Can a group of well-intentioned people fulfill the promise of racial integration in America?
In this searing and intimate examination of the ideals and realities of racial integration, award-winning Washington Post journalist Laura Meckler tells the story of a decades-long pursuit in Shaker Heights, Ohio, and uncovers the roadblocks that have threatened progress time and again―in housing, in education, and in the promise of shared community.
In the late 1950s, Shaker Heights began groundbreaking work that would make it a national model for housing integration. And beginning in the seventies, it was known as a crown jewel in the national move to racially integrate schools. The school district built a reputation for academic excellence and diversity, serving as a model for how white and Black Americans can thrive together. Meckler―herself a product of Shaker Heights―takes a deeper look into the place that shaped her, investigating its complicated history and its ongoing challenges in order to untangle myth from truth. She confronts an enduring, and troubling, question―if Shaker Heights has worked so hard at racial equity, why does a racial academic achievement gap persist?
In telling the stories of the Shakerites who have built and lived in this community, Meckler asks: What will it take to fulfill the promise of racial integration in America? What compromises are people of all races willing to make? What does success look like, and has Shaker achieved it? The result is a complex and masterfully reported portrait of a place that, while never perfect, has achieved more than most and a road map for communities that seek to do the same.
Includes black-and-white images.
*Part of the 2023-2024 By the Book series.
Pricing Details:
Non-Member-
Purchase the book from us and get half price of 1 admission to this event and access to the virtual book presentation via code provided at checkout.
Member-
Purchase the book at 10% off from our gift shop, and get free admission to this event and virtual access to the book presentation free.
Members save 10% on all museum store purchases!
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9.28.23 William Krejci Lost Ghost Stories of Cleveland
10.5.23 Carlo Wolff Invisible Soul: Uncovering Cleveland’s Underground Soul Scene
1.18.24 Laura Meckler DREAM TOWN: Shaker Heights and the Quest for Racial Equity
2.22.24 Stay tuned for details!
3.23.24 Family Friendly Finale – Stay tuned for details!
*Event prices and times may vary, check specific event page for more information.
(Map of English Colonies Bordering on Ohio River 1754)
(Early Drawing of Downtown Cleveland by surveyor Seth Pease)
“You white people make a great parade about religion, you say you have a book of laws and rules which was given you by the Great Spirit, but is this true? Was it written by his own hand and given to you? No, says he, it was written by your own people. They do it to deceive you. Their whole wishes center here (pointing to his pocket), all they want is the money. . . He says white people tell them, they wish to come and live among them as brothers, and learn them agriculture. So they bring on implements of husbandry and presents, tell them good stories, and all appears honest. But when they are gone all appears as a dream. Our land is taken from us, and still we don’t know how to farm it.”
