MSL buzz: the Michael Schwartz Library blog

Community Development in a Legacy City: The Cleveland Lab 1985 - 2010
by Eric Hoddersen
 

Cleveland State University's MSL Academic Endeavors, publishing imprint of the Michael Schwartz Library, is pleased to announce the publication of a new book titled Community Development in a Legacy City: The Cleveland Lab 1985 - 2010, by Eric Hoddersen. Available exclusively from EngagedScholarship @ Cleveland State University, this retrospective describes and assesses Cleveland’s approach as a legacy city to neighborhood revitalization from the early 1980s to the subprime mortgage foreclosure crisis of 2008 and its immediate aftermath. The preconditions, strategy, leadership, staff, financing, program design and outcomes will be viewed through the lens of a public-private partnership to develop affordable housing and inclusive neighborhood place-making. Central to this effort was creating a system to support grass roots community development corporations and their revitalization efforts.

This is a participant observer view with all the strengths and weaknesses, not an academic study. The author was for 20 years the CEO of Neighborhood Progress Inc., a nationally recognized Foundation intermediary that was integral to the system described. The last two chapters assess the achievements and limitations of that system and conclude with the author’s suggestions for moving forward.

Read it online now at:
https://pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu/community-development-cleveland-eh/

ISBN: 978-1-956812-01-05
Publication Date: 05-02-2023

About the Author

Eric Hoddersen is a thirty-year Cleveland resident who dedicated much of his career to Cleveland’s community development and strengthening its neighborhoods. He was formerly a Job Corps Counselor; Teamster Union organizer; Founding Director of Union-Miles Development Corporation; Project Manager of Gordon Square Arcade; Director, Cleveland Neighborhood Partnership Program, and mostnotably, CEO and President of the Neighborhood Progress, Inc., Village Capital, and New Village Corporation, where he retired after 21 years in 2010. Mr. Hoddersen was also the Vice Chair of the Ohio CDC Association and of the Community Development Partnership Network (national). He served as a Board member on St. Luke’s Foundation, ShoreBank Cleveland, and the Cleveland School Board Bond Accountability Commission.

He received his BA in anthropology from the University of Washington.  He studied political economy at the New School for Social Research, and earned a CMN in Non-Profit Management at Case Western Reserve University. His Fellowships include: Fannie Mae Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School; and Senior Urban Planning Fellow at the German Marshall Fund, MIT School of Urban Planning, and Cleveland State University’s Levin College (now known as Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs).

The author lives with his wife Carolyn in Cleveland's Buckeye-Shaker neighborhood.

About Michael Schwartz Library Digital Publishing

MSL Academic Endeavors, the publishing imprint of Cleveland State University Michael Schwartz Library, accepts manuscripts from local authors about the culture and history of Cleveland and Northeast Ohio. We also accept scholarly material from CSU faculty to publish open textbooks and other open educational resources. Books and Open Educational Resources are digitally published in EngagedScholarship @ Cleveland State University, a virtual showcase for CSU’s research and creative output.

MSL Academic Endeavors:  https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/msl_ae_ebooks/

EngagedScholarship @ Cleveland State University: https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/

Have you visited Cleveland's Cultural Gardens? It's a beautiful place to visit any day of the year, but Sunday, August 28th would be especially auspicious, during the 76^th Annual One World Day, a celebration of the vast cultural heritage of Cleveland and the ethnicities represented by its citizens. 

ABOUT ONE WORLD DAY

The Cleveland Cultural Gardens Foundation has scheduled a day of free events at the Cleveland Cultural Gardens on East Blvd. and Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive.  Over 30 unique gardens range across the city’s 254-acre Rockefeller Park, representing the diverse ethnic backgrounds of Clevelanders.  More than 80 statues and inscriptions throughout the gardens depict significant figures in the world’s cultural history, representing artists, writers, composers, philosophers, peacemakers, saints and scientists.

Events run from 11am-6pm, beginning with two annual traditions:

• One of the highlights for One World Day is the Naturalization Ceremony, where 20 new citizens will be sworn in by our District Court. The ceremony will start at 11am at the new Centennial Peace Plaza on Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
• The Parade of Flags, featuring dozens of nationalities, ethnic costumes and more - the diversity of Cleveland on display - including communities that do not have a Cultural Garden. The unit representing Ukraine will lead off the parade, and you can expect to see units from the Dutch, Brazilian, Peruvian, Jordanian, Haitian, Swiss and other communities marching along with representatives of the 30+ communities represented throughout the Gardens and Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb and the Cleveland Police and Fire Chiefs.   Magnificent Seven Olympic Gold Medal Champion Dominique Moceanu will be the Grand Marshal of the Parade. 

The rest of the day will be full of live music, dance, storytelling, acrobatics, and much more, at virtually every garden in the park.   Here's a full description of the day's events

Everything is free:  Free admission. Free entertainment. Free parking. Free shuttle buses from parking lot to the gardens. Free busses will circle the grounds and helpful volunteers in golf carts will be on the lookout for those needing assistance. 

ABOUT THE GARDENS

The Cleveland Cultural Gardens are a major part of the city’s 254-acre Rockefeller Park, a tranquil green parkway spanning two miles between University Circle, Cleveland’s renowned arts and cultural center, and Lake Erie. The land was donated to the city by oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller in 1896 as a part of the celebration of Cleveland’s first centennial. The park was designed by prominent landscape architect Ernest W. Bowditch.

The Cultural Gardens were born in 1916, when the Leo Weidenthal. Weidenthal, editor and publisher of the Jewish Independent, conceived the idea of a garden chain that would represent the many cultures of the world and stand as a symbol of peace. This idea led to the founding of the Cleveland Cultural Gardens Federation and to many more gardens representing the ethnic cultures of the city.

The gardens, then and now, are sponsored and developed by the individual ethnic communities after which they’re named. In the 1930s and 1940s, the federal Works Progress Administration – Franklin D. Roosevelt’s jobs and infrastructure program – helped the city build the bridges and stonework that to this day beautify Rockefeller Park. Many of the early gardens representing European immigrants were helped along by the WPA and were an early testament to a dedication to multiculturalism in Cleveland and the country.

In more recent decades the celebration of diversity has continued. Communities from countries in Asia, Africa and the Middle East have developed gardens.  Over 30 cultural gems have been established, with many more in the planning stages.

With a motto of “peace through mutual understanding", it is the mission of the Cultural Gardens to embrace multicultural diversity and deepen awareness of the peoples of the world.

HOW TO FIND THE GARDENS
The Cultural Gardens are located within the City of Cleveland’s Rockefeller Park - just 3 1/2 miles east of Cleveland State. The oldest and largest Gardens are along East Blvd. from St. Clair Avenue on the north to Superior Avenue on the south. The later Gardens, and the newest, are along Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd and start just north of St. Clair and continue to Superior Avenue at the southern end. An exception is the Chinese Garden, also along MLK Jr. Blvd but located half way between Chester Avenue and East 105th, across from the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Wade Park Lagoon.

The Gardens extend roughly 1.5 mils on both MLK and East Blvds, so a complete walk around the Gardens would be 3 miles in length. 

More about the event

More about the Cultural Gardens from Cleveland Memory

Historical Photos from Cleveland Memory

KYW Radio: The Cleveland Years

by Dr. Richard Klein

The Michael Schwartz Library and EngagedScholarship @ Cleveland State University are happy to announce the publication of another new eBook by CSU's Dr. Richard Klein: KYW Radio: The Cleveland Years.

Today’s commercial radio-industry faces a persistent business problem stemming from the large number of apps and streaming platforms featuring personalized music and podcasts. But clever rivalry among media specialists is not new to the U.S. radio industry. The astonishing success of television during the post-war years dramatically diminished the size of radio’s listening audience. Westinghouse’s KYW rose to the occasion in the 1950's and 60's, resisting the rapid advancement of television by overhauling their out-of-date programming. KYW's hands-on approach transformed the 50,000-watt radio giant into an influential force and a leading Top 40 contender during its nine-year tenure in Cleveland. 

This book explores some of the methods used to achieve KYW's business objectives and what lessons we might learn from its experience. The broadcasting model perfected by KYW-Cleveland may well help some of today’s struggling outlets facing unyielding competition from new media. 

About the Author

Richard Klein, Ph.D. a recently retired professor of Business and Public Affairs from Cleveland State University, has written a number of books on a wide variety of business topics. His three most popular titles have focused on Cleveland department stores, the U.S. pharmacy industry and Cleveland’s drive-in restaurants. His interest in radio began as a teenager in the ‘60s when he listened to rock and roll music every day. His battery-operated transistor radio opened up a new world to a very energized teen who has remained a loyal radio listener ever since.

Other titles by Richard Klein:

• "Let’s Go Shopping at the Square” Cleveland’s Leading Downtown Department Stores: A Business Legacy 
• The Legacy of the Pharmacy Industry: Cleveland, Ohio
• Fast-Food Industry: A Cleveland Perspective 1930-2016

About Michael Schwartz Library Digital Publishing

MSL Academic Endeavors, the publishing imprint of Cleveland State University's Michael Schwartz Library, accepts manuscripts from local authors about the culture and history of Cleveland and Northeast Ohio. We also accept scholarly material from CSU faculty to publish open textbooks and other open educational resources. Books and Open Educational Resources are digitally published in EngagedScholarship @ Cleveland State University, a virtual showcase for CSU’s research and creative output.

This week at Cleveland Memory we're celebrating our Cleveland Union Terminal Collection

The formal dedication of the Cleveland Union Terminal and its iconic tower took place 92 years ago - on June 29th, 1930. Our Cleveland Union Terminal Collection comprises the archives of the company that built the Terminal Tower, the union passenger station, the complex of office buildings, post office, department store and the infrastructure of tracks, bridges, signals, electrical catenary structures and yard facility buildings necessary to switch passenger coaches over from steam to electric and bring them in to the downtown area.

Researchers, history majors, and local history and train enthusiasts have long enjoyed and made use of these remarkable materials.  But whatever your particular area of interest or study, there's something in this collection you'll want to see: 

Studying Civil Engineering?
The unprecedented engineering for the project included foundations 250' deep for the tower, the demolition of more than 1,000 buildings, and the construction of many bridges and viaducts for the railroad approaches. Construction on the steelwork began in 1926, and the 708' Terminal Tower was completed in 1927.  We have over 5,000 images of original conditions, excavation, blueprints, foundation work, and birds'-eye views of the steelwork captured during every phase of the construction.

Studying Urban Studies?  
This was a massive urban redevelopment project that foreshadowed the Rockefeller Center, in New York; gave Cleveland one of the tallest buildings in the world in 1930; forever changed the face of Public Square and demolished wide swaths of adjoining neighborhoods. Long-distance steam trains, interurban lines, rapid transit, streetcars, as well as taxi cabs and automobiles were to be brought together, making this the first attempt in the United States to unify and integrate an entire city's transportation system under one roof.  Our collection includes a fascinating, meticulous door-to door survey of photographs of every single building that was razed to make way for the project, links to insightful research about the lasting impact of this "city-within-a-city", and a delightfully poignant memoir written by a self-described "dead-end street kid" whose Italian-American neighborhood was demolished in 1928. How's that for a primary source?

Just love Cleveland-related eye candy? 
We've got plenty!  Beautiful color postcards from our postcard collection; prints and drawings made during the construction; architectural drawings - including conceptual drawings that never got off the proverbial drawing board - and of course the amazing work of the intrepid Cleveland Press photographers...Cleveland Memory is a rich source of inspiring material. Check out this 2018 exhibition catalog for a wonderful sampling.
 

Visit our Cleveland Union Terminal Collection for thousands of photos, maps, drawings, and even streaming video from 1928!

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.

https://www.clevelandmemory.org/

New E-book:  From Across the Pond: A Love Letter to Cleveland

by Peter Almond

The Michael Schwartz Library is happy to announce the publication of a new ebook:  From Across the Pond,  A Love Letter to Cleveland: The Memoirs of a Brit Journalist with the Cleveland Press 1970-82.   Available exclusively from EngagedScholarship@Cleveland State University, From Across the Pond is the engaging and insightful first-hand account of Peter Almond, a young British journalist who immigrated to Cleveland in January, 1970, working at The Cleveland Press newspaper until its demise in June, 1982.

Almond, having witnessed at first hand the cataclysmic events of a dozen turbulent years in Cleveland, now recalls the personalities, politics and passions of Northeast Ohio from a completely unique perspective: that of a young Brit at the start of his career with no previous experience of the United States. The chronological organization of chapters allows us to witness this callow outsider’s transition into a mature writer and an affectionate insider who obviously cares deeply about his adopted city. 

Though his award-winning coverage of some truly appalling events – including the Diamond Shamrock pollution scandal, the school desegregation struggle, and indeed the collapse of his own paper –  he shows us ourselves with the frankness of a good friend telling us the bare truth for our own good. These stories of Cleveland range across the American experience, and Almond tells them compellingly.

Almond contextualizes and leavens what could be heavy going with video & other multimedia links (just one advantage of the e-book format), and with charming personal asides he calls “Memory Flashes”, as well as a sprinkling of photos from his own personal collections and from the Cleveland Press collection housed in the Michael Schwartz Library’s Special Collections, which has formed the backbone of our renowned Cleveland Memory website.

He concludes his “love letter from London” with a satisfying summary of the progress since his departure of some of his most important investigations, and also with an impassioned plea for the digital preservation of the Press archives:

…The Cleveland Press wasn’t just ‘the other paper’ to the Plain Dealer...it was a 102-year-old giant that had its own character and style that suited perfectly the character of the working people of Cleveland: the original ‘Penny Press’ that presented stories the other paper didn’t. It died before the age of digitization, leaving the Plain Dealer to present itself to historians, researchers and public as the guardian of Cleveland’s newspaper history.

Two generations have now passed with no knowledge of The Press, and no knowledge of stories such as my own which have helped shape the history – and destiny - of north east Ohio…invisible to any and all of the historians, researchers and the public who search for us online. The entrapment of our legacy in the slowly-disappearing pages of a library at Cleveland State University is surely a major loss to the civic history of northeast Ohio.

About the Cleveland Press Collection 

Comprised of hundreds of thousands of clippings and photographs, The Cleveland Press Collection is the former editorial library, or "morgue," of The Cleveland Press and is now part of Cleveland State University Michael Schwartz Library's Special Collections. The last of Cleveland's daily afternoon newspapers, The Cleveland Press was published from 1878 until 1982.  The bulk of the collection was donated to the CSU Library in 1984 by the newspaper's owner, Joseph E. Cole, who was then a CSU Trustee.

The publication of From Across the Pond coincides with the 40th anniversary of The Cleveland Press's demise, and seems a fitting commemoration of Cleveland Memory’s 20^th anniversary.   

About the Author

Peter John Almond was born in Northampton, England, in January, 1946, and raised in a Royal Air Force family which moved frequently. Formal schooling ended at Woolverstone Hall School, Ipswich, in 1964 when he began four years journalist training at the Northern Echo and Yorkshire Evening Press, York. In December 1969 he married Anna Collinson, a nurse, in York before they emigrated to Cleveland the next month. At The Cleveland Press Peter was a general, Education, Labor and Investigative reporter. His journalism awards included a Nieman Fellowship in Journalism to Harvard in 1980/81. Peter and Anna adopted two Cleveland-born boys, Nicholas and Jeffrey, and in 1982 moved to Washington D.C. where Peter became State Department writer for the Washington Times.

For four years he was Europe/Middle East writer based in London, covering the Cold War, the Thatcher years and Beirut. Peter, with family, returned to D.C. in 1987 to be Pentagon writer for the paper. In 1990 he returned to London as Defence Correspondent for the Daily Telegraph, leaving in 1995 to freelance for UK and U.S. publications, and retiring in 2010.

About Michael Schwartz Library Digital Publishing

MSL Academic Endeavors, the publishing imprint of Cleveland State University Michael Schwartz Library, accepts manuscripts from local authors about the culture and history of Cleveland and Northeast Ohio.  We also accept scholarly material from CSU faculty to publish open textbooks and other open educational resources.

Books and open educational resources are digitally published in EngagedScholarship @ Cleveland State University, a virtual showcase for CSU’s research and creative output.  

$10,000 Grant Will Help the Library Recover from the Coronavirus Pandemic 

We're delighted to announce that we have received a competitive $10,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association! 

As one of only 200 libraries nationwide to be selected, we are honored at being chosen for funding from the American Library Association’s American Rescue Plan: Humanities Grants for Libraries, an emergency relief program to assist libraries that have been adversely affected by the pandemic. 

With funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, the Michael Schwartz Library will will be able to regain momentum and build upon our work in anchoring ourselves in the community as a strong humanities institution through our Cleveland Memory Project. 

“We are very excited to be chosen for this amazing opportunity,” said Performing Arts & Humanities Librarian, Mandi Goodsett. “This grant will allow our library to better serve our patrons and implement important humanities projects that the pandemic has made challenging.” 

The 200 grant-winning libraries, selected through a competitive, peer-reviewed application process, include public libraries, academic/college libraries, K-12 libraries, and tribal, special and prison libraries. The recipients represent 45 states and Puerto Rico and serve communities ranging in size from 642 residents in Weir, Kansas, to the city of Los Angeles.

Award recipients were chosen with an emphasis on reaching historically underserved and/or rural communities.  We will use the grant funds to hire a graduate student to process, digitize, and promote two collections from our Special Collections:
 

PRAYING GROUNDS: AFRICAN AMERICAN FAITH COMMUNITIES

Praying Grounds: African American Faith Communities contains oral histories, audiovisual materials, ephemera, and research materials compiled by Dr. Regennia Williams, professor emerita from CSU’s History Department. The project details the history of African American religious communities in northeast Ohio and includes oral histories of community members who have since passed away. These materials reflect important aspects of the African American community in Cleveland and the surrounding region.

THE BUCK HARRIS COLLECTION

The other collection is the Buck Harris Collection, which contains cassette recordings of Clevelander Buck Harris’s "Gay 90's" radio show, as well as VHS tapes of interviews, sexual education materials, and ephemera related to his work in the LGBT community of Cleveland. Buck Harris was a pioneer in the gay community of Cleveland and beyond, and his interviews capture an important piece of Cleveland history. 
 

“Libraries have faced significant hardships throughout the pandemic —from budget cuts to staff furloughs to building closures — especially in our communities of the greatest need,” said ALA President Patty Wong. “This crucial support from NEH will enable our beloved institutions, and the dedicated people who run them, to rebuild and emerge from the pandemic stronger than ever.” 

American Rescue Plan: Humanities Grants for Libraries is an initiative of the American Library Association (ALA) made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. 

Contact:  

Mandi Goodsett, M.S., M.Ed
Performing Arts & Humanities Librarian,  
OER & Copyright Advisor 
Michael Schwartz Library, RT 110D 
Cleveland State University 
a.goodsett@csuohio.edu 
216-802-3362 

CLEVELAND MEMORY TURNS 20 THIS YEAR!

In our first official observation of Cleveland Memory's 20th Anniversary, and in recognition of the Martin Luther King holiday and Black History Month in February, we have launched a major reworking of one of our earliest exhibits on Cleveland Memory.  "Notable Blacks of Cleveland" has become Black Trailblazers, Leaders, Activists, and Intellectuals in Cleveland.

Far beyond the original collection of images, the new site is a pathfinder to our extensive collections focusing on Black Clevelanders and Black Cleveland history. You'll find historical photographs contextualized by articles, e-books, audio interviews, speeches, and oral histories, as well as carefully curated links to essential off-site reading.

While this site cannot attempt to serve as a comprehensive history of the Black experience in Cleveland, Ohio, we are happy to offer a rich sampling of materials that collectively tell a broader story about African American life in Cleveland, Ohio. We invite you to explore.

Visit:
Black Trailblazers, Leaders, Activists, and Intellectuals in Cleveland

A New Book from EngagedScholarship @ Cleveland State University

Recently retired CSU professor Dr. Richard Klein has published his 6th book, The Changing Fortunes of American Business: Cleveland's Fortune 500 Companies.  A review of the energetic Cleveland business scene over that past six decades, the new book investigates the Fortune 500 phenomenon as it pertains to Cleveland’s long-term business success. 


From the introduction:

"Situated halfway between New York and Chicago and midway between Great Lakes resources and national markets, this gem of a city not only affords a qualified workforce and many viable business sites near major transportation connectors; but also, a host of other equally high quality amenities and educational opportunities generally equated with larger communities. This study will examine the Fortune 500 phenomenon and why Cleveland has done so well over those years...Those firms calling Cleveland home are worth investigating further in that many of the pragmatic business approaches they used so successfully in the past remain vital in today’s highly competitive world market."

Dr. Klein has more than 35 years of experience in urban issues and analyzes modern-day business-related problems through a unique historic perspective.  He has written five well-received books in those areas.  

The book may be downloaded or read online at  EngagedScholarship @ Cleveland State University at https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/msl_ae_ebooks/22/

Launched in 2002, the Cleveland Memory Project is a highly collaborative online collection of images and other resources about the history of greater Cleveland and Northern Ohio. Hosted by the Michael Schwartz Library and drawing heavily upon its Cleveland Press Collection, Cleveland Memory includes material from many partnering area institutions. Currently offering over 67,000 images, and dozens of ebooks, we are constantly growing. Over 2,400 images have been added since January 2020 as our most recent partners - including John Carroll University, the Cleveland Metroparks, Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, and the Cleveland Police Historical Society - are working on adding their materials to the collection.

Last semester, Cleveland Memory had 476,385 total page views. These numbers reflect the loyal community of users our Cleveland Memory Project has built over the years. This not only broadens awareness of Cleveland State across the region and far beyond, but creates friends, supporters, and even volunteers, who now think of Cleveland Memory as "theirs", and of Cleveland State as an asset to the community.

by Bill Barrow, Head, Special Collections & Donna Stewart, Website Specialist

A new exhibit from Engaged Scholarship @ CSU in observance of Native American Month in November:
Native Americans in Cleveland: Images from the Cleveland Press.

The people indigenous to the Western Hemisphere continents constitute the foundation for the subsequent history of America and, locally, the Western Reserve. The arrival of people from Europe, Africa and Asia greatly altered Indigenous people's lives and the dynamics between all these populations is an important competent of American history. That encounter was milder in the Western Reserve than elsewhere in America, but a relationship has existed though the centuries, including some photo documentation by the Cleveland Press of local Native American events.  We have put them up in EngagedScholarship @ CSU and Cleveland Memory in observance of Native American Month in November.

Visit the exhibit online now

We're very happy to announce that the Michael Schwartz Library has published a new ebook in EngagedScholarship@CSU:  "A History of University Circle in Cleveland: Community, Philanthropy, and Planning", by Darwin H. Stapleton. We at the Library have published a great many ebooks, through MSL Academic Endeavors and through Cleveland Memory, but this one has a special story, and fills a niche in local Cleveland history that has long been unfulfilled.

This book has been a long time coming!  Begun some 35 years ago, the manuscript was completed in 1990, was intended for publication first by University Circle, Inc., and then by The Ohio State University Press, but ultimately was a casualty of budget cuts. Nevertheless, author Darwin Stapleton continued to make minor revisions and additions to the manuscript over the next three decades, also publishing articles and presenting material drawing on his research and on the manuscript.

By 2018, the still-unpublished manuscript was known about by some students of Cleveland history, including the Michael Schwartz Library's own Bill Barrow.  Barrow, Head of our Special Collections,  noted that a history of University Circle had yet to appear, and he contacted Stapleton to propose the creation of an ebook edition under the Michael Schwarz Library's imprint.  Having been under continual revision over the years, the manuscript was certainly ready!  In several cases Stapleton's new publications and presentations have considerably extended subjects undertaken in the manuscript, and our ebook edition includes this new material.

As the title suggests, the book uses the concepts and processes of community-building, philanthropic activity, and city planning to frame the 200-year history of University Circle, the educational, medical, and cultural center of Cleveland.

As the home of the Cleveland Memory Project, we are delighted to have facilitated this important addition to the chronicle of our city's history.  Darwin Stapleton, of course, states it best:

"A good deal of what is the best and worst of United States history can be better understood by studying cities, which both involved citizens and scholars should do. I hope that this book is a contribution to that process."

READ THE BOOK ONLINE NOW:

"A History of University Circle in Cleveland: Community, Philanthropy, and Planning" (MS #1017) 

Crooked River Contrasts: The Role of the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland’s History
Bill Barrow, Head of Special Collections, Cleveland State University

Thursday, January 30th
11:30 - 12:30pm
1st Floor Connections Lounge (west of the User Services Desk)
Michael Schwartz Library

When the Cuyahoga River caught fire fifty years ago, it surprised, amused and alarmed America. Of course the water itself didn’t catch fire, but however you looked at it, the Cuyahoga and many of the country’s other industrial rivers were a mess. But the Cuyahoga is the reason for Cleveland’s existence, as the river’s linkage to the Ohio River was the basis for the siting of the village here in 1796 and was the deciding factor in building the Ohio & Erie Canal, which launched the city’s destiny as an industrial powerhouse. From the founding, to the fire, to today, Bill Barrow, Head of Special Collections at Cleveland State University’s Michael Schwartz Library, will be sharing stories of the river's history. Come hear the stories and see the library display, Crooked River Contrasts, showing the transformation of the Cuyahoga River and its impact on Cleveland.

September 26th:  The Official Dedication of "Love letter to Cleveland"

September 26th, 2019
3rd floor, Special Collections, Michael Schwartz Library
Opening at 5pm - Talks begin at 6pm 
​Join us for food, art, and fun!

You’re invited to an after-work celebration showcasing the two murals installed over the summer on the Library’s 3^rd floor.

Artists Laura and Gary Dumm (left, with our Head of Special Collections Bill Barrow) have been getting a lot of press this month, with shows in Waterloo and in Chagrin Falls.

You may also have seen the Dumms in the news back in July, when they donated to us an amazing 58-foot mural depicting many of the same local landmarks and famous Clevelanders that feature prominently in our Cleveland Memory Project. 

We’re so honored and proud to have this stunning piece of work - entirely funded by donations from Clevelanders – framing the entryway to the home of Cleveland Memory, that we’re hosting a reception to give us all a chance to see it up close, learn more about the truly remarkable saga that brought it here to Cleveland State, and especially to thank Laura and Gary in person.

Facebookers: let us know if you're planning to come!

Artists Gary and Laura Dumm attended the installation today of a 58-foot “Love Letter to Cleveland”.

We're grateful to Gary and Laura for honoring us with this pair of beautifully remade murals depicting so many people, places, and events from recent Cleveland history, and we thank their many generous supporters and friends for contributing to the GoFundMe campaign that made it all possible. They're now in their new permanent home here, flanking the entrance to our Special Collections on the 3rd floor of the Michael Schwartz Library.

This makes a satisfying conclusion to a long and occasionally frustrating saga for the 58-foot public art project. Completed in 2013, “Love Letter to Cleveland” was originally installed on the side of the old Orange Blossom Press building in Ohio City, steps away from the West Side Market. When the mural succumbed after several years to Cleveland weather, Gary and Laura began a search for a new home for it, and started a GoFundMe campaign to finance a reprint. They reached their goal, and the installation of the beautifully remade murals, on July 17th, 2019, coincided with Gary and Laura’s 48th wedding anniversary!

Drawn by Gary and colored by Laura, the murals depict many of the same local landmarks and famous Clevelanders that feature prominently in Cleveland Memory: the West Side Market, the “Free Stamp”, the Guardians of Traffic Statues, The Hulett ore unloaders; as well as familiar Cleveland personalities ranging from John D. Rockefeller, Jesse Owens, Jane Scott, and Margaret Hamilton, to Harvey Pekar, Dorothy Fuldheim, Eliot Ness, and Ghoulardi.

Laura has produced a brochure outlining the significance of the people and places represented, but it's an absorbing exercise to try and figure them all out with only the crooked blue line (representing the Cuyahoga River) running through the entire length of the piece to provide hints. Drop in and try it yourself!

We can't imagine a more appropriate home for this stunning piece of work by lifelong Clevelanders, entirely funded by donations from Clevelanders, than framing the entryway to the home of the Cleveland Memory Project. Indoors.

Some local press coverage:

• Local artists renew their love for the Cle with version two of Love Letter mural by Karin Rice Connelly, in Freshwater Cleveland, 7/30/2019
• ‘Love Letter to Cleveland’ mural moves to Cleveland State (video), by Jen Steer, for Fox8 Cleveland, July 23, 2019
• Gary/Laura Dumm Mural “Love Letter to Cleveland” Finds a New Home at CSU Library CoolCleveland, 7/19/2019
• Mural celebrating all things Cleveland that faced an uncertain future has new location (video) by Mike Brookbank for ABC News 5 Cleveland, 7/19/2019

A Love Letter to Cleveland in its new home

Thanks to a grant from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), awarded by the State Library of Ohio, CSU’s Michael Schwartz Library and Theatre and Dance Department are pleased to announce the restoration of a historic model of the Globe Theatre to be used for classroom instruction, research, and campus exhibitions.

The model, built in 1935 by H. Ernest Conklin, has been an important resource for the Theatre & Dance Department and others on campus who are interested in the history of theater, English playwriting, architecture, costume and set design, or other aspects of European history. The conservation process, performed by the Bonfoey Gallery in Cleveland, resulted in repairs to the model and allowed for its continued use as an educational resource and visual masterpiece for years to come. Questions about the model or interest in educational use are encouraged and can be directed to the Michael Schwartz Library.

The original Globe Theatre was built in London in 1599 by the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, Shakespeare’s playing company. Until the theater closed in 1642 it served as the primary playhouse for Shakespeare’s plays, which were popular during Shakespeare’s life and beyond. Although the actual dimensions of the playhouse are not known, various literary and historical clues have allowed historians to piece together the design of this important landmark. Most scholars estimate that the building was three stories high, open air, and could accommodate about 3,000 spectators. A modern reconstruction of the theatre, to scale, was opened in London in 1997, very near to the location of the original site.
 

The year 2019 marks the 420th anniversary of the original Globe Theatre being built, a magnificent architectural achievement destined to play host to many magnificent performances. The Globe Theatre model will remain on display in the library until September 2019, after which time it will be permanently relocated to the Theatre & Dance Department in the Middough Building.

Stop in and take a look!

(Watercolor sketch of the Globe stage by Walter Hodges, from the Folger Shakespeare Library)

You may have read that there is a new occupant of CSU's Office of Research: a 19th century portrait of George Howe, the original owner of the Millionaire's Row mansion that is now Parker Hannifin Hall. The oil painting, by Chester Harding, a prominent 19th century portrait artist known for his paintings of several U.S. presidents, was donated to the University by Innis Howe Shoemaker in memory of her grandmother, a descendant of Mr. Howe. 

This all seems entirely fitting and reasonable, but it actually took several years of work to bring George home, and the Library's Bill Barrow was instrumental in making it happen. Bill, our Head of Special Collections, was approached several years ago by Mrs. Shoemaker, a curator at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. When Mrs. Schoemaker told him she was interested in donating the oil painting, he was of course immediately interested.

But how best to use it? The portrait could not be considered part of the University Archives, since it had never belonged to the University. Bill felt that it somehow didn't quite belong in Special Collections, either, if a more fitting and public location could be found. He reached out to the current occupants of George Howe's old home, and found them to be enthusiastic about the idea. Reassured that George wouldn't end up in some basement storage facility, Bill accepted the donation on behalf of the University.

It took some time to find the ideal location in the old Howe mansion: somewhere prominent yet reasonably secure. Dr. Jerzy Sawicki, Vice President for Research, provided just the spot in the Office of Research. When it turned out that the painting needed cleaning, restoration, mounting, and labeling, funding was secured and our neighbors at the Bonfoey Gallery brought the painting back to life. George Howe's likeness is now beautifully displayed in the Office of Research, PH 205, and there are plans to install a reproduction above the fireplace on the first floor in the near future. 

Welcome home, George.