extensive archive into the digital age, marking a crucial step in preserving this priceless historical resource. This timely collaboration has not only digitized the collection but also safeguarded it from the threat of vinegar syndrome, a chemical degradation process that affects cellulose acetate-based microfilms produced before the mid-1980s.
While initial access to the digitized archive is limited, this preservation effort ensures the long-term viability of the collection and paves the way for wider availability in the future. The digitization process has effectively rescued decades of Cleveland's history from potential loss, allowing future generations to explore and study this rich journalistic legacy.
Access Details
- On-Campus Access: For now, free digital access is contractually limited to on-campus use by Cleveland State University students, faculty, staff and patrons for academic or research purposes. This access will expand after a three-year embargo period, potentially through platforms such as CSU's institutional repository, EngagedScholarship @ Clevelend State University.
- Community Users and Independent Researchers: A dedicated workstation will be available in the library, allowing researchers to use the Newspapers.com interface.
- Paid Subscriptions: If you already have a paid subscription to Newspapers.com, or an all-access membership to Ancestry.com, you have access now!
Visit the Cleveland Press Archive Online
Why This Matters
Preserving historical newspapers like the Cleveland Press is crucial for understanding the past and its relevance to the present, and allows future generations to grasp the complexities of history beyond the immediacy of social media. As they say, history is written by the winners. The editorial voice and viewpoint of the Press differed significantly from that of the Plain Dealer and other newspapers, and these insights and perspectives were in danger of being lost forever.
“The staff here at CSU's Michael Schwartz Library has been eager to fully digitize the Cleveland Press for many years, and we're thrilled that digital access to the Press is finally a reality”, said Marsha Miles, Interim Director of the library. ”We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the "Friends of the Press," including former Press writers, editors, and photographers, whose unwavering advocacy has been instrumental in preserving this invaluable piece of Cleveland's history. Their insistence on bringing this project to fruition has ensured that this priceless archive is now available in perpetuity for research and exploration by the public."
About CSU's Cleveland Press Collection
Shortly after the Press ceased publication, a collection of over a million clippings and half a million photos from the Press's editorial library or “morgue” was donated to Cleveland State University's Michael Schwartz Library by the newspaper's owner, Joseph E. Cole, who was then a CSU Trustee.
Since the inception of Cleveland Memory, we have dedicated ourselves to documenting and preserving the history of journalism in Cleveland, offering curated pathfinders celebrating and showcasing the photojournalists, journalists, columnists, editorial cartoonists, and independent, community and citizen journalists who have enriched Cleveland's vibrant tradition of news reporting. Together with over 22,000 historical photographs, our Cleveland Press Collection site offers a rich selection of evocative and enlightening autobiographical accounts of Press workers, many of them to be found nowhere else.
For over 20 years, the images from the Cleveland Press Collection have served as the foundation and heart of Cleveland Memory. It is fitting that these images are now complemented by the words and ideas they were originally intended to illustrate.
What's Next?
When the 3-year embargo period ends in 2028, we can expect broader access to this invaluable resource, enriching historical research and community engagement. The digitization of the Cleveland Press is a testament to the importance of preserving our collective memory and making it accessible for generations to come.
Visit the Cleveland Press Archive Online today!
The Cleveland Memory Project, launched in 2002, is a freely searchable online collection of photographs, texts, oral histories, maps, drawings, postcards, videos and other local history resources, built by the Michael Schwartz Library at the Cleveland State University in collaboration with a host of community partners around Northeast Ohio.
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