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Heights Citizens for Human Rights (f.1964)
Records, 1964-1972 2 container MS 3647
Heights Citizens for Human Rights was an integrated association of Cleveland Heights and University heights residents organized in response to the school integration crisis of Cleveland and pending integration growth in their own communities. The collection consists of correspondence, minutes, policy statements, reports, newsletters, and pamphlets.
Fidelity Baptist Church (f. 1891)
Records, 1892-1975 7 containers MS 3648
Fidelity Baptist Church began as a prayer meeting of the East Side
Mission of the Scranton Road Free Will Baptist Church in 1888. In 1891 a lot was purchased at Wade Park and Van Ness (now E. 84th Street), and a prayer room was built and dedicated. In 1892 Reverend T. C. Lawrence of Hillsdale, Michigan, became the first pastor of the Fidelity Free Will Baptist Church. Later that year the official name was changed to the Fidelity Baptist Church. Initially a white middle class institution, the
impact of migrant African Americans from the south, changed the community and the church membership. By 1958 the active membership had fallen below fifty. It was at this time that the Reverend Paul Younger became minister and began to focus Fidelity's programs in the area of community reform and development. This collection consists of minutes, records, constitutions, agreements, financial records, membership records, minutes of auxiliary groups, programs, church files and other items pertaining to the Fidelity Baptist Church and the activities of the Cleveland Area Church Federation and the Inner-City Protestant Parish.
The Ludlow Community Association (f. 1957)
Records, 1957-1972 5 containers MS 3662
The Ludlow Community Association was formed in 1957 with the expressed purpose of creating an interracial community with goals of maintaining quality and stability, preserving high standards and protecting the general welfare of the entire community. Ludlow extends southeast from Shaker Square, partly in Cleveland and partly in Shaker Heights. The Association was initiated primarily because of African American immigration and white flight. One of the oldest organizations of its type, it served as a model for other cities as they coped with the challenge of integration and racial harmony. This collection includes material on the quality of housing in the community and nationally. Items relate primarily to the problems concerned with the promotion and maintenance of this integrated community. The Ludlow records should be valuable to those studying race and housing in suburban America.
Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the World (f. 1915)
Records, 1951-1973. 1 container MS. 3685
The IBPOE of W, is an African American fraternal organization with regional chapters throughout the U.S. This collection pertains to activities of the Ohio, Illinois, and Wisconsin region and consists primarily of essays and speeches written by high school students in the Elks Regional Oratorical Contest. Topics include "The Constitution", "The Economic Future of the Negro in the United States", "Passive Resistance", "Harriet Beecher Stowe", and "John Brown."
Gordon Simpson (1892-1955)
Papers, 1853-1967 1 container MS. 3690
Gordon Simpson was born in Toronto, Canada. In his youth, he was a successful athlete, holding the 1909 record for the 100-yard dash, and competed in the semi-finals of the Canadian Olympics. In 1919, he graduated from George Williams College in Chicago. Simpson was the Industrial Secretary of the Negro Welfare Association in St. Louis. He moved to Cleveland in 1929 and became the project manager for Cleveland Metropolitan Housing Authority several years later. In 1938, he was the first manager for Outhwaite, the second public housing development in the United States. This collection contains family correspondence, Gordon Simpson's personal papers, articles on race relations and the Outhwaite Housing Project.
Fair Housing, Incorporated (f. 1962)
Records, 1958-1972 2 containers MS. 3693
Fair Housing, Inc. was organized in 1962 when more than 800 people bought stock in a real estate company that would sell homes in the Greater Cleveland area without discriminating against minority groups. The Board of Directors included Dr. Kenneth Clement, and Carl and Louis Stokes. In 1972, Fair Housing, Inc. was dissolved as a legal entity and was succeeded by Stuart E. Wallace & Company. These restricted records consist primarily of board and committee minutes, financial reports, correspondence, newsletters, pamphlets, brochures, newspaper clippings, and miscellaneous materials.
Reverend Albert M. Pennybacker (b. 1930)
Papers, 1963-1974 1 container MS. 3743
Reverend Albert Pennybacker was the pastor of Heights Christian Church in Shaker Heights, Ohio from 1963 until 1974. The material in this collection consists of correspondence with organizations and individuals such as the Cleveland School Board, the League of Women Voters of Shaker Heights, the Welfare Federation, and Rabbi Arthur Lelyveld of Fairmount Temple; committee minutes and reports, newsletters, and newspaper clippings.
Paul Alden (1928-1969) and Betty Jeanne Nichols Younger (1927 -)
Papers, 1951-1976 3 containers MS. 3869
Reverend Paul Alden Younger and Betty Jeanne Nichols Younger were social activists and advocates for civil rights who lived in Cleveland from 1955 to 1967. Rev. Younger was ordained as an American Baptist Minister in 1956, and was pastor of Fidelity Baptist Church, Cleveland from 1958 to 1964. Betty Jeanne Nichols Younger was born in Cleveland and ran the Homework Center at Fidelity Baptist Church, developed the Cleveland Area Church Federation's Headstart Program, and the Women's Center at the Addison Road YMCA. This collection consists of notes, speeches, reports, correspondence, organizational records, and newspaper clippings and is related to the Younger's major concerns with church activities, social work, civil and welfare rights, and education.
Reverend William Davis Saunders (1821-1897)
Papers, 1853-1854 1 container MS. 3919
The Reverend William Davis Saunders was born in Peru, Ohio, in 1821. He was one of the first professionally trained doctors to practice in northern Ohio. He graduated from Western Reserve College in 1845, served as principal of Richfield Academy in Summit County, and completed his theological studies at Western Reserve Theological Seminary in 1851. In 1854, he moved to Jacksonville, Illinois where he accepted professorship at Illinois College. This collection consists of two anti-slavery sermons delivered by Rev. Saunders in 1853 and 1854.
Charles Edward Bostwick (1815-1877)
Papers, 1844-1877 1 container MS. 3921
Charles Edward Bostwick was a farmer, mason and builder, and a proprietor of a manufacturing and tin shop. Born in Canfield, Ohio, in 1815, he married Minerva Case in 1840. The Bostwick family papers consist of a journal, a photographer’s formula book, and versions of a speech given before the local auxiliary of the American Colonization Society.
Kathryn R. Tyler Neighborhood Center (f. 1948)
Records, 1950-1979 6 containers MS. 3945
Founded in 1948 to provide recreational and social services to the residents of the Glenville area of Cleveland. The center was originally named the Glenville Neighborhood and Community Center, then the Glenville Community Center before its present name in honor of Kathryn R. Tyler (1913-1995), the founding director and spirit behind the Center. The collection includes administrative files of the Center.
Russell Howard Davis (1897-1976)
Papers, 1897-1976 12 containers MS. 4031
Russell Howard Davis was an educator, community activist, and historian. He wrote Memorable Negroes in Cleveland's Past (1969), and Black Americans in Cleveland, (1970) the first comprehensive history of African Americans in Cleveland. Both books relied on previous research begun by his older brother, state politician Harry E. Davis, who had published articles for the Journal of Negro History. In 1940, Russell Davis became Cleveland’s first African American secondary school principal and was appointed to Central High School. He then became principal at Rawlings Junior High, and Harry E. Davis Junior High (named for his brother, Harry). The papers consist of family records and histories, correspondence and organizational records, notes and manuscripts by Davis and others, miscellaneous printed material and newspaper clippings, some legal papers, and organizational files.
Universal Negro Improvement Association (f. 1914)
Records, 1921-1986 8 containers MS. 4038
Marcus Garvey in Kingston, Jamaica founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA),, in 1914. The Cleveland division of the UNIA was established in 1921. In 1940, James R. Stewart, of Cleveland, was elected the Acting President General following Garvey's death. In 1949, Stewart took Liberian citizenship and moved the UNIA headquarters to Monrovia, Liberia, West Africa. Stewart ran a faction of the organization until his death in 1964. The UNIA records consist of correspondence, reports, conference and convention proceedings, speeches, minute and ledger books, magazine articles, lessons, printed materials, and miscellaneous materials. Noted items are stock certificates of the Black Star Line and African Communities League.
Mary Brown Martin (1877-1939)
Scrapbook, 1905-1906, 1933-1940, 1962 1 container MS. 4047
Mary B. Martin was the first African American to be elected to the Cleveland Board of Education, serving two terms beginning in 1929.. In 1905, she married attorney Alexander Hamilton Martin. She began teaching in the Cleveland Public Schools in 1920. In 1929 she was elected to the School Board and served for ten years. Mrs. Martin died shortly after being elected to a third term on the Board of Education in 1939. In 1962, a new elementary school in Cleveland was named in her honor. This collection primarily consist of material found in a scrapbook which contains newspaper clippings, cards, programs, campaign materials, telegrams, announcements, and correspondence dealing with her election to the Cleveland Board of Education and her death.
Walter B. Wright (1852-1939)
Scrapbooks, 1840, 1865, 1877-1936 2 containers MS. 4048
Walter B. Wright was secretary of the Lakeshore and Michigan Southern and Nickel Plate Railroads. He began working as a porter on the private car of Daniel Caldwell, advanced to chief clerk in the purchasing agent's department, then secretary to Caldwell who later became the president of Lake Shore Line. Wright continued his career as secretary with the succeeding president after Caldwell's death. The Walter Wright Scrapbooks consist of newspaper clippings, railroad passes, correspondence, photographs, and miscellaneous material regarding railroad companies and employees, and other African Americans.
Charles P. Lucas (1911-1989)
Papers, 1880-1973 2 containers MS. 4066
Charles P. Lucas, a teacher, civil rights leader, and federal housing administrator, spent most of his life in Cleveland. He was born in Cadiz, Ohio, and graduated from Wilberforce University. In 1945, he became the Executive Secretary of the Cleveland Branch of the NAACP. He served in that position for nine years after which he was appointed to the Cleveland Transit Board, the first African American to serve in that position. Lucas was also the first black man to serve on the Ohio Board of Education. He ran against Louis Stokes for U.S. House in 1968. The papers consist of correspondence and other papers relating to Lucas's career, materials from his grandfather William Lucas, and newspaper clippings about his son the Reverend Charles P. Lucas, Jr.
Women's Rights Society of Cleveland (f. 1946)
Records, 1934-1951 1 container MS. 4107
Essie J. Young, an African American employee of the Cleveland Main Post Office, organized the Women’s Rights Society of Cleveland in 1946. The purpose of the organization was to gain employment for women in any government-supported institution not employing women. It may have been spurred by the plight of women trying to maintain their wartime jobs after World War II. The collection consists of newspaper clippings, a constitution, Essie Young's correspondence, speeches, and a notebook.
Stella G. White (1907-1992)
Papers, 1941-1975 2 containers MS. 4113
Stella G. White was a free-lance journalist who was active in civic affairs. Stella Godfrey married Judge Charles W. White in 1944. She was born in Charlotte Court House, Virginia, but was raised in New York City. She was appointed to the Board of Ethics in the 1960s, then to the Board of Cleveland Transit System in 1970. She was also a columnist for the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The Stella G. White papers consist of certificates, clippings, correspondence, columns, memorabilia, speeches, American Transit Association files, and Cleveland Transit System files.
Charles W. White Family
Papers, 1872-1877, 1923-1970 1 container MS. 4114
The Charles W. White family was prominent in Cleveland from the 1940s through the 1970s. Judge Charles W. White was active in organizations that sought justice and rights for African Americans. His wife, Stella G. White, served on numerous boards including the Cleveland Transit System and was also a free-lance writer for area newspapers including the Cleveland Plain Dealer. For more information, please consult MS. 3521 and 4113. The White family papers consist of clippings, correspondence, and an original manuscript by Stella White, family history, biographical materials, and memorabilia.
Armond Robinson (1911-1973)
Papers 1938-1974 2 containers MS. 4122
Armond Robinson was born in Jacksonville, Florida, and moved to Cleveland in 1935. Robinson was an attorney and businessman. He was a graduate of Morehouse College and Cleveland Marshall Law School. In 1933 Robinson helped to establish the Atlanta Life Insurance Company office in Cleveland. He joined the Quincy Savings and Loan team under the leadership of M.C. Clarke in 1952 and in 1958 succeeded Clarke as president of QS&L. In 1965, Robinson incorporated the Cleveland Small Business Opportunity and Development Corporation (CSBODC). This group helped to form the Minority Economic Developers Council, for which Robinson served as executive director. This collection consist of biographical materials, certificates, correspondence, memorabilia, newspaper clippings, programs, speeches, and files of the Citizens for Better Housing, CSBODC, and the Minority Economic Developers Council.
Ursula J. Honore
Collection, 1977 1 container MS. 4136
Ursula J. Honore was one of several American History instructors teaching classes at the Cleveland School Board's Adult Education Center on Stearns Road in Cleveland in the mid-1970s. One of her class projects involved family histories in which students recorded events such as African American migrations from the south and segregation. This collection consists of brief family histories written by students in Honore's American History class.
National Alliance of Postal and Federal Employees, Local 604 (f. 1927)
Records 1956-1974 1 container MS. 4153
The NAPFE, Local 604 was a predominantly African American, independent, industrial union of federal employees in Cleveland. The National Alliance of Postal Employees was founded in 1913 as a response to the mass firing of African American railway clerks and the refusal of the Federation of Postal Clerks to support them. Initially only open to railway clerks, the NAPE opened membership to all postal employees in 1923, and to all federal employees in 1963 when it adopted its present name. Cleveland Local 604 was founded with former national president Alonzo L. Glenn as its first president. This collection consists of a dues book, several issues of PostMark Cleveland, fact sheets and banquet programs.
Annetta Jefferson
Papers, 1970-1973 1 container MS. 4162
Annetta Jefferson wrote the teachers guide and narrated the television series , "The History of Black Americans" and "Reflections in Black" for Cleveland television station WVIZ in the early 1970s.. She taught English and Drama and served as chairperson of the English Department at Glenville High School, Cleveland, then worked as an Education instructor at John Carroll University and a writer for the Educational Research Council of America. In 1968 she became the writer of the WVIZ-TV evening series, "Black Peoplehood" and later wrote for "Brotherman" and "Black Journal: Cleveland Response." This collection consists of teaching guides and scripts for "The History of Black Americans" and "Reflections in Black."
Tots and Teens, Cleveland Chapter (f. 1957)
Records 1960-1972 1 container MS. 4163
Tots and Teens was a national program for African American families that promoted recreation, culture, educational awareness, progress and family ties for children ages 2 through 18. Mrs. Emmie G. Lewis founded the Cleveland Chapter, just three years after the chartering of the national organization in California. Monthly programs and special activities such as the Cotillion Ball were offered. This collection consists of correspondence, memorials, clippings, handbooks, and reports, newsletters, membership lists and programs.
Ludlow Community Association (f. 1957)
Records, 1957-1981 Series II 2 containers MS. 4167
This is the second series of the Ludlow Community Association records collections. See MS. 3662 for historical sketch. This series has the records covering the periods from 1957-1981. It consists of minutes, correspondence, newsletters, reports, financial materials, publicity files, and clippings.
Future Outlook League (f. 1935)
Records, 1935-1959 13 containers MS. 4171
The Future Outlook League was a civil and economic rights organization and labor union founded by John O. Holly. The League promoted employment, mobility, and equality for African Americans. The organization appealed to both unskilled and semi-skilled workers and was one of the first African American organizations in the late 1930s to use picketing and economic boycotts to secure employment. The League's activities waned when World War II created additional employment opportunities in the U. S. After the war it sought to rebuild itself, reviving in the mid-1950s and again in 1966 when it purchased a building on Cedar Avenue for its headquarters. Following the death of John O. Holly in 1975, the Rev. Charles V. Johnson became president, and the organization began to be restructured. Fundraising events were held and a scholarship fund was established in Holly's honor. This collection consists of minutes, financial materials, subject files, scrapbooks, and membership cards.
Fred McClellan Crosby (1928- )
Papers, 1971-1976 1 container MS. 4198
Fred Crosby was the president and corporate executive officer of the Crosby Furniture Company and was active in business, community and civic affairs in Cleveland. Crosby was born in Cleveland, married Phendalyne Tazewell of New York City, and served in the U.S. Army from 1950 through 1952. His business experience included eleven years as president of Crosby Furniture Company, Inc., in Cleveland. This collection consists of photocopies of scrapbooks containing newspaper clippings, programs, photographs, and correspondence.
Episcopal Society for Cultural and Racial Unity (f. 1961)
Records, 1961-1968 1 container MS. 4199
The Episcopal Society for Cultural and Racial Unity was a national organization with local chapters open to members in communion with the Protestant Episcopal Church. A board of directors, which sponsored annual meetings and chartered local charters, governed the national organization. This collection consists of bylaws, minutes, membership lists, membership card file, and an address by the Right Reverend John Harris Burt.
Robert S. Koiner (1904-)
Papers, 1920,1951-1975 1 container MS. 4201
Robert Sidney Koiner was born October 1,1904 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1912, Robert Koiner, Sr. moved his family to Cleveland where Robert, Jr. was educated in the Cleveland Public Schools. A railroad mail clerk, Koiner dedicated over fifty years of service to union organizing, Masonry and his church. Koiner was president and chairman of the Board of the Brotherhood of Railroad Clerks, Local 1298, and president of the Board of the Association of Railroad Union Representatives. He was the lone African American on these union boards. This collection consists of two scrapbooks and memorabilia relating to Koiner's participation in the railroad unions, Prince Hall Masonic Lodge, and St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church.
Dovie Sweet (1910-19 )
Papers, 1935-1982 3 containers MS. 4204
Doris Davis (Dovie) Sweet was born in Havana, Florida, and educated at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College in 1937. Sweet taught in the Florida School system before moving to Cleveland with her husband, Sherman, in 1943. She taught in the Cleveland Public Schools from 1950-1976. Upon her retirement she wrote Red Light, Green Light, a children's book about Clevelander Garrett A. Morgan, the inventor of the traffic signal and gas mask. Sweet chaired the first local NAACP Freedom Fund Dinner, coordinated the Cleveland branch's participation in the March on Washington, and surveyed the Cleveland area for racial discrimination. This collection consists of biographical materials, correspondence, files concerning the writing and publication of Red Light, Green Light, clippings, and subject files for the NAACP, NANBPWC (National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Club), Florida Club, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, and St. John A.M.E. Church.
The Urban League of Cleveland (f. 1917)
Records, 1964-1981 10 containers MS. 4206
See Ms. 3573 for a brief history of the Urban League. This collection, the Urban League of Cleveland, Series II, contains records spanning the years 1964-1981, with the bulk during 1968-1973. It consists of minutes, correspondence, newspaper clippings, reports, contracts, memorandum and other records related to the organization’s operations, especially Operation Equality, a subdivision of the Urban League concerned with fair housing practices.
Katherine P. Williamson (1910-1964)
Papers, 1927-1965 1 container MS. 4210
For a brief biographical sketch, see MS. 3523. This collection, the Katherine P. Williamson Papers, Series II, pertains primarily to Williamson's career and organizational activities within Cleveland's African American community. It consists of biographical materials, clippings, correspondence, and subject files.
William S. (1852-1926) and Sarah C. Bierce Scarborough (1851-?)
Papers, 1797-1935 3 containers MS. 4213
William Sanders Scarborough was born in Macon, Georgia, and attended Atlanta University for two years before migrating to Ohio to enter Oberlin College. Upon graduation in 1875, Scarborough spent a year studying Semitic Languages and Hellenistic Greek at the Oberlin Theological Seminary before joining the Wilberforce University Classical Department. In 1881 Scarborough married Sarah Cordelia Bierce, the principal of Wilberforce University's Normal Department. Bierce served as principal of the Normal Department from 1877-1887 and headed the Combined Normal and Industrial Department until 1914. From 1914-1921 Sarah Scarborough returned to teaching English, History of Education and Principles of Teaching. William Scarborough became the chair of Hellenistic Greek in the Payne Theological Seminary in 1891, then became vice-president in 1897 and eventually President in 1908. William joined the Afro-American State League and the American Negro Academy while Sarah pursued her family genealogy, collecting correspondence and documents for the Abbey and Bierce families. This collection consists of correspondence for the Abbey, Bierce and Scarborough families, genealogical materials, memorabilia, clippings and articles written by Sarah Scarborough pertaining to the social life and conditions of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
Marguerite Sanford Warner (1890-1978)
Papers, 1925-1980. 2 containers MS. 4217
A native of Wichita, Kansas, Marguerite Sanford completed her undergraduate degree at Emporia State Teachers College before moving to Cleveland in 1919. She married Frank Warner, an insurance salesman and actor at Karamu Theatre, in 1940. During her career she served as organist for at least five Cleveland churches included Antioch Baptist Church from 1934-1944 and 1950-1971. Warner also served on the faculty of the Sutphen School of Music at the Phillis Wheatley Association from the 1950's to the 1970's. She was a member of the Cleveland Chapter of the National Negro Music Association, American Guild of Organists, and Concordia Bible Class. This collection consists of scrapbooks, correspondence, clippings, and memorabilia including programs, certificates and newsletters.
The Maurice Klain Research Papers: Cleveland Area Leadership Studies, Series I
Papers, 1957-1965. 14 containers MS. 4219
Dr. Maurice Klain was a political scientist at Western Reserve University who conducted a scholarly project designed "to identify, describe and analyze leadership, decision-making, influence and power in Greater Cleveland during the 1950s and 1960s." The heart of his study is embodied in over 700 transcripts of interviews conducted by Klain and his graduate students from 1957 to 1965. The interviews were conducted with not only political and business figures, but with leaders from the city's religious, racial, and ethnic communities as well." Many interviews consider the issue of racism and civil rights as it relates to the African American community.
Hough Area Development Corporation
Records, 1968 - 1985. 28 containers MS. 4222
The HADC was formed in 1967 by DeForest Brown in conjunction with African American professionals and neighborhood leaders in the wake of the Hough area civil unrest, to aid in bringing economic prosperity to Cleveland's Hough community. Dedicated to African American self-determination, the group promoted African American business enterprises and improved housing. The HADC received funding from Carl B. Stokes' Cleveland: Now! program and the Office of Economic Opportunities. HADC was responsible for the development of the Martin Luther King, Jr., Plaza and the plans for the Midtown Corridor Project. Political and media criticism sparked the withdrawal of federal funds in the early 1980s. The collection consists of board minutes, correspondence, clippings, legal papers, financial records, reports, and the working papers of the corporation’s office.
Former Junior Federation (f. 1927)
Records, 1927 - 1982. 1 container MS. 4235
The Former Junior Federation is an African American women’s club founded by Gertrude Fisher in 1927. Originally called the Gertrude Fisher Club, the members consists of childhood friends of Mrs. Fisher's daughter. Gertrude Fisher molded a group of young ladies into an organization that would gather at each other's homes where the objective was to instill a sense of culture and social thought, efficiency in club membership and better citizenship and to promote service and philanthropy. In the 1950s they became members of the Council of Colored Women and renamed themselves the Junior Girls Federation. In 1965, a new name was chosen, the Former Junior Federation, and through it all they have continued their social and civic activities. This collection consists of the organization’s constitution and by-laws, membership rosters, minutes, financial statements, correspondence, clippings, and memorabilia.
George and Lolette Hanserd (1910-1984, 1921-1996)
Papers, 1939 - 1984. 3 containers MS. 4236
Well known podiatrist and social worker and members of numerous
professional organizations and associations, George Hanserd was born in Atlanta , Georgia, in 1910 and moved to Cleveland with his family in 1924. He was graduate of East Technical High School, the Ohio College of Chiropody and served in the Army during World War II. Lolette Crutcher was born in Nashville and graduated from Fisk University. She received an MA from Western Reserve University's School of Applied Social Science. George Hanserd was a private physician and served part-time on the staffs at Cleveland Metropolitan General Hospital and Cuyahoga County Nursing Home. Lolette Crutcher Hanserd began working for the Cleveland Girl Scouts in 1943 and was program chairperson in 1949 and community advisor in 1951. She also worked extensively for the Welfare Federation in 1952, having retired in 1984 as the associate director of the Federation for Community Planning. This collection consists of personal and professional papers, primarily related to the Federation for Community Planning.
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