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Annals of Cleveland: A Depression-Era Project of the WPA
Annals of Cleveland staff summarized and indexed material in order to preserve and make readily accessible the detailed record of a city's life and culture as contained in its newspapers. The project provided jobs for unemployed white-collar workers during the Depression of the 1930s and created an important record of early life and thought in the city of Cleveland from 1818-1935.
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Bridges of Northeastern Ohio: Resources at Cleveland Memory
A pathfinder to our extensive collections having to do with bridges and Civil Engineering. Includes links to the Wilbur J. and Sara Ruth Watson Bridge Book Collection, several image collections, E-books and Articles, and off-site reading.
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A Brief History of Cleveland State University A one-page history of CSU, tracing its beginnings as a free YMCA program in the 1870s, through accreditation as Fenn College in 1929, the incorporation of the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, and the eventual maturation of Cleveland State University into "a student-centered institution of academic excellence and a leader in innovative collaborations with business, industry, government, other educational institutions, and the community”.
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Clay Herrick Slide Collection
This archival collection, donated by Clay Herrick, author of "Cleveland Landmarks", consists of 100 pamphlets, brochures, books, and photographs. The most important element is some 6,000 slides; one-of-a-kind shots of various buildings in Cleveland, which are showcased here.
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Cleveland Cultural Gardens Collection
The Cleveland Cultural Gardens, extending along East Blvd. & Martin Luther King Blvd. in Cleveland's University Circle area, is a unique collection of landscaped, themed gardens each representing a different ethnic group/organization in Cleveland. The gardens represent many of the cultural backgrounds of Cleveland's diverse population.
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Cleveland Illustrated
All 135 images from this lavish viewbook and brief history of Cleveland published in 1889.
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Cleveland, Ohio Along the Nickel Plate Road
In 1926 the New York, Chicago, & St. Louis Railway (Nickel Plate or NKP) undertook a grade elimination project along its right-of-way in Cleveland. At the start of the project the NKP took a series of photographs that documented the conditions both along its right-of-way and the adjacent neighborhoods. In 1930 the NKP produced another series of photographs, this time along its right-of-way through Lakewood, Ohio, a western suburb of Cleveland. Each series of images form a rare photographic cross-section of a major American metropolitan area in the mid-1920's and early 1930's.
*Nickel Plate Road is a registered trademark of the Nickel Plate Road Historical & Technical Society, Inc.
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Cleveland Press Collection
This archival collection includes hundreds of thousands of clippings and photographs from the former editorial library, or "morgue," of the Cleveland Press, which was donated to the Cleveland State University Library in 1984 by the newspaper's owner, Joseph E. Cole. The last of Cleveland's daily afternoon newspapers, The Cleveland Press was published from 1878 until 1982.
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Cleveland Union Terminal Construction Film
A digital version of a 1928 film depicting foundation engineering work on the foundations of the Terminal Tower complex on Public Square, the Cuyahoga Viaduct and other projects for the Cleveland Union Terminal. This 16mm film, discovered at a New York area swap meet, was generously donated in 2005 to support historical research related to civil engineering and the architecture of Cleveland, Ohio.
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Cleveland's Ethnic Heritage
A pathfinder to our extensive collections on Cleveland's rich cultural heritage: images and text about our ethnicities, communities, and neighborhoods. Browse or search thousands of images of notable Blacks, the Berea Children's Home, or the city of Lakewood. Read full text online of the popular series of Cleveland Ethnic Heritage Studies books by Cleveland State University. These collections are growing quickly, so visit often.
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Cleveland's First Infrastructure: The Ohio & Erie Canal
When the first section of the Ohio & Erie Canal opened on the Fourth of July 1827, a reliable passage became a reality for persons and products traveling between Lake Erie and the Ohio River. This event eased the uncertainty with which Ohio settlers lived, and redirected the course of cities and towns along its route. At the time, the Canal was hailed as a "vast and magnificent undertaking" by John Kilbourn writing in 1828, during a time when the field of civil engineering was "becoming of great importance to mankind, both in a pecuniary and political point of view..."
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Cleveland's Golden Age of Downtown Shopping
Revisit Cleveland's Downtown Department Stores. Remember the Silver Grille? Mr. Jingeling? The Sterling Lindner Davis trees? Take a nostalgic trip back with these images from the Cleveland Press Collection of the golden age of downtown shopping in Cleveland.
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Construction Photographs in the Cleveland Union Terminal Collection
This site documents the construction of the Cleveland Union Terminal (CUT) on the southwest quadrant of Public Square. The CUT was designed to be the union passenger station for railroad trains entering Cleveland after 1930. The project included a complex of office buildings, a hotel, department store, and post office; all capped by the Terminal Tower, then the tallest building between New York City and Chicago. The exhibit includes two collections of black and white photographs documenting the original conditions on this land before the neighborhoods and commercial districts were demolished to make way for for the Union Terminal project.
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The Cuyahoga County Fair Photograph Collection
120 photographs from the Cleveland Press Collection, taken over a 60 year span, depicting fair activities and fairgoers of all kinds, from prize-winning cattle to children competing in races. Also part of the collection is the 1970 documentary film "County Fair, U.S.A.", a nostalgic look back at the fair as it was a generation ago.
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d.a. levy Collection
d.a. levy was a major literary and underground figure in Cleveland's emerging poetry and small and alternative press scene from the early 1960s through his untimely death in 1968. A poet, artist, and publisher, levy's work documenting his love-hate relationship with the city and its politics offers a unique political & social perspective of Cleveland during the 1960s. This growing collection includes reprints and original works of his textual and visual art, along with photographs and newspaper clippings - a digital initiative in keeping with levy's vision of free thought and speech and his desire to create and distribute his work freely.
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Disasters in Cleveland History
Images of the fires, explosions, floods, and other calamities that have left their mark on the city over the years. Includes the infamous mid-20th century Cuyahoga River fires, the Collinwood School Fire of 1908; the Cleveland Clinic Disaster of 1929, the Waterworks Tunnel Disaster of 1916, and the East Ohio Gas Co. explosion and fires of 1944.
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The Dobama Collection
The Dobama Theatre was founded by idealistic theater students, Don and Marilyn Bianchi, Barry Silverman and Mark Silverberg, with their first production staged back in 1960. This collection, a collaborative project between The Cleveland State University Library and the Cleveland Public Library, features digital reproductions of playbills, publicity stills, sound recordings as well as a chronoligical listing of Dobama's productions through July 2007.
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East Liverpool, Ohio: A Glimpse of the Past
Cleveland Memory stretches its vision towards Ohio's eastern borders to take a nostalgic look at East Liverpool, Ohio, a city known for its pottery industry, "Point of Beginning" historical marker, and the place where gangster, Pretty Boy Floyd, was shot and killed by FBI agent Melvin Purvis in 1934.
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Eliot Ness in Cleveland: Ness, best known for bringing down Al Capone as leader of the Chicago "Untouchables", also spent time as Cleveland's safety director and later ran for mayor of the city.
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Ethnic Women of Cleveland
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.
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Fenn College On-Line
On September 1, 1965 Fenn College became Cleveland State University. This site, our vision of what an early Fenn College Web site might have looked like had the Internet been around in the 1960's, is in recognition of the many contributions of Fenn College and its graduates to the Greater Cleveland community.
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German Americans of Cleveland
Over 140 images from our Special Collections and links to a variety of resources from other institutions.
One of a series of Cleveland Memory collections exploring the ethnic influences that helped shape the history and development of Cleveland.
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The Greater Cleveland Ethnographic Museum
The Greater Cleveland Ethnographic Museum was established in 1975
to preserve the traditions and histories of Cleveland's ethnic communities. Although the museum closed in 1981,
this digital collection seeks to highlight some of its artifacts, both created and collected through the efforts of the museum.
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Great Lakes Industrial History Center
The Great Lakes Industrial History Center provides a resource where the public can gain an appreciation for the efforts and accomplishments of business and industry which led to the opening of the Great Lakes and the industrial development of adjacent regions and where visitors are inspired to continue the pursuit of inventiveness, ingenuity, and excellence.
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Hanna Theater Curtain
The Hanna Theater Curtain is a unique part of Cleveland's theater history. It was common practice for traveling companies to leave their mark backstage on theater curtains; it might be a shirt or poster stitched to the lining; an original drawing by the scene designer; signatures of the cast; anything which proclaimed "we were here!" Over the years, the Hanna Theater Curtain accumulated hundreds of such mementoes, becoming a legend within the performing arts community of Northeast Ohio--a unique, unsurpassed collage of theater memorabilia.
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Hungarian Americans of Cleveland
Cleveland's Hungarian community is the second largest Hungarian group in the world, second only to Budapest, Hungary. Currently, there are over 130,000 Hungarian-Americans in the Cleveland area. This site collecting resources related to Hungarian-American history and culture is a tribute to all the struggles, sacrifices and accomplishments of Hungarian-Americans.
One of a series of Cleveland Memory collections exploring the ethnic influences that helped shape the history and development of Cleveland, this site is a link between the resources of the Cleveland State University Library and the collection of Cleveland Hungarian Heritage Museum, and is a collaboration between the two institutions..
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Irish Americans of Cleveland
Over 200 images from our Special Collections, along with a sketch of Irish American life with excerpts from The Irish Americans and Their Communities of Cleveland by Nelson J. Callahan and William F. Hickey. Links to websites of contemporary Irish American organizations and culture will help acquaint you with Irish Americans today. And finally, to help you grab a piece of the past, we've selected artifacts found in an archaeological dig at the "Angle", or the old Irishtown Bend neighborhood.
First of a series of Cleveland Memory collections exploring the ethnic influences that helped shape the history and development of Cleveland.
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King Iron Bridge & Manufacturing Company
The King Iron Bridge Co. played an important role in the development and construction of metal truss bridges, a product of American engineering and construction technology, nationwide during the latter part of the Nineteenth Century. The Company built bridges in Cleveland that include the Central Viaduct in 1888; the Center Street swing bridge in 1901, Cleveland's last remaining swing bridge; and the 591 ft. steel arch of the Detroit-Superior (Veteran's Memorial) bridge in 1918.
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League Park: Cleveland's Original Ballpark
Built in the 1890s, League Park was the site of several important moments in baseball history, including the major league debut of Cleveland Indians pitcher Bob Feller, the first and only unassisted triple play in a World Series game, and the first grand slam in World Series history. Many famous baseball players appeared at the park and played in games there, including Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Satchel Paige, and Lou Gehrig.
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The Lewis Turco Collection
On April 14, 1962 poet and English instructor Lewis Turco announced the founding of the Poetry Center at Fenn College. As the director of the center, over the next two years Turco would propel the program forward to achieve great success and a lasting legacy in the Cleveland community. Using digital content from the Lewis Turco Collection as well as other documentation, this website provides a valuable resource for scholars and poets alike interested in tracing the roots of Cleveland's poetry scene.
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Louis Conrad Rosenberg: Etchings of the Cleveland Union Terminal
Louis Conrad Rosenberg was commissioned by the Van Sweringen brothers to produce etchings of the construction of the Cleveland Union Terminal, including sites, demolitions, and buildings. Rosenberg's, American, Cleveland Series consists of 22 dry point prints, produced from 1928 to 1930 — all prints are signed by the artist and in original mats.
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Messing About in Boats: The Amazing Adventure of Robert Manry
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.
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Mystery Photo Album from the 1890s
This is a small photo album that we recently acquired from a dealer. We know nothing about it, except what it discloses about itself: namely that it covers territory south of Cleveland, Ohio -- in the Kent/Akron area along the Cuyhoga River, Ohio & Erie Canal and nearby towns -- and that the photos were shot around 1897. If you know this area well, you might be able to help pinpoint the locations of the photos better and perhaps even solve the mystery of who the family is, shown in these photos. Any documented information will be added to the site.
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Naef & Joslin Company Photographs of Conneaut, Ohio
Naef & Joslin was a professional photography firm in Conneaut, Ohio. About 1900 they took several series of photographs of the docks, vessells, bulk material handling equipment and other features at the port of Conneaut.
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Notable Blacks of Cleveland
Photographs of hundreds of individuals who made a significant contribution beyond their own personal and family lives to the history and development of Cleveland. Some of these people are or were famous, but many more have touched the lives of many others in relative anonymity.
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Neighbors on the North Coast: Cleveland's Connection to the Mentor Shoreline
Lying less than an hour to the east of the city, the Mentor shoreline has long beckoned Clevelanders to it with promises of nature, recreation, and expanding industrial opportunities. Through photographs, maps, blueprints, video clips and documents this site highlights the development of the Lake Erie shoreline along Mentor for both public and private uses.
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Photographs from the Berea Children's Home 100 photographs from the Berea Children's Home and Berea Historical Society documenting the home's first 100 years of caring for neglected, dependent and abandoned children.
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Postcards of Cleveland
Dr. Walter C. Leedy, Jr. began his comprehensive collection of Cleveland postcards, now numbering nearly 8,000 in earnest in 1989. Leedy realized the unique value picture postcards could have to him as an architectural historian, permitting him to observe the changing urban environment, or to visually recreate what a neighborhood looked like. As Leedy puts it, "I don't really collect postcards-I collect images of life, moments in time. Nostalgia glues people to postcards. There is something intimate and direct about them. As an art historian, I think of postcards as a vehicle to introduce art to the millions-people aren't intimidated by postcards the way they might be by paintings or other "fine" art."
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Praying Grounds: African American Faith Communities
An ongoing documentary and oral history project which will ultimately offer audio and video recordings of oral histories and musical performances, as well as photographs, newspaper articles, anniversary programs and other printed materials, along with an extensive bibliography. A fascinating collection gathered from African American churches and faith communities throughout greater Cleveland.
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Railroad History Holdings at Cleveland Memory
A pathfinder to our extensive Railroad history collections, including links to the Cleveland Union Terminal Collection, Newburgh & South Shore Collection, and Nickel Plate Railroad Collections.
*Nickel Plate Road is a registered trademark of the Nickel Plate Road Historical & Technical Society, Inc.
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Roldo Bartimole - Point of View
Cleveland Magazine called him "the poor man's Tom Paine". John Wicklein in the April 1, 1993 issue of Progressive referred to him as "Cleveland's Gadfly". Whether you consider him to be Cleveland's conscience or "Cleveland's curmudgeon", from 1968 to 2000 iconoclastic journalist, Roldo Bartimole, rocked Cleveland's political boat with his biweekly newsletter, Point of View.
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Sacred Landmarks of Cleveland
Browse or search for text, images, and other data about a particular landmark in this growing project sponsored by The Sacred Landmarks Partnership of Northeast Ohio. Formed within the Urban University Program Centers at Cleveland State University, Youngstown State University, Kent State University and the University of Akron, the SL Partnership is dedicated to serving as a regional resource for the research and documentation of the history, institutional memory, architecture, aesthetic features and current uses of sacred landmarks in the region.
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The Shaker Heights Public Library Photograph Collection
Founded in 1912, Shaker Heights is a community dedicated to its schools, its natural spaces, its people, and its history. The digital reproductions here are a small portion of the photographs available for patron use in the Local History Collection at the Shaker Heights Public Library.
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Tony Mastroianni Review Collection
A growing collection of 20 years' worth of local reviews of theater, film, and music, as well as interviews with celebrities passing through Cleveland.
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Wilbur & Sara Ruth Watson Bridge Book Collection
This archival collection includes over one hundred and seventy-five rare books, some dating from the eighteenth century, and fifteen albums of photographs on historic bridges. The collection is considered one of the best of its kind in the country.
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Yesterday's Lakewood
Situated between Cleveland to the east and the Rocky River on the west, Lakewood, Ohio occupies 5.6 square miles along the southern shore of Lake Erie. Named for its natural setting along the lake, Lakewood's development was closely tied with that of Cleveland. This site contains images dating between 1909 and the building of the Rocky River Bridge through the early 1980's.
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