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E-Books
A growing series of digitized historical books
available exclusively from the Cleveland Memory Project


Our Featured E-Book

Olivier Alexis
Hart Crane in Akron and Cleveland 1919-1923: Ohio Roads and Bridges to The Bridge

2007

Link to Ebook

“It is the 1920’s. A young poet stands on a bridge at midnight. Below him the river slides black and mysterious, beyond him the lights of the city sparkle. He looks up and raises his arms towards the sky in speechless communion. His fingers 'spread among stars.' He is consumed with the visions which in a few years will culminate in The Bridge. Who might the poet be? Hart Crane, of course. And the bridge and city? The Brooklyn Bridge in New York, right? No, wrong! The bridge is the Detroit- Superior Bridge and the city is Cleveland.” — from the Introduction



Initially published in 1982, this book serves as an historical survey of the community arts council movement, as well as an analysis of programs, practices, and trends. Research for the book includes analysis of original source documents from arts councils, as well as discussions with more than 100 members and leaders of arts councils nationwide, including leaders of the National Endowment of the Arts and the American Arts Alliance.

Link to Ebook


 

Barrow, William C.
The Euclid Heights Allotment: a palimpsest of the 19th century search for real estate value in Cleveland's East End 1997
The Euclid Heights Allotment was a late nineteenth predecessor to the Van Sweringen brothers' Shaker Heights development, anticipating many of the themes of its more famous successor. Located on the heights overlooking Case Western Reserve University, Euclid Heights was the first elite subdivision to marry new electric streetcar technology with the romantic appeal of Cleveland's heights and provide a sheltered, restricted residential community for the wealthy citizens gradually moving out Euclid Avenue to the University Circle area.

the Euclid Heights Allotment


By the Neck Until Dead

Bellamy, John Stark II
By the Neck Until Dead: A History of Hangings in Cuyahoga County
2000
A Cleveland Memory exclusive! John Stark Bellamy II is familiar to local readers for his previous three books on famous murders. This, his first e-book (and ours!), will have no corresponding print edition.

Boberg, Alice
Grabowski, John J.
Wroblewski, Ralph
Zielinski-Zak, Judith
Polish Americans and Their Communities of Cleveland
1976
"Courageous, proud and daring, the Poles are like the eagle that has served as their national emblem since the twelfth century. They have preserved their culture and national identity against the nearly insurmountable odds of debilitating alien rule, devastating major wars and the surrender of their lands for 150 years to foreign powers. The Poles' intense pride in their culture is more than justifiable considering the broad spectrum of human endeavor they have enriched through their contributions." This 3-part monograph by four different authors covers Polish history and culture, immigration to America, and the Polish community of Cleveland.

Polish Americans and Their Communities of Cleveland

Bridges of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County

Bridges of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County
1918
Prepared by a general committee appointed by Henry W. S. Wood, general chairman of the committee in charge of the exercises coincident with the formal dedication of the new Detroit-Superior high level bridge



Callahan, Nelson J and William F Hickey
Irish Americans and their Communities of Cleveland
1978
The history of Cleveland is intimately connected with the settlement of the Irish immigrants. Their struggle for survival in the early days, their social, political and economic upward movement as well as their impact on the growth of Cleveland is vividly portrayed in this monograph by two distinguished Clevelanders.

Irish Americans and their Communities of Cleveland


Cleveland Union Station: a description of the new passenger facilities

Cleveland Union Station: a description of the new passenger facilities and surrounding improvements 1930
When the Cleveland Union Terminal was formally opened in 1930, this souvenir dedication book was issued, explaining the new project and showing beautiful drawings of the facility.

Although not credited in the orginal book, the illustrations appear to be the work of John Kemeny, noted illustrator of Hungarian language publications in Cleveland at the time.



D'Alessandro, Edward
The Ginney Block: Reminiscences of an Italian-American Dead-end Street Kid
1988
Long before Jacobs Field, the area just south of downtown was the site of the Haymarket district, the Central Market and parts of the Big Italy neighborhood. Edward D'Alessandro lived in "the Ginney Block," an Italian immigrant apartment building, until the new Cleveland Union Terminal construction project demolished it in 1928.

Post script: This self-described "dead-end kid" graduated Magna Cum Laude from John Carroll University and enjoyed a 40-year career at the Cleveland Public Library, retiring in 1970 as Director of the Library.

The Ginney Block


De Crane, Ray
Five Decades at the Press 1998
Memories of a 44 year veteran of the Press, written specifically for Cleveland Memory and the Cleveland Press Collection.



Ellis, William Donohue
The Cuyahoga
1998

from the last chapter:
"...the crooked little Cuyahoga, no larger than many a good fishing stream, required of men their best effort and magnified them. It turned them into giants who forced the valley into the pivotal position in mid-America’s economy.

The little river is still challenging men to works so vast that mile for mile it can’t be matched by any river I have ever heard of in the world."


The Cuyahoga, by William Ellis Donohue


Table of Contents of History of the Cleveland Viaduct by Collins French

French, Collins
History of the Cleveland Viaduct
1878
"For the satisfaction of such of my friends as are not conversant with the history of the Cleveland Viaduct, and who may entertain a just pride in the success of all laudable undertakings by those for whom they feel a friendly regard, and also for those who may wish to secure a record of its history, and being in possession of some facts in relation to it that no other man has any knowledge of, I propose to give a brief account of its origin and progress up to the present time"



Burt W. Griffin
Cities Within A City:
On Changing Cleveland's Government

1981

Burt W. Griffin has been a judge of the Common Pleas Court of Cuyahoga County, Ohio since January 3, 1975. From 1966 to 1975, he served as a legal aid lawyer in various capacities including Executive Director of the Cleveland Legal Aid Society and National Director of the Legal Services Program, U.S. Office of Economic opportunity.

He was Assistant Counsel to the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy during 1964.

Judge Griffin has been a life-long resident of Greater Cleveland. he was born in Cleveland's Hough section in 1932, lived in the Shaker Square area of Cleveland from 1937 to 1960, and has resided in Shaker Heights since then. Judge Griffin is a political science graduate of Amherst College, B.A. Cum Laude, 1954 and Yale Law School, J.D., 1959. (from the original back cover, but still current in 2005)

Link to Cities Within a City E-book



James Heaphey, James
Parish

from the prologue:
"This is a memoir about growing up Catholic but it has nothing to do, or everything to do, with religion. Though my childhood was fenced in by poverty and I knew the ungenerous consequences of class, it was, to paraphrase from my favorite novel, 'the worst of times, it was the best of times.' I grew up in a cocoon, an Irish Catholic Parish."

Parish



My Story by Tom L. Johnson

Johnson, Tom L. , edited by Elizabeth J. Hauser
My Story 1911
"In the main, the things I shall tell about Cleveland are the things that might be told about any city or state. The source of the evil; the source of the good; the source of the shame and corruption; the contest between opposing economic interests; the alliance among those identified with the franchise corporations on the one hand, and the unorganized people on the other, is the same everywhere."




Kennedy, James Harrison
A History of the City of Cleveland: Its Settlement, Rise and Progress 1796-1896

1896

James Harrison Kennedy’s A History of the City of Cleveland: Its Settlement, Rise and Progress 1796-1896 was published in 1896 to commemorate the centennial of the City of Cleveland.

A History of the City of Cleveland


The Hough Riots by Marc E. Lackritz

Lackritz, Marc E.
The Hough Riots of 1966
1968
During the night of July 18, 1966, racial turmoil in Cleveland's Hough neighborhood resulted in one of the most serious outbreaks of civil disorder in the city's history. A week later, when the National Guard had finally restored order, four people were dead, dozens were injured, hundreds of fires had been reported, and millions of dollars of property had been destroyed.

This thesis was presented to Princeton University only two years after the riots.



Lederer, Clara
Their Paths are Peace
1954

The Cultural Gardens constitute a verdant symbol of the perpetual renewal of the human spirit through past cultures and future aspirations. As divergent elements of an harmonious whole, they represent democracy and brotherhood as set forth in the American ideal. They are testimony to the faith of their founders that in the visions of poet and prophet, of artist and musician, are after all to be found the supreme realities of history, and that it is the dreams of men which forge the destinies of nations.

Their Paths are Peace, by Clara Lederer


Arab-Americans and Their Communities of Cleveland

Macon, Mary Haddad
The Arab Americans and Their Communities of Cleveland
1981
The contributions of the Syrian and Lebanese people in the political, educational, professional and business life of America are numerous. These achievements were made despite serious obstacles and prejudices which they faced in the early years. This book offers one profile of that history in the Cleveland area.



Robert N. Manry
Tinkerbelle:
The story of the smallest boat ever to cross the Atlantic nonstop

1966

On June 1, 1965 Robert Manry, a copy editor for the Plain Dealer and a Willowick, Ohio resident, left Falmouth, Massachusetts aboard his 13.5-foot sailboat, Tinkerbelle, to begin his voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. He arrived in Falmouth, England seventy-eight days later on August 17, 1965. At the time of the crossing Tinkerbelle was the smallest boat to have ever crossed the Atlantic.

Tinkerbelle



Jeffrey Morris: Beechwood, The Book

Morris, Jeffrey
Beechwood, The Book
1996
from the forward by Darrell A.Young:
"The city fathers have been called visionaries. The city has been studied by architects, planners, engineers and the like from all over the country. What is it about Beachwood that has attracted so much attention?

To be certain, there is something magical that has taken place over the last 80 years in Beachwood and Jeffrey Morris has finally documented the historical blueprint from which we can study and learn. This book is the first opportunity to understand our heritage and to delve into the intellect that forged this wonderful community."



Ohio and Western Pennsylvania Dock Company
The Pennsylvania Railroad's Cleveland Docks 1946
A brief history of the iron ore and coal docks of the Pennsylvania Railroad in Cleveland, published 1946 for the Pennsylvania Railroad Centennial and the City of Cleveland Sesquicentennial.



The Hungarian Americans and Their Communities of Cleveland

Papp, Susan M.
The Hungarian Americans and Their Communities of Cleveland
1981
Cleveland was at one time the city with the second largest population of Hungarians in the world (after Budapest). This history of the Cleveland Hungarian community outlines within a historical context how and why Cleveland became such a large Hungarian center and the nature of the ethnocultural community which existed and still exists. This study is the first comprehensive history of this community in Cleveland.



Porter, Philip W.
Cleveland: Confused City on a Seesaw
1976
No detached, scholarly, objective examination of the past, this is an eyewitness account of Cleveland during Phil Porter's fifty-year career as a working newspaperman in the city, told in his own blunt, subjective, often controversial style.

Phil Porter retired in 1966 as executive editor of The Plain Dealer.

Philip Porter - Cleveland: Confused City on a Seesaw


The Years Were Good by Louis B. Seltzer

Seltzer, Louis B.
The Years Were Good
1956
"This life and those years are shared with you in the pages of this book by a man who would be remarkable at any time in history and is doubly remarkable in today's...world. Reading what he has to say of himself, of his career, of his work, of his philosophy, is to find yourself thinking of the quiet sages of another era."

Seltzer was editor of The Cleveland Press from 1928-1966.

Stokes, Carl B.
Promises of Power: a political autobiography
1973?
Carl Stokes was the mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, and famous as the first black mayor of a major American city. He put together a coalition and maintained it with the force of his personality and convictions. He attracted many idealistic and talented people to his administration, which has had a lasting impact on local politics. This is his own story, told simply and frankly.



Table of Contents of Titus Atlas

Titus, Simmons & Titus, Philadelphia
Atlas of Cuyahoga County, Ohio from actual surveys by and under the directions of D. J. Lake, C. E
1874
"This atlas was one of two such commercial atlases of Cleveland to appear in 1874, the first such local examples of this important genre. Highly detailed and fairly common, it has become a staple for local history and genealogical research into nineteenth century Cuyahoga County."




Tuve, Jeannette
Ethnic Women of Cleveland
1977
In 1986, Dr. Jeanette Tuve of Cleveland State University conducted a series of interviews with 29 women of eastern European birth or heritage. Many of these conversations were with women who remembered World War II or the Great Depression. The project focused on their experiences building homes and communities in America while retaining their ethnic traditions. Cleveland Memory is digitizing these fascinating interview transcripts and recordings to allow you to read the transcripts online while listening to streaming audio recordings of the interviews.

Ethnic Women of Cleveland


Table of Contents of Italian-Americans & Their Communities of Cleveland

Veronesi, Gene P.
Italian-Americans & Their Communities of Cleveland
1977
"The essays included in this monograph emphasize Italian contributions to the human scientific and artistic heritage, review the painful process of immigration and settlement, they give special attention to the Italian-American community of Cleveland: to its neighborhoods, social and cultural activities as well as to its contributions to the growth of the greater Cleveland area."





Wallen, James
Cleveland's Golden Story
1920
"Instead of simply harboring institutions, as the river's mouth receives its ships, Cleveland is using them consciously and directly for the benefit of its citizens. If the writer of this narrative were asked to set forth Cleveland's great idea, he would employ but two words---Cleveland cares. Cleveland will grow richer but not scornful, more powerful but not ungentle, more illustrious but not forgetful. And for this ideal, Cleveland's image will ever dwell like a kindly light on the hearts of men."

Table of Contents of Cleveland's Golden Story by James Wallen


Table of Contents of Bridges of Metropolitan Cleveland by Sara Ruth Watson and John R. Wolfs

Watson, Sara Ruth, and John R. Wolfs
Bridges of Metropolitan Cleveland
1981
"The panorama of Cleveland’s Cuyahoga Valley shows bridges of all sizes, styles, functions and types. We are chronicling a history of bridges, but with special attention to the influence of our environment upon them. By discovering this influence as it has operated in the past, we can design and build with better understanding for the future. Descriptions are sometimes technical and detailed, sometimes sociological and historical, and sometimes humorous, chatty, even legendary. In short, there is something for everyone-for the engineer, for the local historian, for the sociologist, and, last but not least, we hope, for the general reader who has a bit of curiosity."





Whittlesey, Charles
The Early History of Cleveland
1867
This landmark work, the first book-length history of Cleveland, blends history and geography together with historical information collected from a wide range of sources. Chapter headings range from "Pre-Adamite History", to "Expeditions of Rogers, Wilkens, and Bradstreet", to "Fluctuations of Level in Lake Erie". Also included is geological information and a history of the Native Americans in the area, as well as journal entries from the early survey parties that surveyed the Western Reserve.

The Early History of Cleveland, by Charles Whittlesey








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