Cleveland History Blogs

Issue 4 offers a prize-winning electronic exploration of the Cleveland Cultural Gardens. Cleveland Cultural Gardens Website Cleveland’s Cultural Gardens’ website is maintained by the Cleveland State University History Department’s Center for Public History and Digital Humanities. These gardens represent over 30 different nationalities of…[Read more]

The original third  issue contained several articles on Cleveland’s social history during the early years of the twentieth-century, an article on “The Little Steel Strike of 1937,” and two essays that explore the Black History Archives of the Western Reserve Historical Society and the use of maps in studying the history of Cleveland.  The…[Read more]

This issue focuses on Ohio City, with a general overview of the early history of Ohio City and essays on Franklin Circle, the Flats, and Detroit Street in 1920, as well as essays on the development of the Polish community in Cleveland and other topics. Issue 02 Context Articles “Pleasantly Situated…” by Robert A. Wheeler “Sources for Local…[Read more]

Our university’s official statement on plagiarism: Using someone else’s ideas or phrasing and representing those ideas or phrasing as our own, either on purpose or through carelessness, is a serious offense known as plagiarism. “Ideas or phrasing” includes written or spoken material, of course — from whole papers and paragraphs to sentences,…[Read more]

Ohio’s Steel Mill War — The Little Steel Strike of 1937 by Benjamin Blake, Western Reserve Historical Society. Big Steel and Little Steel By this time , CIO rank and file activism by the rubber and autoworkers had led to major union gains in these industries, culminating in the sit-down strikers’ victory over the notoriously anti-union General [...]

OHIO CITY is pleasantly situated on the west side of the Cuyahoga river, on a site of commanding eminence, and directly opposite the city of Cleveland. The original name of the place was Brooklyn, but on the 3d of March, 1836, the Legislature passed an act incorporating it as a city, under its present name. [...]

WARSZAWA:  THE DEVELOPMENT OF A POLISH-AMERICAN INDUSTRIAL COMMUNITY, 1882-1919 by Chuck Kaczynski On the morning of 3 June 1882 the Cleveland Leader ran a copy of a notice that had been posted by the president of the Cleveland Rolling Mill regarding the condition of the plant in light of the on going strike. Cleveland Rolling Mill Company [...]

THE FLATS IN 1880 TO 1920 Nichole Bahrt, Mark Steinbrunner, and Hilary Stites The Midwest, like the rest of America, experienced much growth and many changes during the forty year period from 1880 to 1920. Industrialization had an effect on the nation like nothing ever had before and it helped to establish the Midwest cities [...]

FRANKLIN CIRCLE: 1880-1920 by Rachelle DeRubeis and Tim Kassouf Edited by Sherry Maruna The phenomenon of mass immigration, which occurred between the mid 1840′s and the 1920′s, caused America’s population to explode “sixfold.” The phenomenon of immigration changed character from one decade to another. The highest number of immigrants entering the…[Read more]

DETROIT STREET, 1920:  Snapshot of an Urban Community by Lisa Amato, Jeanne Costa, and Anthony Nettles Cleveland in 1920 was a typical Midwestern city. It was a melting pot of various ethnicities, social and economic classes. The turn of the century had brought America great prosperity as a nation. The industrial revolution had paved the [...]

by Dr. Judith Cetina Edward Miggins, editor of A GUIDE TO STUDYING NEIGHBORHOODS AND RESOURCES ON CLEVELAND, suggested in his article on “Neighborhood Studies” that a feeling of “togetherness” frequently lies at the heart of what is meant by “community,” distinguishing it from any other social organization. He further asserted that this sense of…[Read more]

by Robert Wheeler Pleasantly Situated is re-published in Crooked River with the permission of the Western Reserve Historical Society. “Pleasantly situated on the west side of the Cuyahoga River, on a site of commanding eminence, and directly opposite the city of Cleveland is Ohio City”, announced a directory of residents and businesses published…[Read more]

The jury in the case of Wm. Kelly, charged with murder in the second degree, Court of Common Pleas, returned a verdict in accordance with the charge Margaret Kelly, wife of W,. Kelly, is on trial to-day for participation in the murder. The person klilled was Mrs. Rose O’Malley. She was on a visit to [...]

jennishelton wrote a new blog post: Online Tutoring Center Hours

We’re going to offer online help  from 8 to 10 pm on Tues. and Wed. March 2nd and 3rd.  We’ll be online to chat if you need help with your papers this week.  Be sure to email your papers to us before you log on.

2 years, 2 months ago

by Deborah Sutherland Editor’s Note: This fictionalized set of letters draws on the historical record to shed light on the lives of immigrants to Cleveland in the nineteenth-century. Rosa O’Malia, a 26 year old Irish immigrant, was brutally beaten by her neighbors, William and Margaret Kelley, on December 15, 1859. She tenaciously lingered for 6…[Read more]

“BEYOND THE GRAVE” by Jennifer E. Vincenty On 15 December 1859, on the near West Side of Cleveland known as the Flats down by the Cuyahoga River, at one time called “Irishtown” or the “Angle,” there occurred a violent incident where two persons, William and Margaret Kelley, brutally attacked their neighbor, Rosa O’Malia. The woman lingered [...]

“THE MYSTERIOUS MURDER” Rebecca A. Laird William and Margaret Kelley were arrested and charged with the bludgeoning murder of Rosa O’Malia.  Through the testimonies secured by the Coroner of Cuyahoga County in December of 1859, the Kelleys were convicted largely on the basis of bias — bias against the couple within the Irish community in [...]

Crim. Ec. Doc. 1. 311. Jury Indict. Petit Jury Verdict Motion for new Trial Overrruled Sentence The State of Ohio, Cuyahoga County In the Court of Common Pleas. The State of Ohio. . . ) Indictment . . . ) Be it Remembered, that hereto- 30 . . . .vs. . . . . . [...]

Crim. Ec. Doc. 1.310 G. Jury Indict. Plea Petit Jury Verdict Mo. for New Trial overruled Mo. arrest) Judgmt. ) overruled Sentence The State of Ohio, Cuyahoga County In the Court of Common Pleas. The State of Ohio) Indictment . . . ) 29 . . . .vs. . . . . . ) for [...]