White City Amusement Park

Images: White City Amusement Park Postcard photos courtesy of John Frato.

By John Frato, Carousel Operations Coordinator, Cleveland History Center

The financial success of the Humphrey Family at Euclid Beach Park spawned a number of amusement parks in the Cleveland area.  The owners hoped to garner a share of Cleveland’s growing amusement park market.  Each had their own plan for success which in many instances mirrored the Humphrey operation, but each added their own nuances to make their operations unique.  During this golden era of amusement parks in Cleveland, no idea or attraction was too grandiose as the park owners experimented on how to draw the most amount of visitors.   One of Euclid Beach’s most short lived competitors was located only a mile west of the Park’s entrance arch on Lake Shore Boulevard at East 140th Street.  To put the location in perspective today, the Easterly Water Treatment Plant occupies much of the site.  Manhattan Beach Park opened to the public in 1900 as a summer resort.  Along with the beach that was available for swimming, a dance hall and baseball fields were also built.

In 1905, Manhattan Beach was purchased by Edward R. Boyce. He was the owner of Dreamland Park at Coney Island in New York.  His hope was to bring the successful concepts that worked so well at Coney Island to Cleveland. Visitors would be drawn to the park by the attractions and entertainment featuring celebrity performers.   Reportedly within a period of only eleven weeks Manhattan Beach was transformed into White City Amusement Park.  The park opened in 1905 with a scenic railway, dance pavilion, boardwalk, Shoot the Shoots (predecessor of a similar ride at Luna Park), and an animal show. White City shared a number of similarities with Euclid Beach.  Beyond the proximity of the two parks, they each shared a common street car line, Clevelander’s could visit both park’s in the same day, the original manager of Euclid Beach before the Humphrey management was William R. Ryan who coincidently was the manager of White City, their entrance arch’s on Lake Shore Boulevard were hauntingly similar, and each offered a beach along Lake Erie’s shore.

Unlike Euclid Beach, White City charged for admission and alcohol was available.   Another striking difference were their midways, Euclid Beach featured family friendly rides, attractions, and food concessions.  Along with the rides and food concessions, White City offered a number of unique attractions which included Drs. Couney and Stewarts Infant Incubator Hospital.  Park visitors could visit the state of the art facility and see up to twenty premature babies on display with their attending Cleveland physicians.  By today’s standards this would surely be viewed as a rather odd form of entertainment for an amusement park, but it did provide a much needed public service.  Facilities such as this were not common place and the care provided saved lives.  The hospital’s first patient and star performer arrived just in time for opening day in June 1905 and the hospital operated at almost full capacity the few short years the park operated.

White City entertainment concept was never fully embraced by Clevelanders and the entrance charge was definitely a contributing factor to its downfall.  It was also plagued by two major disasters.  The entire park was destroyed by a fire in 1906.  The park was quickly rebuilt but the grounds were ravaged again by a high wind rainstorm in 1907 and subsequently closed in 1908. There were a couple of rebirths that were not successful.  Going back to the Manhattan Beach days, the park re-opened as Cleveland Beach Park and operated again like a summer resort.  By 1911, the park was again in financial difficulty.  The bank sponsored auction brought a new owner.  M. F. Bramley purchased both Luna Park and Cleveland Beach Park with the intention of operating two amusement parks in Cleveland.  He upgraded the property in 1911 and re-opened as Bay Park.  Within several months, the park closed forever. White City is another amusement park in Cleveland that is a mere footnote in history.

The Greatest American Hero: The Story of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster

By Robyn Marcs, Grants Manager at the Western Reserve Historical Society

A few weeks ago, I was driving home from the West Side Market with a friend who is new to the area.  During one of our conservations on the road she asked, “Did you know Superman is from Cleveland?” Of course I did! I think it’s one the first things that every Clevelander is taught, especially since my grandmother grew up only two miles from Jerry Siegel’s house on Kimberly Avenue.

Was it fate or an intervention from Kryptonians that brought the Shuster family from Toronto to Cleveland in 1924?  Whichever it was, it was certainly to pop culture’s benefit that the two young men who were, as The Saturday Evening Post once wrote, “two small, shy, nervous, myopic lads who can barely cope with ordinary body-building contraptions … [they were] the puniest kids in school picked on and bullied by their huskier classmates.”  It was said that their mutual love of science fiction started their now-famous friendship, which isn’t hard to believe.  Siegel was the creative brains behind the Superman character and Shuster brought his vision to life with his impressive character designs.  According to Jerry Siegel, it all came down to one fateful night in 1932 when he couldn’t sleep “when all of a sudden” the idea of a strong man the likes of Hercules and Samson came to his mind.  He wrote it down and the next morning when Shuster came over, he told him all about his new character—Superman.  Jerry himself served as the model for Superman and his future wife, Joanne, was the model for Lois Lane when Joe Shuster first drew them in 1935 at the Siegel home in Glenville.

Siegel and Shuster’s big break came in 1938 when they sold their first Superman comic to Action Comics for $130 for 13 pages.  This deal, of course, would come to bite them in the back since they essentially sold their rights to what would become one of the most famous comic book characters in history.  However, to Siegel and Shuster, they were just two young men who were elated to have their comic in print.  In fact, The Plain Dealer, their hometown rag, would be one of the first papers to publish the comic in the 1940s.

Siegel and Shuster were both the sons of Jewish Lithuanian immigrants who escaped the pogroms in Eastern Europe around the turn of the twentieth century.  Their families settled in the Jewish neighborhood of Glenville, and Jerry and Joe attended Glenville High School where they met.  In 1941, Siegel and Shuster, proud of their Jewish heritage, attended a benefit for The Temple (today The Temple-Tifereth Israel).  Shuster drew pictures of Superman for attendees while Siegel answered fans’ questions about their famed character.  Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver even attended this event.  During World War II, Siegel and Shuster drew Superman defeating Hitler, even Nazi Germany saw this comic and said that “Siegel was attempting to push his Jewish agenda.”

By the 1970s, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster were shadows of their former selves.  Shuster, the artist, was going blind in one eye and Siegel was working a dead end job at Marvel Comics.  However, Clevelanders were always very proud of their native sons.  Today, the Jerry Siegel’s childhood home has an Ohio Historical Marker.  Where Joe Shuster once lived is now a vacant lot, but there is a fence commemorating him with Superman comics surrounding where his apartment building once stood.  Regardless, these two young Jewish men gave our city and the nation what we needed – The Greatest American Hero.

 

Joe Shuster draft card (note Jack Liebowitz Comic Strips as employer) Source: ancestry.com

Girls on the Move: Clothing and Freedom

By Patty Edmonson Museum Advisory Council Curator of Costume & Textiles for the Western Reserve Historical Society

Today, girls are empowered to play freely and join in both team and individual athletics, and clothing reflects this. Over a hundred years ago, many parents prohibited activities deemed too rough or dangerous: young women did not ride a horse astride and basketball rules prohibited dribbling more than three times before passing, but they forged their own way. Over the decades, young women challenged authority and found new freedom in play and sport. Their clothing changed to allow freedom of movement, confidence, and independence. Several garments in the current exhibition Dressed for the Job: Clevelanders in Uniform help to illustrate this history.

Riding Habit, 1903. Gift of Mrs. Fred R. White, Mr. Laurence, & Robert Norton 42.4899
Sporting Fashions in Godey’s Lady’s Book, 1890. WRHS Library.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By today’s standards, wealthy girls of 1900 were constrained by society. They attended elite boarding schools, traveled in small social circles, made advantageous marriages, and wore the proper attire. Miriam Norton’s sidesaddle riding habit seems foreign when compared to what young women wear on horseback today. Women wore riding breeches, or jodhpurs, underneath a matching skirt and jacket–all in a heavy wool. The voluminous skirt was carefully crafted to accommodate the appropriate sidesaddle riding style, so that one’s legs were not astride the horse.

Her riding habit was made during a time of great change. Bifurcated skirts, which allowed for riding astride, were available at the turn of the twentieth century, but weren’t widely worn. By the 1920s, it was acceptable for young women to wear jodhpurs without an overskirt. Changes in horseback riding were also tied to the introduction of the “safety bicycle” during the 1890s. A few women wore bloomers, or blousy pantaloons, but a slightly shorter skirt was widely adopted for most female cyclists. Whatever the attire, bicycles gave girls a new freedom of speed and transportation.

Rocky River: Fording the River, 1920s. Possibly students and teacher from Horace Mann Junior High School. WRHS Library.
Detail of “On Bicycles,” Plain Dealer May 26, 1895

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Laurel School Gym Suit, 1915-19. Worn by Josephine Cannon (1903-1994). Gift in Memory of Josephine Cannon Watt from her daughters 94.104.71
“Basketball is Exciting and Fascinating to Both Sexes,” Plain Dealer March 20, 1904.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Josephine Cannon wore this gym suit as a student at Laurel School. The school, then located on Euclid Avenue, built a new gymnasium in 1914, which created spaces for sports such as basketball, complete with electricity. After graduation, Josephine attended Smith College, where she joined the swim and basketball teams. Basketball was relatively new during the early twentieth century, and it was one of the few sports considered appropriate for high school girls (with much altered rules): in 1904, the Plain Dealer wrote that it was “active without being too rough.” Most female athletes wore a gym suit like this, with bloomers to the knee, or bloomers paired with a sailor blouse. Bloomers were acceptable in part because girls usually wore them in the privacy of an indoor gymnasium.

 

Front row: Jean (1913-2017) and Alice (1916-2019) Murrell Councilman Laurence Payne’s Basketball Team, 1935 Allen Cole Photographs, WRHS Library

 

By the 1930s, young female athletes finally had the freedom to move, without knee-length bloomers. Here, sisters Jean and Alice Murrell led a basketball team sponsored by Cleveland City Councilman Lawrence Payne (1892-1959). Payne was the girls’ uncle and in addition to his political work, he was a booster of local athletics. He sat on the board of the Cedar and Glenville YMCA branches, and helped to open more swimming pools and gymnasiums for young African Americans. Jean and Alice, his sister’s children, attended Cleveland Public Schools, and Jean, in particular, followed in her uncle’s footsteps: in 1949 she became the first African American woman elected to Cleveland City Council. She, too, had a love of sport, and was the first Black woman to win the Greater Cleveland Tennis Championship in 1938. The Murrell sisters’ basketball team photograph illustrates the drastic change for young women when it came to freedom of movement – just one aspect of their changing lives during the first half of the twentieth century.

The Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum Celebrates 80th Anniversary of the Collection in 2023!

1910 Duryea automobile. black open carriage. on display at Crawford Museum

While the famous statues on Cleveland’s Lorain-Carnegie Bridge have served as guardians of transportation since 1932, the Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum has served as a guardian of transportation history since 1943. That’s when Crawford namesake Frederick C. Crawford opened the Thompson Products Auto Album at Chester and E. 30th in Cleveland.

Fred started collecting cars in 1937, when–as president of automotive parts maker Thompson Products (the precursor to TRW)–he had the company purchase a 1910 Duryea that had been on display at the Great Lakes Exposition in Cleveland.

From that initial purchase, the collection grew quickly. When Thompson Products’ traveling salesmen would come across interesting old cars in fields, garages and barns, they would wire Fred, who would authorize the purchase and shipping of the vehicle back to Cleveland. It could easily be argued that Fred was one of the original buyers of “barn finds,” which are now a big deal in the car collecting world.

As cars were acquired, the collection began to take up more storage space at the Thompson Products factory on Clarkwood Road in Cleveland. That growth, coupled with the start of WW II and the need for Thompson Products to expand production of aircraft and automotive parts, led to a new, dedicated museum in a former Cadillac showroom at the corner of E. 30th and Chester. The museum, known as the Thompson Products Auto Album, opened for business on August 13, 1943, making it one of the first car museums in the country.

Brochure for Thompson Auto Album

Fred donated the Thompson Products Auto Album to the Western Reserve Historical Society in 1963, and the collection moved into a newly constructed (and its current) home in 1965. The collection now features nearly 200 vehicles, including cars, trucks, motorcycles and airplanes.

The WRHS will celebrate the 80th anniversary of Fred Crawford’s amazing collection throughout 2023. To stay up to speed on our 80th anniversary events, follow the Crawford on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/crawfordmuseum/. To learn more about the Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum’s history, visit https://www.wrhs.org/crawford/history/.

Forest City Park

By John Frato, Carousel Operations Coordinator, Cleveland History Center

 

Opening in 1883 twelve years before the first customer walked through the entrance gate of Euclid Beach, Forest City Park was originally named Beyerle Park after its first owner George William Beyerle. It was located in the area of Cleveland identified today as Slavic Village in the southeastern section of the city. As with many parks that opened during this time period, the plan was to create a summer resort. Beyerle Park was a place where people could get away from the hectic city life and enjoy themselves without traveling outside the city. During its initial years of operation, no amusement rides were added. The park’s landscaped grounds featured picnic areas, a manmade lake with a boathouse, baseball grounds, an entertainment pavilion, and even a small zoo.

Beyerle Park Lake and Overlook Bridge. Photo Nagode Collection

 

The name of the park was officially changed to Forest City Park when A.B. Schwab and his partners took over the operation of the park on May 5, 1895. The change in ownership and name change occurred a mere six weeks before the newly built Euclid Beach Park’s inaugural opening day on June 22, 1895. Forest City Park continued to operate as a summer resort offering its patrons alcohol, questionable games of chance, and often risqué side shows and vaudeville acts. The next significant change in the park’s operation occurred in 1902. Only a year after taking over the management of Euclid Beach Park, the Humphrey Family took over the management of Forest City Park. The two parks were comparable in size at approximately sixty five acres. As with Euclid Beach, the bawdy attractions as well as alcohol sales were eliminated in favor a much more family friendly atmosphere. The two parks were managed under the same guidelines. All immoral or questionable influences were eliminated. Guests were expected to dress and conduct themselves appropriately. Those patrons who acted inappropriately were forcibly removed. In place of these questionable forms of entertainment, The Humphrey’s added family friendly attractions which included a shooting gallery, theater, carousel, and a “switchback” roller coaster. It has been suggested, but remains unverified that the Armitage Herschell Carousel (track machine style) and Switchback Railway roller coaster originally installed in 1896 at Euclid Beach were recycled by the Humphrey Family to Forest City Park when they were replaced with more modern attractions.

Armitage Herschell Carousel at Euclid Beach. Photo courtesy of EBPN.
Armitage Herschell Carousel at Euclid Beach. Photo courtesy of EBPN.
Track Machine Operational Design Patent. Photo courtesy of EBPN.
Switchback Railway Roller Coaster at Euclid Beach. Photo courtesy of EBPN.

 

As with Euclid Beach admission to Forest City was free with patrons purchasing tickets for food, rides, and attractions. Under their management the two parks operated under a ticket system called the “Humphrey Park Plan”; multiple tickets were purchased rather than tickets for particular rides. Tickets could be used interchangeably at either park and they never expired.

The Humphreys’ management formula of offering numerous attractions and a family friendly atmosphere which worked so well at Euclid Beach did not have the same result at Forest City. Despite all of their efforts, park attendance lagged. The lack of alcohol was definitely a contributing factor. While it is true the Humphrey’s stepped away from direct management after a few years, it was still operated up to their standards. The working class neighborhood the park was located in would have been more supportive of the park if alcohol would have been available along with perhaps more adult themed entertainment. For anyone other than neighborhood locals it was easier to commute to the much larger Euclid Beach Park or Luna Park particularly as automobiles became a popular way of traveling to the parks. Euclid Beach and Luna had provisions for automobile parking, Forest City did not. An argument can also be made that quickly improving road system to outlying parks like Cedar Point and Geauga Lake contributed its downfall. Forest City closed its doors forever after a devastating fire in the late teens. Today, the park is a mere footnote in history. As for the land, a portion was sold for industrial use and the remainder of the valley the park was located in including the manmade lake was eventually filled and used to build housing.

Shady Lake Park – Then and Now

By John Frato, Carousel Operations Coordinator, Cleveland History Center

 

After Euclid Beach Park closed in 1969, the rides were disposed of in three different ways. Rides that would have been extremely costly and difficult to transport to a new location were razed. The Flying Turns, Thriller, Racing Coaster, and Over the Falls all fell into this category and were demolished. Other attractions were sold. A prime example of this category would be The Grand Carousel, which was sold to a ride broker in Pennsylvania and was quickly purchased for use at Palace Playland outside of Portland, Maine. The Humphreys kept a number of the rides for their own use. Almost all the rides from Kiddie Land most of which were located inside the Colonnade, along with the Rotor, Flying Scooters, Sleepy Hollow Train, Dodgems, Antique Car Ride, and Turnpike Ride were held back. A tract of land was purchased in Streetsboro along State Route 14 shortly before the Park closed, and the family planned on opening another amusement park there. Shady Lake, as the new park would be named, was developed slowly from 1969 to 1978.

The entire infrastructure of roads, pathways, sewer, electrical, and water service needed to be installed. A number of key maintenance employees were kept on, and the work began as soon as Euclid Beach closed, with the dismantling of the rides that were being kept, salvaging of much of the iconic green steel fence along with electrical boxes, switches, plumbing fixtures…just about anything that could be used at the new location.

When the park opened in 1978, an Arch quite similar to the one at Euclid Beach had been erected, a Wild Mouse Ride had also been installed in addition to the familiar rides transplanted from the old park, Although the park was located far from the shore of Lake Erie, there was a small lake on the property. Not surprisingly, Shady Lake Park had a very “Euclid Beach” feel to it. Many of the signs, the park benches, and even the ticket booths were transplanted to Streetsboro. Shady Lake had only a short life span. It closed in 1982 due to a family conflict over whether or not the Humphrey Family should stay involved with the amusement park business. After Shady Lake closed many of the rides were purchased by Old Indiana Family Fun Park outside of Indianapolis, Indiana. Old Indiana operated through 1996 when a tragic accident involving the Sleepy Hollow Train forced the park to close. An auction was held in February 1997 and the rides from Euclid Beach were scattered across the country and beyond. The Shady Lake Arch remained standing until 2004, and today the property is home to the Shady Lake Apartments and a Fifth Third Bank. It is a truly ironic twist that apartment buildings were built on the sites of both Shady Lake Park and Euclid Beach Park.

From Prince to King: A Historic Visit to the Cleveland History Center

By John J. Grabowski, Ph.D.
Krieger Mueller Associate Professor of Applied History CWRU. Historian/Senior Vice President for Research and Publications, Western Reserve Historical Society
This photo was taken on October 20, 1977 when Prince Charles came to Cleveland.   The picture shows him coming to the front door of the Crawford where he would attend a dinner.   After dinner he attended a concert at Severance Hall.

My wife Diane and I were engaged to be married at that time and we came to see Prince Charles enter the Crawford and later we went to the concert at Severance which he attended and which, if I recall correctly, was conducted by Sir Michael Tilson Thomas.  Our companion during the evening was Anthony Phelps — Tony was British and an expert on heraldry and worked in the WRHS library.  Tony was a dear friend and groomsman at our wedding the following May.

The picture was given to me afterwards and for many years, hung on the wall of my office in the library.
Here’s a synopsis of the entire visit:

The 28-year-old Prince Charles, heir to the British throne and the future King Charles III, and Princess Margaret, sister of Queen Elizabeth II, spent a full day touring Cleveland as a guest of E. Mandell de Windt, Chairman of Eaton Corporation. They stayed the night at Eaton House, 282 Corning Drive, on October 20, 1977. The stay incurred a high level of security, including boats on Lake Erie.

The eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II arrived at Burke Lakefront Airport at 10:30 a.m. He then visited the Republic Steel Corporation district plant and the Cleveland Clinic. President Walter B. Waetjen and the trustees of Cleveland State University gave a luncheon for the Prince. Following the luncheon, the prince participated in the dedication of the university’s new Cleveland Marshall Law Building at Euclid Avenue and East 18th Street.

A group of major northeastern Ohio industrialists with interests in the United Kingdom hosted a dinner for the prince at the Frederick C. Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum of the Western Reserve Historical Society. Following dinner, the prince attended a Cleveland Orchestra concert at Severance Hall with a reception following. The prince departed Cleveland from Burke Lakefront airport the next morning at 8:45 a.m.

What Would the Automotive World Have Missed If Porsche Had Killed the 911?

This 1988 Porsche 959 is one of just 292 road-going cars built. With a top speed of 199 mph, it was the fastest production car in the world at the time.

 

By Dan Davis

 

The Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum will answer that question with a new exhibit–Porsche 911: The Evolution of an Icon— that opens November 17, 2022.

Porsche has had a strong presence in Northeast Ohio since 1957, when Charles A. Stoddard, a former automotive engineer at Thompson Products (where Crawford Museum namesake Frederick C. Crawford was president), opened Stoddard Imported Cars (SIC) in nearby Willoughby, Ohio.

As one of the first Porsche dealers in the country, SIC grew rapidly as people discovered the pleasures of driving the small German sportscars. The introduction of the 911 in 1963 further bolstered the success of Porsche and dealers like SIC, yet that success was threatened when Porsche decided to cease production of the 911 in 1981.

Fortunately for cars enthusiasts around the world, then-new Porsche CEO Peter Schutz–the first American to run the company–stepped in to save the day. In 2013, Schutz wrote in Road & Track magazine about how he saved the 911.

As far as the company was concerned, the 911 was history. But I overturned the board’s decision in my third week on the job. I remember the day quite well: I went down to the office of our lead engineer, Professor Helmuth Bott, to discuss plans for our upcoming model. I noticed a chart hanging on his wall that depicted the ongoing development trends of our top three lines: 911, 928, and 944. With the latter options, the graph showed a steady rise in production for years to come. But for the 911, the line stopped in 1981. I grabbed a marker off Professor Bott’s desk and extended the 911 line across the page, onto the wall, and out the door. When I came back, Bott stood there, grinning.

“Do we understand each other?” I asked. And with a nod, we did.

Porsche has built nearly 800,000 911s since 1981, and the Crawford Museum’s exhibit will feature several variants of the model that would never have seen the light of day if Porsche had killed the car in 1981. All of the cars in the exhibit come from private collectors in Northeast Ohio, including the two rare cars pictured here: a 1988 Porsche 959, and a 1991 Carrera Cup Car.

The 959, one of just 292 road-going cars built, was Porsche’s first supercar. With a race-derived twin-turbo flat-six engine, all-wheel drive, adjustable suspension and a six-speed gearbox, the 959’s top speed of 199 mph made it the fastest production car in the world at the time.

The 1991 Carrera Cup Car is one of just 120 built and has significant competition history. It raced successfully in the Porsche Carrera Cup series in France from 1991-1994, and scored class wins in 1993 and 1994 at the prestigious 24 Hours of LeMans.

This 1991 Porsche Carrera Cup Car is one of just 120 built, and scored class wins in 1993 and 1994 at the prestigious 24 Hours of LeMans.

Porsche 911: The Evolution of an Icon will offer Crawford Museum visitors a look at what would not have been had Porsche killed the iconic 911 41 years ago. This collection of rare and beautiful Porsches will put a smile on the faces of Porschephiles and casual observers alike. We hope you’ll join us between November 17, 2022, and April 2, 2023, to view this exhilarating exhibit.

Ohio’s Rich Amusement Park History

By John Frato, Carousel Operations Coordinator, Cleveland History Center

 

The Euclid Beach Park Company was incorporated on October 23, 1894, by John Flynn, John Irwin, Albert E. Thompson, Jerome B. Burrows, and Hylas B. Gladwish. Their business prospectus stated: “The lncorporators are convinced that a Summer Resort within easy reach of Cleveland properly appointed and conducted, will be both popular and profitable.” It goes on to state that estimates of admissions for a day’s outing in Cleveland proper and the surrounding communities were made. The estimated total spent by patrons annually was $455,000.00. The owners reasoned that a park like Euclid Beach, with its great lakeside location and superior amenities would garner a large share of that total.

 

When Euclid Beach first opened to the public on June 22, 1895, approximately 30 amusement parks were operating in Ohio, with even more opening after the Park’s inaugural year. Keeping in mind how much more difficult travel was 125 years ago, the vast majority of these parks posed no direct competition, but it is surprising to see how many amusement parks dotted Ohio’s landscape so early in the development of the amusement park industry. What makes the list even more impressive is that it does not include a large number of picnic groves/resorts that were also in operation.

 

Euclid Beach’s life span of 74 years pales in comparison to a number of other parks in the Cleveland area.  Chippewa Lake in Medina opened in 1878 and operated until 1978 hanging on to celebrate the park’s bittersweet centennial year.

 

Geauga Lake in Aurora also got an earlier start than Euclid Beach.  Opening in 1888, Clevelander’s enjoyed the thrills of its many rides and attractions until 2007.  One of the notable differences between Euclid Beach and Geauga Lake had to do with management.  Euclid Beach was owned and operated by the Humphrey Family 69 of its 74 operational years and the family’s management style did not change very much over the years.  A trip to Euclid Beach was like visiting an old friend.  There might be some new rides or attractions, but the park had a familiar “feel”.   Geauga Lake was owned by a number of groups during its lifetime.  Differing management styles resulted in changes that made the experience of visiting the park quite different over the years.

 

Idora Park, which operated in Youngstown, had a life span similar to Euclid Beach, operating from 1899 to 1984.  Puritas Springs Park located on Cleveland’s west side operated a few years fewer than the Beach.  The fun times and thrill of the Cyclone delighted park goers for 60 years until its closure in 1958.

 

Of all the amusement parks that operated during Euclid Beach’s lifetime, Luna Park located at East 110 Street and Woodland Avenue provided the stiffest competition to the Beach.  Glitz and glamour was the keynote for all of the rides and attractions.  Luna was more of an “adult” place for Clevelander’s to enjoy with risqué side shows and alcohol available for sale.  The park opened with much fanfare in 1905 and closed its doors in 1929 the victim of the economic hard times. Euclid Beach struggled during this period of time, but was in a better position to survive because it was not impacted by Prohibition and the loss alcohol sales.

 

Other parks came and went so quickly that they are mere footnotes in history.  White City was located a mere one mile east of Euclid Beach on Lake Shore Boulevard.  The two parks even shared the same street car line.  Unlike Euclid Beach with its free gate, White City charged an admission fee.  The park opened in 1902 and a short five years later closed its doors forever in 1927 due to a devastating fire.

 

Only two amusement parks that opened their doors in the Cleveland area are still operating today.  The first season at Cedar point was in 1870.  It opened twenty five years before Euclid Beach.   Unlike all of its contemporaries, it has not only survived but thrived over the years.  A small part of Euclid Beach lives on among the myriad of roller coasters that operate there.  It is not a”high ride” but an attraction some have described as a “carousel on steroids”.  Derby Downs (formerly The Great American Racing Derby at Euclid Beach) is a classic carousel that riders can race four abreast on hand carved wooden horses.

 

What is often referred to as a hidden gem here in Cleveland is the Memphis Kiddie Park.  Stuart Wintner opened the five acre park in 1852 on Memphis Avenue in Brooklyn on Cleveland’s west side.  He never envisioned Memphis Kiddie Park as being in direct competition with the other much larger amusement parks in the area, but felt a children’s park would be successful.   His vision was correct.  Over the years the little park has not only survived but thrived delighting generations of Clevelanders. Like Euclid Beach there has never been a charge for admission or parking.

 

There is not just one reason to the question for the closure of all of these amusement parks.  The answer is multifaceted with fire, storm damage, competition, Great Depression, World Wars, Prohibition, and changing social times all playing a role.

 

 

  • Avon Park-Girard, OH – (1897 – 1920s)
  • Brady Lake Park-Ravenna, OH – (1891 – 1944)
  • Casino Park – Toledo, OH (Dates??)
  • Cedar Point, OH-(1870 – Still operating)
  • Chippewa Lake, Saville, OH – (1878 – 1978)
  • Cleveland Zoo Kiddie Park- Cleveland, OH-(1950’s)
  • Crystal Beach Park – Vermillion, OH – (1884 – 1965)
  • Crystal Lake Park – Akron, OH (Dates??)
  • Euclid Beach – Cleveland, OH – (1895 – 1969)
  • Forest City Park – Cleveland, OH – (1883 – mid 1920s)
  • Geauga Lake – OH – (I 888 – 2007)
  • Gordon Gardens-Cleveland, OH – (1922 – 1927)
  • High Bridge Glens – Cuyahoga Falls, OH – (1882 – 1920s)
  • Kiddie Playland-North Randall, – (1950’s)
  • Idora Park-Youngstown, OH – (1899-1984)
  • Johnson’s Island – Sandusky, OH – (1894 – 1897 & 1904 – 1907)
  • Lake Erie Park-Toledo, OH – (1895 -1910)
  • Lakeside Park -Akron, OH – (1912? – 1917)
  • Lincoln Park- Rocky River, OH – (1906 – 1920’s)
  • Luna Park-Cleveland, OH – (1905-1929)
  • Merrimack Park – Aurora, OH (Dates??)
  • Mentor Beach Playland – Mentor, OH (Dates??)
  • Memphis Kiddie Park1 – Brooklyn, OH – (1952 – Still operating)
  • Meyer’s Lake Park- Canton, OH – (1902 – 1974)
  • Mother Goose Land – Canton, OH (Dates??)
  • Old Orchard Park- between Cleveland & Akron, OH – (1927 – 1933)
  • Pera’s / Erieview Park- Geneva on the Lake, OH – (1946 – 2006)
  • Playland Park – Akron, OH (Dates??)
  • Presque Isle – Toledo, OH (Dates??)
  • Puritas Springs Park-Cleveland, OH – (1898 – 1958)
  • Riverside Park- Findley, OH – (1930s – mid 1970s)
  • Riverview Park-Cuyahoga Falls, OH – (1921 – 1932)
  • Riverview Park – Akron, OH – (1919 – ?)
  • Sandy Beach – Akron, OH (Dates??)
  • Sea World Ohio – Aurora, OH – (1970-2000)
  • Scenic Park – Rocky River, OH – (1900 -1906)
  • Shady Lake Park – Streetsboro, OH – (1978 – 1982)
  • Silver Lake Park – Akron / Cuyahoga Falls, OH – (1876 – 1917)
  • Springfield Lake Park – Akron, OH – (1914 – 1920s)
  • Summit Beach Park-Akron, OH – (1917 – 1958)
  • Toledo Beach-Toledo, OH – (1907 – 1930 & 1962 – 1970)
  • Vollmar’s Park- Bowling Green, OH – (1900- 1948 & 1963 – 2001)
  • Walbridge Park-Toledo, OH- ( 1888 – late 1950s)
  • White City- Cleveland, OH – (1897-1907)
  • White City-Toledo, OH – (1907 – ?)
  • Wildwater Kingdom – Aurora, OH – (2005-2016)
  • Willow Beach Amusements – Toledo, OH – (1929 – 1947)
  • Willough Beach Park – Willoughby, OH – (1907 – 1926)
  • Wonderland -Toledo, OH (Dates??)
  • Woodland Beach Park-Ashtabula, OH – (1884 – 1952)

Opening Day: First Roller Coaster in the USA June 16, 1884

By John Frato, Carousel Operations Coordinator, Cleveland History Center

What is recognized as America’s first roller coaster type ride is the Gravity Railway located in Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania.  In the 1950’s, the town’s name was officially changed to Jim Thorpe after the famous Olympic athlete. Then In 1827, the Mauch Chunk and Summit Railroad was constructed to carry coal out of the mountain mines located there down a nine mile stretch of rugged mountain area.  The rail line was not only carried coal down the mountainside, but also miners returning to their homes.  A more efficient rail line was built in 1872 and the line was purchased by the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ) in 1874.  Seeing the commercial value of offering rides to the general public, Theodore and H.L. Mumford leased the line from the CNJ and operated the railway as a tourist attraction until the Great Depression forced their closure in 1932.  America’s first roller coaster “thrill” ride began taking on passengers in 1874 and was an immediate success.  A young talented inventor rode the ride and his life path changed. That young man’s name was LaMarcus Adna Thompson. He was born in Licking County, Ohio on March 1, 1848 and is often referred to

as “the Father of the Modern American Roller Coaster”. Throughout his lifetime, he held over thirty patents relating to roller coaster technology. The original Switchback Railway built at Coney Island in 1884 was designed by Thompson working off of another inventor’s patent that was filed in 1878. Richard Knudson called his version of a gravity roller coaster the “Inclined Plane Railway” and it is strikingly similar to Thompson’s final design. The Switchback Railway that debuted at Coney Island on June 16, 1884 holds the distinction of being the first roller coaster type ride designed and built for the purpose of amusement rather than an existing rail line converted for that purpose. The ride consisted of two sets of parallel tracks descending in opposite directions from elevated towers. To complete their round trip riders had to get out of their cars after they came to a stop and ascend a second fifty foot tower to board cars to head back. The novelty of the new ride far surpassed any problems riders had with exiting their cars, re-boarding, or climbing the second set of stairs to the top of the tower to return.  Initially riders were not seated directly in front of one another as they are on modern roller coasters, but were seated in benches parallel with the track facing outward.  Even with all of its shortcomings, the ride was immensely popular and reportedly paid for itself during its first month of operation.

The original cost for the heart pounding six mile per hour ride that lasted one minute was five cents.  Thompson’s later rides were often referred to as Scenic Railways since they gave riders a panoramic view of the landscape as they traversed the tracks from one end to the other. His later designs had elaborate backgrounds of exotic foreign locales painted along the length of the tracks. The immense popularity of the new ride led to the formation of the L. A. Thompson Scenic Railway Company that oversaw the construction of rides across the country. It should come as no surprise that when rides were first added to Euclid Beach in 1896 a LaMarcus Thompson Gravity Roller Coaster was built. The Switchback Railway at Euclid Beach had a little over one thousand feet of track. Riders climbed stairs to the top of the tower where they boarded a car that was manually pushed out of the loading platform and hopefully gravity took the passengers to the opposite end of the tracks where the other tower was located. There they would disembark and the ride operators would push the car up to the loading platform in that tower. Once they were again seated, they would be pushed out onto the track for the return trip to the first tower…a truly exhausting amount of labor for a six mile per hour trip. The ride was dismantled and removed from the Park when the Figure Eight was installed in 1904.

The big question…can you still ride a Switchback Railway today? The answer is sort of…a modern version of the ride with a lift hill opened at a small amusement park located between San Antonio and Austin Texas in the small town of Seguin in 2015.

The Famous Switchback Railway was designed by the Ohio based Gravity Group for ZDT’s Amusement Park and is the first new wooden “shuttle coaster” built anywhere in the world in more than a century. Like the old Switchback at Euclid Beach it reverses course mid-way. Unlike the ride at the Beach it retraces its way back to the loading station backwards rather than forward. The “new” Switchback begins with a sixty three foot tall lift hill rather than a friendly push by Park employees, reaches speeds up to forty five miles per hour, and ascends a sixty four foot tower before rocketing back to the station along 1,980 feet of track (actually only about 1,000 feet of track but you travel it twice). A brake run at the bottom of the lift hill along with a section of switch track allows the coaster to safely operate two trains.

 

 

Celebratory Noise: Seeking a Safe and Sane Fourth of July

In August 1905, William P. Palmer, a resident on the “Overlook” in Cleveland Heights sent a letter to Mayor Tom L. Johnson complaining about the fireworks being set off during the Feast of the Assumption in Little Italy, located just below his house.  Johnson sent the letter to his police chief, Fred Kohler.   Kohler investigated the situation and replied to Palmer, noting that nothing could be done as the fireworks were set off just beyond the city limits.  He promised, however, to work with the community to try to quiet things down.

Interestingly, Palmer was the head of American Steel and Wire in Cleveland and also would become the president of the Western Reserve Historical Society to which he left an outstanding collection of material relating to the Civil War and the abolitionist movement.

Palmer’s issue with fireworks reflected a larger concern in Cleveland and other urban areas during the early Twentieth Century.   It was not only the noise, but the danger posed by fireworks.  The “Safe and Sane Fourth of July” movement began in Cleveland in 1908.   It followed on several major local firework related disasters.  In 1903 a fireworks manufacturing company located on Orange Avenue (near today’s main Cuyahoga Community Campus) suffered a massive explosion.  It destroyed twelve buildings and resulted in three deaths.   Later a display of fireworks for sale at a local Kresge store exploded when a spark from a sparkler set fire to a flag and then the counter.   Many people were burned and five were trampled to death as shoppers fled the inferno.    That resulted in the movement to ban fireworks and, indeed, in 1908 Cleveland prohibited fireworks in the city.  It was the first community in the nation to do so.

Nevertheless, the Safe and Sane ordinance allowed for professional displays and banned powerful or dangerous devices from sale.  Local noise or nuisance ordinances also impinged on the personal use of fireworks, but busy police departments had little time to enforce the laws.  One local policeman who did enforce the ordinance ended up shooting off the confiscated fireworks in his own back yard (which was adjacent to the author’s childhood home).  The cacophony of explosions were to continue on the Fourth of July with little interruption  — and, indeed, it accelerated in the past several decades with the appearance of fireworks “wholesale” sites alongside many state highways.  The only caveat was that the buyer had to sign a paper indicating that the devices would be used outside the state.

With so many loopholes, the state has just passed a law this year allowing for the legal use of certain fireworks – provided that local ordinances do not prohibit their use, and that they be used on specific holidays, including New Year’s Eve and Day, Chinese New Year, Cinco de Mayo, Juneteenth, on and around the Fourth of July, Labor Day, and for the Hindu Festival of Diwali.

The new law reflects not only the difficulty of banning fireworks, but also our desire to celebrate heritage and history with noise, color and light – a propensity that has expanded with the growing diversity of the nation.   It’s hard to imagine what Mr. Palmer would think if he were living on Overlook Road today — the Feast of the Assumption continues, as does the Fourth of July — and on the Lunar New Year and Diwali, Case Western Reserve University joins in the celebration with professional fireworks displays that honor the heritage and holidays of many of its students.

Local History and Global Connections: Members of the WRHS Staff and the Northeast Ohio Chapter of the Fulbright Association Support CCWA’s Seminar for Visiting Fulbright

By Regennia N. Williams, PhD

(Left to right) Dr. Yusrah Schweikn, Dr. Regennia N. Williams, Dr. Medha Bhattacharyya, and Dr. Richard Feinberg are pictured above at the opening reception and networking event for the May 2022 seminar. (Emanuel Wallace, Photographer)

 

Members of the Northeast Ohio Chapter of the Fulbright Association joined the Cleveland Council on
World Affairs (CCWA) in welcoming more than 80 visiting Fulbright scholars to “Preparing for and
Mitigating the Effects of Climate Change.” This May 2022 Fulbright Enrichment Seminar was held at the
Global Center for Health Innovation in Downtown Cleveland.

According to the organizers, the participants hailed from more than 40 different countries, and
the seminar offered “an introduction to climate change issues in Cleveland, Ohio, and provided a local
perspective on this topic of global importance.” Beyond the basic introduction, the seminar also
explored “climate change and environmental issues through a lens of environmental justice” while
examining “the impact of climate on public health, natural resources, and infrastructure.” In keeping
with information in the seminar packet, “Multi-disciplinary keynotes, panel discussions, breakout
sessions, and site visits [focused on] Cleveland’s unique environmental history, present day challenges
related to the impact on underserved communities, and efforts to ensure a sustainable and resilient
community for decades to come.”

Dr. Regennia N. Williams, the Western Reserve Historical Society’s Distinguished Scholar of
African American History and Culture and president of the Northeast Ohio Chapter of the Fulbright
Association, offered words of welcome during the seminar’s opening reception and networking event.
For Williams, “The seminar provided local Fulbright alumni with invaluable opportunities to network
with scholars from around the world, exchange information about common research interests, consider
the possibility of future collaborations, and find out more about local tourist attractions—including
“Open Road: The Lure of Motorcycling in Ohio,” a special exhibit that is on view at WRHS through
September 2022.”

“Interestingly enough,” said Williams, “it was during my 2010 Fulbright Fellowship in Nigeria
that I rode a motorcycle for the first time in my life and came to appreciate the beauty of many rural
areas that were most easily, affordably, and quickly accessed by motorcycle.” This statement sparked
several interesting discussions with other Fulbrighters about motorcycles as the preferred mode of
transportation in many Asian and African countries.
Northeast Ohio Chapter members Dr. Edward Sivak and Dr. Suzanne Ondrus, who held Fulbright
appointments in Finland and Burkina Faso, respectively, spoke during the seminar’s closing session. Like
their visiting colleagues, local Fulbrighters found the seminar be both engaging and enlightening.
This seminar was newly re-activated Northeast Ohio Chapter’s second major event of the
current program year, and quarterly meetings and the spring 2022 elections have also taken place. For
more information on past and upcoming events, please visit the Chapter’s website.

About the Host Organization

(Left to right) Attorney Carter E. Strang, Board Chair for the Cleveland Council on World Affairs (CCWA), is pictured here with Kelly Falcone-Hall, President and CEO of the Western Reserve Historical Society (WRHS) and member of the Northeast Ohio Chapter of the Fulbright Association; and Carina Van Vliet, CCWA’s Chief Executive Officer. (Emanuel Wallace, Photographer)

“The Cleveland Council on World Affairs (CCWA) is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1923 to
promote dialogue on world peace. Since then, CCWA has evolved to offer an array of programs that
inspire engagement in international affairs and world cultures. CCWA engages with our community
through our Speaker Series, Model United Nations, Maura O’Donnell-McCarthy Center for Global
Understanding, and Exchange Programs. In 2020-2021, CCWA hosted over 300 international visitors
through in person and virtual programming, organized 25 public speaker programs, and engaged with
877 students through our Model United Nations program.” (Source: Seminar Information Packet)

WRHS Celebrates the Life of Edward Jay Pershey, PhD

Tribute to Edward Jay Pershey, PhD

by John Grabowski, PhD

Photo: Dr. Edward Jay Pershey at his retirement party, 2020

In the late 1990s a group of WRHS staff led by Dr. Edward Jay Pershey toured museums around the country to get a sense of “best practices”. A highlight was a children’s exhibit at the Minnesota Historical Society – it was highly interactive and featured a tall slide with a series of child-sized tunnels. Ed tried it out! He squeezed through the tunnels! He was probably the first, and perhaps the last adult to give it a test run.

That story epitomizes the verve, imagination and enthusiasm of Ed Pershey, who died on May 17. He was an historian, a consummate museum professional, and a beloved colleague who brought boundless energy, incredible ideas, and an infectious joy of life to the Western Reserve Historical Society.

A native of Joliet, Illinois (and immensely proud of his Slovenian family roots) Ed earned his Ph.D. in the history of technology at Case Western Reserve University writing a doctoral dissertation on the history of Warner and Swasey telescopes. He would go on to work briefly at the Dittrick Museum and then move to New Jersey to serve as curator of the Edison National Historic Site in West Orange. Later he founded and directed the Tsongas Industrial History Center in Lowell, Massachusetts. Sponsored by the National Park Service and the University of Massachusetts, Ed helped develop the site (centered on the Boott Cotton Mills) into an accessible, interactive interpretation of the early American textile industry.


Photos above: Dr. Edward Jay Pershey and Monica Gordon Pershey, Ed.D., CCC-SLP having fun at WRHS events
Top: Dressed in 1960s Theme, 2012;
Bottom: Dr. Pershey dressed as Thomas A. Edison with Dr. Gordon Pershey also in costume, 2013

 

Ed’s career at WRHS began in February 1995 when he became head of its educational program. As he had done in Lowell, he worked to make that program more interactive and engaging. He would remain at WRHS until his retirement in January 2020, assuming a variety of leadership positions. Given his wide interests as an historian and experience at major national museums – and his exuberant enthusiasm – he was capable of almost anything. He oversaw exhibits in every department and location of WRHS, was central to planning new galleries and museum ventures, and was always focused on creating new, attractive and well-grounded historical experiences. It is not an overstatement to say that Ed was central to making WRHS a more enjoyable, interactive, and historically “conscious” institution.

Photo: Dr. Edward Jay Pershey driving baseball Hall of Famer, Bob Feller at Jacobs Field, 2004
Courtesy of Ken Hall

His work and reputation also resounded beyond WRHS. He oversaw a major project related to the Austin Company’s “design-build” work in 1930s Soviet Russia. It would result in a trip to Russia for Ed and several WRHS staff to see the “Workers City” that Austin had built and to meet with their Russian counterparts. He also traveled frequently in the US on behalf of the American Alliance of Museums to assist other museums in strategic planning and collection assessment. And just prior his retirement he was the central researcher for the Cozad-Bates Underground Railroad Interpretive Center in University Circle. His expertise was highly valued and the experience and insights he garnered beyond the Western Reserve Historical Society helped WRHS and its staff gain new viewpoints for its own operations.

Yet, above all, it was Ed’s personality that really resonated with the staff who worked with him. He had an infectious “can do” attitude and a deep humanity that encompassed family, friends, and his beloved four-legged companions. He took adversity in stride and despite any difficulties, he saw beyond them.

Ed Pershey had a true joie de vivre. He will be missed, but his legacy will endure.

Dr. Edward Jay Pershey celebrates the opening of the 2014 exhibition “1964: When Browns Town Was Title Town”

Preserving Pride in Cleveland

By John J. Grabowski, Ph.D., Historian/Senior Vice President for Research and Publications, Western Reserve Historical Society

When the first edition of the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History (ECH) was published in 1987 it was a landmark publication in a number of ways.  It was the first modern encyclopedia of a city and it was the first major work to include a history of Cleveland’s LGBT community and a number of the institutions within that community.   It was a small step, but an important one.

Equally, if not more important, was the formal establishment of a program to collect archival records and publications relating to Greater Cleveland’s LGBTQ community at the Western Reserve Historical Society in 1991.  It was created in partnership with the LGBT Community Center.  Aubrey Wertheim, who at that time directed the Center, played a pivotal role in getting the archives started.

Now over thirty years after these initiatives began we can measure their growth and, indeed, their success.   The number of collections relating to the LGBTQ+ community held at WRHS has grown immensely.    In 2014, the collections were central to the creation of an exhibit at the Cleveland History Center on the local LGBTQ community which ran during the Gay Games held in Cleveland that year.  Most importantly, the collections continue to serve the needs of researchers in the WRHS Library.

At the same time the Encyclopedia also continued to grow.  A second edition was published in 1996 to honor the city’s Bicentennial, but most importantly, the ECH went online in May 1998, making it the first urban encyclopedia accessible on the World Wide Web.   Moving online also made it possible for staff to quickly update the ECH.  The number of entries relating to the LGBTQ+ community has grown thanks to a number of authors including CWRU student interns and members of the community, most particularly John Nosek and Leon Stevens.   This summer, WRHS will host a CWRU student intern, Sidney Negron, who will process and catalog archival materials from the LGBTQ+ collections and write new articles for the Encyclopedia.   It’s an ideal combination, one that brings together these two important aspects of preserving Pride in Cleveland and one which also elicits a great deal of pride among those of us who have long worked on the Encyclopedia and at WRHS.

Cleveland Changes Baseball History

By Mary Manning, Ph.D., PK-12 Education Coordinator & Youth Entrepreneurship Education (YEE) Project Director (Interim)

In 1946, the Cleveland Indians gained a new owner – Bill Veeck, an enthusiastic promoter committed to making the team the best in baseball at nearly any cost.

In 1947, the team stopped splitting time between their historic stadium, League Park in Cleveland’s Hough neighborhood, and moved into Municipal Stadium full-time. Where League Park’s capacity numbered 22,500, Municipal Stadium could accommodate three times as many fans, and Veeck employed imaginative tactics and stadium promotions to fill as many of those seats as he could.

In July of 1947, Veeck signed Larry Doby from the Newark Eagles of the Negro American League and brought him straight to the majors, believing Doby could handle the transition and that a stint in the minor leagues to warm him up would limit the media impact of the signing. With Doby’s arrival in Cleveland, Major League Baseball’s American League was officially integrated—mere months after Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947.

Then, in 1948, the Indians fielded a roster that included Doby, along with famed former Negro League pitcher Leroy “Satchel” Paige, and won the World Series.

This photograph from WRHS collections shows Doby and Paige at a moment of rest during a game that must be in either the 1948 season or the 1949 season – the only two years Paige played with the Indians. To some degree, it reflects the personalities of the two men. Doby, a known introvert, surveys the scene before him, while Paige, a charismatic, confident man, seems in the middle of speaking.

These two men also represent the kinds of players who made up the first two waves of the integration of Major League Baseball. Doby was 23 years old when he arrived in Cleveland, an extraordinarily gifted young multi-sport athlete who would eventually put together a 13-year MLB career on top of the four seasons he had played in the Negro Leagues. In 1978, he would become the second Black manager in Major League Baseball for the Chicago White Sox (second to the Indians’ Frank Robinson, hired as a player-manager in 1975).

In contrast, Paige remains the oldest player to debut in Major League Baseball—he was 42 years old when he made his first start with the Indians in July of 1948. Yet he had been pitching professionally since 1927 when he began his career with the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro National League. In between Negro League seasons, he would barnstorm throughout the Midwest and other parts of the country, including a tour beginning in the fall of 1946 that pitted him against Indians great Bob Feller on a near daily basis. Paige had an uncommonly high number of pitches in his arsenal and accumulated new tricks that helped him maintain his dominant form on the mound as he grew older.

Together, these two very different men would help lead the Indians to first the American League pennant and then to the most recent World Series victory in Cleveland. Both would eventually be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, and Doby would be honored in 2015 with a statue in front of Progressive Field. Though Jackie Robinson was the first and most famous player to begin the integration of Major League Baseball, the Cleveland Indians played a crucial role in how baseball would receive players from the Negro Leagues, especially ones as experienced and talented as Paige.

Y Hoops?!

Photo: Buildings YMCA Old Central Building 1900s, Photo courtesy of the WRHS Archives.

 

By John J. Grabowski, Ph.D., Historian/Senior Vice President for Research and Publications, Western Reserve Historical Society

The NBA All Star Game’s arrival in Cleveland in February provides a good reason for looking at the history of basketball – and, that history is remarkable.  Today the game is played around the world.  Its global reach is reflected in the NBA.  Currently, 39 countries are represented by 109 players.  With 30 teams and a roster limit of 15 for each team, there are 450 – so the international representation is just a bit over 24%

That’s pretty amazing for a sport that was invented in the United States by James Naismith (1861-1939) who, by the way, was born in Canada.  Many, if not most people, know the story of Naismith using a peach basket and a soccer ball to create the game.  His thirteen original rules for the game still, in most ways, echo on today’s courts although the style and speed of the game are far different from what he envisioned.  However, the place (the YMCA) where he created the game is central to the internationalization of basketball.

Educated at McGill University (where he played football, lacrosse, soccer, and rugby – and also was a gymnast) he moved to the United States in 1890 to study at the YMCA International Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts.  It was there that he invented basketball.  The impetus for its creation was the need to provide bored and boisterous young men with a vigorous indoor athletic activity during the winter months.  The first game was played on March 12, 1892.

Perhaps at this point it is important to emphasize that the YMCA is the Young Men’s Christian Association.   The YMCA movement began in the mid-1840s in London and quickly spread well beyond England.  Cleveland’s branch of the movement began in 1854.  The common thread that bound all the early Y’s together was helping the many young men coming into cities lead a good, pure Christian life and thus avoid the temptations – bars, brothels, and bad company – that characterized growing urban areas.  The Cleveland YMCA stated its purpose as to prevent “the ruin, physical and spiritual, which overtakes so large a proportion of the multitude of young men constantly arriving in our city.”

It did not take long for the organization to realize that the best way to attract young men to membership and participation was through vigorous physical activity – it built teamwork, fellowship and also burned off energies that could have been directed to the dissipations of city life.   It was the leader in the national movement known as “Muscular Christianity” which ran against older notions that physical exercise, and sport where antithetical to a good religious life.  By the 1880s “muscular Christianity’ helped power a burgeoning sports culture in the United States.  It provided a good basis for what would become gym programs in schools, it buttressed a growing collegiate sports movement, and fit neatly into the life and politics of men such as Theodore Roosevelt.

That’s why basketball’s birth was in the confines of a Christian organization.  Indeed, by the late nineteenth century, the YMCA was one of the pre-eminent sports “powers” in the United States.  It fielded its own football team, captained by Amos Alonzo Stagg.  The team was known as “Stagg’s Stubby Christians”.  Of course the Y inherited a developing football culture, but it also invented another sport – volleyball.  And as a Christian, global organization linked to a strong missionary movement the sports the “Y” created reached a wide audience.

Within a decade of basketball’s invention, it was not only being played at the YMCA but at public schools, colleges, and social settlements.   Cleveland’s Hiram House Settlement was fielding basketball teams in the early 1900s and those teams reflected the immigrant communities that Hiram House served – some teams were largely Jewish and others Italian – and their battles on the court sometimes moved out into the street.

The game also quickly attracted women and also resulted in restrictive women’s rules for many collegiate women.  Interestingly the rules were written by a woman, Senda Berenson, who oversaw the physical education program at Smith College.  Yet, women, including the multi-sport star Babe Didrikson, would play by the general rules or some other modification of them.

Basketball also moved quickly beyond Protestant Christianity.   Played in the settlement houses of New York City it became “the” game of the children of Jewish immigrants and at one time was known as the “Jewish” game.  Soon, traveling teams of adult players were attracting audiences.  Among them were the Philadelphia SPHAs (South Philadelphia Hebrew Association) which dominated the game at the exhibition, semi-pro, and pro level.   Cleveland’s first basketball “impresario” in the 1920s was Max Rosenblum who also promoted amateur baseball, soccer, football, and bowling.

Basketball’s origins were in an increasingly segregated societyand that too was reflected in the YMCA.  The first Black YMCA was established in Washington D.C. in 1853, and other branches followed.   In Cleveland, the Cedar Avenue Branch became the Black YMCA, although there was contention in the community about accepting a segregated facility.  Eventually, in 1946, the YMCA established a policy to end segregation.

It was in this and other milieus that the sport spread into the African American community.  Indeed, even in settlement houses, such as Hiram House, there were Black teams and ethnic white teams.   The sport spread throughout the playgrounds in Black areas of the cities and also in schools, which even though not “officially” segregated, became predominantly Black.  The East Tech “Scarabs” in Cleveland became one of the city’s basketball powerhouses during the 1930s.  Nationally, Black teams, such as the New York Renaissance (the“Rens”) played and beat many of the best white teams.  One of the best early basketball players to come out of Cleveland, “Wee” Willie Smith, (who started playing at Hiram House)  played for the Rens and is now a member of the NBA Hall of Fame. Professional basketball, however, remained segregated until 1950 when the NBA would break the color barrier.

It took some time for professional basketball to evolve into the “mega” sport it is today.   The real base of the game for many years was in high school, college, and company teams.  In Cleveland amateur basketball predominated until the founding of the Cavaliers, Cleveland’s first NBA team in 1970.  Prior to that, the city had fielded several pro teams, including the Rosenblums, the Allman Transfers, the Cleveland Rebels, and the Cleveland Pipers.  The Pipers made history by hiring the first Black coach in pro-basketball, John McLendon in 1962.

Yet, to focus only on the pro-game is to ignore what began at the YMCA 130 years ago.  Today, hoops abound – on urban playgrounds, in backyards, on suburban garages, and on barns in the countryside.

An estimated 450 million people participate in basketball around the globe which ranks it fifth among all sports, and its global audience ranks third with an estimated 2.2 billion fans!  Given this, it should come as no surprise that the NBA’s roster reflects the world.   So, on February 20th, Cleveland will, in essence, host the world  — thanks in large part to the YMCA!

Do You Believe in Miracles?

By Robyn Marcs, Grants Manager at the Western Reserve Historical Society

Most Clevelanders can tell you where they were when our beloved Cavaliers won the 2016 NBA Finals. For me, my family and I had just come back from a Father’s Days barbecue. My mom and I watched the final minutes of the game and then jumped around our living room hugging each other crying while my Pittsburgher father mumbled something about not being able to make fun of Cleveland not having a championship since 1964 anymore. However, forty years before the 2016 championship, there was another miracle in Cleveland.

The Cleveland Cavaliers were a new team in 1976, having only been established six years prior. The team didn’t even have a set place to play until 1974 when the Richfield Coliseum opened with the hope that its convenient location halfway between Akron and Cleveland would draw more fans. The 1976 Cavs were led by Austin Carr, Dick Snyder, Jim Chones, veteran player Nate Thurmond, and Robert “Bingo” Smith.

It’s every sports players’ dream to have a game’s final moments fall on them, and Dick Snyder was no exception. The Cavs had finally made it to the first round of the playoffs, and the seven game series was tied at 3-3 (sound familiar?) on April 29, 1976. The final seconds of the game saw the score tied at 85-85. With four seconds left, Dick Snyder made a crucial two-point basket that put the Cavs in the lead, and when the Bullets tried unsuccessfully to close the gap, the Richfield Coliseum erupted into cheers for the home team. The late Cavs announcer Joe Tait emotionally shouted, “The Cavaliers win! The Cavaliers win! 87-85!” Fans flooded the court, and even tried to tear down the baskets!

While unfortunately the Cavs fell to the Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals 3-2 after star player Jim Chones broke his ankle, the legacy of the Miracle of Richfield lives on. It was the first time that the Cleveland Cavaliers showed themselves to be more than just an expansion team, and today Bingo Smith, Austin Carr, and Nate Thurmond have had their numbers retired by the team. And forty years later the Cavs brought the championship home in one of the greatest games of the NBA Finals. It just goes to show that you can’t spell “Miracle” without “CLE.”

Remembering Siegfried F. Buerling, Director of Properties Emeritus, Western Reserve Historical Society (WRHS)

Message by Kelly Falcone-Hall, President and CEO, WRHS

Dear WRHS family and friends:

 

Today, I am writing to share sad news. Our friend, Siegfried F. Buerling, Director of Properties Emeritus for the Western Reserve Historical Society (WRHS), passed away December 30, 2021.  While there are no words to do justice to his memory and life’s work, I’ll do my best on behalf of WRHS, and as Siegfried’s friend, to remember and honor this singular individual who contributed so much to Hale Farm & Village and WRHS.

Siegfried F. Buerling was the first, longest serving and most beloved Director of Hale Farm & Village until his retirement in 1998. He began his career as an apprentice cabinetmaker in Buerling’s Cabinet Shop in post World War II Germany. He worked as a journeyman in cabinet shops in Germany and Switzerland, and later as a furniture restorer in Montreal, Canada.

In 1959, Siegfried took the position of Carpenter-Cabinetmaker at WRHS and before he joined The Hale Farm, as it was known then, he worked on a variety of special projects at WRHS’s headquarters in University Circle. Notably, he led the construction of the Museum Galleries built in the late 1950s that connect the Hanna and Hay Mansions – Western Reserve Galleries I, II, the Central Addition and the Norton Gallery. Soon after, he transferred to Hale Farm and worked on special projects during the farm’s earliest days as a museum. In no time, he rose to lead Hale Farm & Village as its longest and most accomplished Director, retiring in 1998 as the Director of Properties and Special Projects for WRHS.

Siegfried in ABJ April 1985_clip.jpg

Image from feature in Akron Beacon Journal April 21, 1985

No other person is more important to the history and trajectory of Hale Farm & Village than Siegfried Buerling. His leadership contributed to Hale’s success and popularity during its first decade of operations, so much so that he convinced leadership to create a master plan to expand the farm museum into an expansive outdoor living history experience. During the 1960s, Siegfried and his colleagues visited places like the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village in Michigan, Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts, and Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia. They studied New England and old Western Reserve towns and villages and conducted extensive research in the WRHS Archives toward a vision for a 19th century Western Reserve village at Hale Farm.

 

To create the village, Siegfried established a ‘Preservation through Relocation Program’ that saved certain 19th century Western Reserve buildings threatened by development. These buildings, including the Mary Ann Sears Swetland Memorial Meetinghouse, Goldsmith House, Ephraim Brown Land Office, Benjamin Franklin Wade Law Office, Saltbox House, Jagger House, Jonathan E. Herrick House and others were relocated to Hale Farm and restored to their original beauty and charm around a recreated village green. Siegfried was responsible for identifying and restoring more than half of the museum’s historic structures, the foundation for the Hale Farm & Village experience today. This vision would come to define the experience and put Hale Farm & Village on the map as one of the finest outdoor living history museums in the United States.

 

During his long tenure, Siegfried worked tirelessly and masterfully with philanthropic, business and community leaders, chief among them the Cuyahoga Valley National Park (CVNP) and the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad (CVSR), which he founded, to further develop The Hale Farm into an expansive outdoor living history museum with 34 historic structures, an agriculture and horticulture program, a calendar of popular programs and special events, and establish the museum as a destination for unique, high quality curriculum-based school programming that continues today.

 

As a skilled cabinetmaker, Siegfried had a special interest in early American crafts and industry, and as a result developed a series of working craft shops and demonstrations at Hale Farm & Village including blacksmithing, glass blowing, pottery, basket, broom and candle making, and spinning and weaving. Once again, thanks to Siegfried’s vision and entrepreneurial mindset, Hale Farm’s renowned Craft and Trade Program started in the 1960s stands as the finest of its kind in the Midwest and the inspiration for WRHS’s Youth Entrepreneurship Education Program for schoolchildren.

 

As Director of Properties, Siegfried led WRHS’s work to restore and build experiences at its properties – Shandy Hall in Geneva, Loghurst in Canfield, the Holsey Gates House in Bedford, and the James A. Garfield National Historic Site in Mentor that was operated by WRHS until 2008.

 

Siegfried’s commitment to WRHS continued long after his retirement. In the 1990s, he managed the restoration of Euclid Beach Park Carousel horses (the Euclid Beach Park Grand Carousel was restored to operating condition at the Cleveland History Center in 2014). In 2006, WRHS again engaged him as a Preservation Consultant and Project Manager of Hale’s major, multi-year preservation project to restore and stabilize the site’s collection of historic structures, and this work continues today.

 

For Siegfried, Hale Farm & Village was a labor of love and his life’s work. The Buerling family – Siegfried, his late wife Heidi, and his sons Bruce (deceased), Peter and Curt Buerling lived at Hale Farm.  In 2008, to celebrate Hale Farm’s 50th anniversary as a museum, Siegfried was the first person to receive the Hale Farm & Village Legacy Award, and WRHS created a fund at the Akron Community Foundation in his name.

 

Friends, it is not possible to recount or begin to adequately describe Siegfried’s impact on Hale Farm & Village and WRHS in a single communication. To know Siegfried was to love and respect him and recently, I had the privilege of visiting with him, his son Curt Buerling, and Hale Farm & Village Director, Travis Henline. During this special visit, we made plans to host a holiday party with Siegfried, his family and close friends and decided after to celebrate Siegfried’s 90th birthday on January 29, 2022 at Hale. I am ever grateful to Curt for giving us the opportunity to visit with Siegfried, to reminisce and express to him how important he is to Hale Farm, to WRHS, and to so many of us personally.

On behalf of WRHS, I offer our sincerest condolences to Siegfried’s family and friends and pledge to continue his work to preserve and safeguard Hale Farm & Village and his story for the benefit and enrichment of generations to come.

 

Thank you, Siegfried.

Kelly Falcone Hall Full Signature.jpg

Siegfried and Heidi Buerling,

HFV Legacy Award Benefit 2008

Kelly Falcone-Hall, Curt Buerling and Siegfried,

at Hale Farm 2021

Please share your memories, stories, and photos of Siegfried with us using the digital Share Your Story page.

New Costume Acquisition: Dr. Tameka Ellington

Images courtesy of Dr. Tameka Ellington

By Patricia Edmonson, Museum Advisory Council Curator of Costume & Textiles

The WRHS costume collection is ringing in the new year with an exciting acquisition. Dr. Tameka Ellington, formerly of Kent State University, is taking the next step in her career to write, speak, and share her expertise with others. As part of that process she has made her work in surface and fashion design available and the WRHS will bring in four of Dr. Ellington’s garments.

In her own words, Ellington’s work tells the stories of her ancestors: “Asante Sana (thank you in Swahili) is the name I have chosen to represent my total body of work.” She looks to a number of African regions and countries for inspiration, and has hopes of one day learning more about her own tribe and heritage.

Dr. Ellington works with natural fibers and uses techniques such as wax batik with resist dying, digital textile printing, and non-traditional leather tooling. The four garments coming to WRHS include The Offspring, Royal Mbebana, The Origin of Anansi the Spider, and How the Zebra Got its Stripes. Their arrival is part of a larger initiative to create a more diverse costume collection. Dr. Ellington grew up in Cleveland and graduated from Glenville High School before continuing her education. Today she lives and works in Akron, and WRHS is excited to create an ongoing relationship and make plans to display her garments in the future.

Join our Discussion with the Rev. Dr. Marvin A. McMickle

Contributed by the Rev. Dr. Marvin A. McMickle, Author, Let the Oppressed Go Free: Exploring Theologies of Liberation

Born in Chicago, Illinois in 1948, Dr. Marvin A. McMickle is a 1970 graduate of Aurora University in Illinois with a B.A. in Philosophy. His alma mater also awarded him the degree of Doctor of Divinity in 1990. He earned a Master of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York City in 1973 and did two additional years of graduate study at Columbia University in New York. He earned a Doctor of Ministry degree from Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, New Jersey in 1983. He was awarded the Doctor of Philosophy degree (Ph.D.) from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio in 1998. He was also awarded the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters by Payne Theological Seminary in Wilberforce, Ohio in 2010.

 

He was ordained to the Christian ministry in 1973 at Abyssinian Baptist Church of New York City where he served on the pastoral staff from 1972-1976. He served as the pastor of St. Paul Baptist Church of Montclair, New Jersey from 1976-1986. He was pastor of Antioch Baptist Church in Cleveland, Ohio from 1987-2011. During that time, he led the church in establishing a ministry for people infected with or affected by HIV/AIDS. This ministry was the first of its kind in the entire country. The church also instituted a community tithing initiative in which the church tithed out 10% of its annual budget to various community programs and agencies. Dr. McMickle was named Pastor Emeritus in 2018. He became Interim Pastor in May 2020. He was also a member of the Board of Trustees of Cleveland State University in Cleveland, OH, president of the Cleveland NAACP and Urban League, and president of the Shaker Heights Board of Education.

 

Dr. McMickle was the Professor of Homiletics at Ashland Theological Seminary in Ashland, Ohio from 1996-2011. Upon retiring he was named Professor Emeritus by the Board of Trustee and the faculty. He is the author of 18 books. He has authored dozens of articles that regularly appear in professional journals and magazines. He is a member of the Martin Luther King, Jr. International Board of Preachers at Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA. In the winter semester of 2009, he served as a Visiting Professor of Preaching at Yale University Divinity School. He was also an adjunct instructor at Princeton, New Brunswick, and New York theological seminaries.

 

Dr. McMickle served as the 12th President of Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School from July 2011 to June 2019.

 

He is an active member of the Progressive National Convention and American Baptist Churches (ABCUSA).He is also a Life Member of Kapa Alpha Psi Fraternity and a member of Sigma Pi Phi.

 

Dr. McMickle has been married to Peggy Lorraine Noble since 1975 and they have one son, Aaron who resides in New York City with his wife Pilar and their two daughters Aaliyah and Lola.