Cleveland History Self Study: A 5 Week Syllabus of Recommended Essays

Cleveland Stories: An Informal Look at the City’s Past

A 5 Week essay-based syllabus suggested by Dr. Marian Morton, professor emerita at John Carroll University with expertise in Cleveland area history.

Overview: A discussion of some of Cleveland’s most interesting and important people, places, and events
Objective: To link the city’s past with its present policies, politics, and practices

Week 1. Introduction. Read Teaching Cleveland Stories (TCS)John J. Grabowski, “Cleveland: Economics, Images, and Expectations”

Week 2. TCS: Mike Roberts and Margaret Gulley, “The Man Who Saved Cleveland.” Elizabeth Sullivan, “Immigration”  John Vacha, “The Heart of Amasa Stone”; Joe Frolik, “Mark Hanna: The Clevelander Who Made a President”

Supplemental: TeachingCleveland.org: Timeline of Cleveland/NE Ohio; The Western Reserve, 1796-1820, and Pre-Industrial (Erie and Ohio Canals), 1820-1865 and The Industrial Revolution/ John D. Rockefeller/ Mark Hanna, 1865-1900

Week 3. TCS: John J. Grabowski, “Cleveland 1912 – Civitas Triumphant”; Joe Frolik, “Regional Government versus Home Rule”  John Vacha, “When Cleveland Saw Red”  Margaret Bernstein, ‘’Inventor Garrett Morgan, Cleveland’s Fierce Bootstrapper”  Marian Morton, “How Cleveland Women Got the Vote and What They Did With It”

Supplemental: TeachingCleveland.org: Progressive Era/Tom L. Johnson/ Newton D. Baker, 1900-1915 and Fred Kohler/City Managers/Political Bosses, 1920s and The Van Sweringens/ Depression … 1930s

Week 4. TCS: Thomas Suddes, “The Adult Education Tradition in Greater Cleveland”  Bill Lubinger, “Bill Veeck: The Man Who Conquered Cleveland and Changed Baseball Forever”  Jay Miller, “Cyrus Eaton: Khruschev’s Favorite Capitalist” Roldo Bartimole, “One Man Can Make a Difference”  Mike Roberts, “Cleveland in the 1960s” and “Cleveland in the 1970s”

Supplemental: TeachingCleveland.org: World War 2- Post War, 1940s; Carl Stokes- Civil Rights, 1960s and Ralph Perk-Dennis Kucinich, 1970s

Week 5TCS: Mike Roberts, “Cleveland in the 1980s” and “Cleveland in the 1990s” Supplemental: TeachingCleveland.org: “10 Greatest Clevelanders”; “12 Most Significant Events”; Cleveland Politician Interview Series (George Forbes, Jim Rokakis, Louis Stokes, George Voinovich, Michael R. White); Mike Roberts, “Cleveland in the 2000s

General questions: what is the main point of each article? Did you agree or disagree? What did you find most interesting? What would you add? Or subtract? 

 

Remembering Michael D. Roberts: Pioneering Cleveland Magazine Editor and Journalist Dead at 85

 

Michael D. Roberts

Remembering Michael D. Roberts: Pioneering Cleveland Magazine Editor and Journalist Dead at 85
Michael D. Roberts, former The Plain Dealer reporter and founding editor of Cleveland Magazine, left a legacy as a trailblazing editor and mentor to a generation of journalists.
By Dillon Stewart
The link is here

Jacobs Field at 30: Looking back at a ‘magical time’ and the Gateway deal that ushered in a downtown revival, Plain Dealer 9.24.2024

 

Cleveland faced Seattle on Opening Day 1994.The Plain Dealer

Jacobs Field at 30: Looking back at a ‘magical time’ and the Gateway deal that ushered in a downtown revival
September 24, 2024
By

The link is here

 

 

 

Where’s the ‘circle’ at University Circle and why the popular name? By Megan Sims December 21, 2023

 

A photo of the University Circle electric streetcar turnaround in 1904. Cleveland Public Library

Where’s the ‘circle’ at University Circle and why the popular name?
By Megan Sims, Cleveland.com Thursday December 21, 2023

The link is here
https://www.cleveland.com/news/2023/12/wheres-the-circle-at-university-circle-and-why-the-popular-name.html

The inside story of how Larry Doby broke the American League’s color line 76 years ago – Terry Pluto July 5, 2023

Larry Doby in his first MLB game with Cleveland on July 5, 1947.

The inside story of how Larry Doby broke the American League’s color line 76 years ago
by Terry Pluto, Cleveland.com Wednesday July 5, 2023
The link is here

Hollenden Hotel: Downtown Cleveland’s glamorous, colorful hotspot for nearly 100 years

Superior Avenue, 1905. Landmarks include the Arcade Building at right, Hollenden Hotel and newspaper offices of the Cleveland Plain Dealer

Hollenden Hotel: Downtown Cleveland’s glamorous, colorful hotspot for nearly 100 years
by Tom Matowitz
Thursday, April 06, 2023 from FreshWater Cleveland

The link is here

Bill would ‘thwart the will of Ohioans.’ State Ed board independent for reason| Opinion 12/8/22

Bill would ‘thwart the will of Ohioans.’ State Ed board independent for reason| Opinion
“The people of Ohio passed the 1953 amendment to make the state board of education a fourth branch of government,” William L. Phillis, Guest columnist

Oct 12, 2022; Columbus, Ohio, USA; LGBTQ+ allies protest outside the Ohio Department of Education building as the board hears public testimony on a resolution that opposes proposed changes to Title IX, the federal law that prohibited discrimination in schools on the basis of sex. Introduced by board member Brendan Shea, the resolution lays out an "unequivocal opposition" to the Biden Administration's proposal to expand Title IX's protections to gender identity and sexual orientation. Mandatory Credit: Adam Cairns-The Columbus Dispatch

 William L. Phillis is a former teacher, principal, superintendent, and assistant superintendent of public instruction.  He is currently the executive director of the Ohio Coalition for Equity and Adequacy of School Funding.

Leaders of the Ohio Senate seem to be inebriated with power.

With a super majority, they do what they want. They are in a position with a super majority in both chambers of the legislature, to overpower the Governor’s office if they wish.

Senate Bill 178 would neuter the State Board of Education by transferring most of the duties of the State Board of Education to the Governor’s office. The move is counter to Article VI, Section 4 of the Ohio Constitution.

In 1953 Ohioans, with a constitutional amendment, removed the state education agency from the governor’s office by establishing an independent state board of education.

A history lesson — which some state officials would ignore — is in order.

Ohio did not have a state school officer until 1837, when the legislature enacted the office of superintendent of common schools and employed Samuel Lewis as superintendent. After three years, Lewis resigned, and the legislature repealed the law which established the position.

This guest column is available free: Support the exchange of local and state ideas by subscribing to the Columbus Dispatch.

The Ohio Constitutional Convention of 1850-1851 called for the common school system.

Delegates debated, but ultimately rejecting the idea of establishing in the constitution a state officer for education.

In 1853 however the legislature enacted legislation providing for a state commissioner of common schools to be elected on a three-year cycle. During the constitutional convention of 1912, delegates crafted language to replace the state commissioner of common schools with a superintendent of public instruction.

Ohioans approved the amendment, and the legislature attached the position to the governor’s office.

In 1953, Ohioans passed a constitutional amendment as follows:

There shall be a state board of education which shall be selected in such manner and for such terms as shall be provided by law. There shall be a superintendent of public instruction, who shall be appointed by the state board of education. The respective powers and duties of the board and of the superintendent shall be prescribed by law.(Article VI, Section 4)

Ohioans removed the superintendent of public instruction and thus the state education agency from the governor’s office.

In the 1990’s Governor Voinovich requested the legislature to allow the governor to appoint State Board of Education members as a means to gain control of the state education agency.

The legislature gave Voinovich the authorization to appoint eight members in addition to the eleven elected members. This action paved the way for a dysfunctional environment that continues to this day.

State officials should restore the state board to an all-elected body to regain the credibility and the respect the state board had from 1956 to the Voinovich era.

The people of Ohio passed the 1953 amendment to make the state board of education a fourth branch of government.

Senate Bill 178 would thwart the will of Ohioans. But that does not matter to some current state political leadership.

The redistricting fiasco is another proof that the will of the people is of no concern to some current state officials.

Senate Bill 178 should be ditched.

William L. Phillis is a former teacher, principal, superintendent, and assistant superintendent of public instruction.  He is currently the executive director of the Ohio Coalition for Equity and Adequacy of School Funding.

“If you build it, they will come” by Robyn Marcs, WRHS

Cleveland’s Professional Baseball Stadiums

Fans at League Park on Opening Day 1930, Image courtesy of the WRHS Library

“If you build it, they will come”
by Robyn Marcs, WRHS (March 2022)

With the recent name change of the Cleveland Indians to the Guardians, one may want to reflect on how far our team has come since its founding in 1901.  The American League Cleveland team has called three ballparks home: League Park, Cleveland Municipal Stadium, and Progressive Field (also known as Jacobs Field to those of us who grew up with that name).

Read the entire post here

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