Code,990026,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Subject,Donalene Poduska,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Date,6/24/2013,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Interviewer,"Klypchak, Timothy",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Abstract,"School activist Donalene Poduska, originally from Kentucky, describes her life and achievements. She gives a background of her education and what brought her to Cleveland. She describes her husband and the various places they lived together. She became involved with the PTA and anti-blockbusting tactics. She goes into great detail on the various projects she instituted and was involved with during her work with the schools.",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Tags,"Kentucky, University of Kentucky, activism, YWCA, Mississippi, integration, Emmett Till, Nela Park, John Carroll University, PTA, programs, desegregation of schools, fair housing, blockbusting, Glenville Riots, Civil Rights Movement, League of Women Voters, Citizen Advisory Committee, Coventry, Cedar Fairmount, interracial relationships,Cleveland Heights, de facto segregation, East West Division in Cleveland",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Special Notes,"notes about high points, audio quality, etc...",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, minutes:,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 0,Introductions-born in Louisville Ky and grew up in Lexington but left in 1958,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 1,"School in Lexington-Ashland Elementary, Morton Jr High, Henry Clay High School and University of Kentucky; describes the high school-segregated; Her class in UKentucky was the first to be intermixed",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 2,"Active in UKentucky, involved in many organizations, including the YWCA",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 3,Talks about various conferences through the YWCA on race and integration,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 4,State of Mississippi decreeed that their university students could not go to these integrated conferences in 1956,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 5,"Executive director of the Southern region was an African-American Woman, Doris Wilson",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 6,"Most of the meetings were held at Spellman College, she was the ""minority"" there, mentions having to take two, segregated, cabs to get to the train station",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 7,Story about a cab driver who was reluctant to leave her at Doris Apartment,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 8,Doris's reaction to the cab driver,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 9,"Lexington was totally divided, but she was exposed to African-Americans because her dad worked in a grocery store in both white and black neighborhoods",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 10,Describes seeing African-Americans on busses downtown but not in her neighborhood; College from 1954-1958,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 11,Remembers when Emmett Till was killed;,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 12,"Describes how she met her husband-married in 1958, he was from Chicago and Roman Catholic-which was a big deal",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 13,Moved to Columbus after graduation because her husband got a job there,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 14,"Describes her teaching experience in Columbus-not a good one, only spent a year there",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 15,Worked at Ohio State in a lab working with the air force on aeronautical language; describes what got her interested in language,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 16,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 17,(17:30) how her husband go into languages-almost went to John Carroll,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 18,Moved to Cleveland in 1960 when husband got a job in JCU- moved to Cleveland near Nela park,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 19,Describes her neighbors and her neighborhood,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 20,"East Cleveland was predominantly white, she lived in the ""up the hill"" area",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 21,"She says she did not know the difference between ""down"" and ""up"" the hill; involved with PTA but did not teach after they came to cleveland",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 22,"Involved with the PTA from 1965 to 1982, then came back to serve on ""principals advisory committee""",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 23,Bombing on Brinkmore-her PTA spoke out to welcome everyone,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 24,"Created a program to highlight different cultures-""night of the mosaic""",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 25,Program for the Panel of American Women-describes the panel,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 26,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 27,"Story about a family that called to rent a place and they were black, did not bother Donalene",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 28,Told neighbors and people at school that they rented to a black family-got cold stares; Post man spread the news to the neighbors,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 29,Had a party to introduce them to the neighbors-illicited some ill will,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 30,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 31,"In 1968, she wanted to get involved so she started a human relations group at Sts. Margaret and Mary (without blessing of pastor)",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 32,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 33,"A later pastor was very supportive, but at the time the pastor did not encourage people to come to the forums",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 34,PTA and racial forums,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 35,Block Busting tactics,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 36,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 37,"Worried for her kids when they rented to the African-American family, but nothing happened",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 38,Served on the school board,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 39,"Mentions ""Reaching Heights"" and she wanted to do it",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 40,What Reaching Heights did,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 41,Describes her feelings about the Glenville Riots and the way things were handled in the South with regards to Civil Rights,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 42,North South segregation dynamics,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 43,"(43:38) Her involvement with the ""League of Women Voters""",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 44,First voted in 1956; continues with her invovlement in the League,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 45,Became president of the League-tells that story,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 46,continues,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 47,What she did with various committees in the League,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 48,Citizen Advisory Committee,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 49,Its geographical scope and what it does,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 50,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 51,Describes specific programs,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 52,Lot of work in Coventry and Cedar Fairmount,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 53,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 54,"Even though she was an elected official, but she considered herself as apolitical",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 55,Goes into Republicans versons Democrats on the local level,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 56,"Thinks that 8-12 years on city council and school board is enough, need to allow new people to come on",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 57,Wishes there was more work done to keep Denison Park Pool open-one pool in Cumberland not enough,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 58,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 59,Talks about how many think that the Oxford Neighborhood was in South Euclid or people do not realize,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 60,Upset that city council spends money in other Cleveland Heights neighborhoods,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 61,"Protest happened at JCU, but they were gone (1970-1)",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 61,Interracial couples at JCU,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 62,Kids went through the public school system except for an international school,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 63,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 64,Integrate in a way that was good for the host city and that would not disrupt the area,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 65,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 66,"Her kids grew up in Cleveland Heights with a large amount of diversity, her son lives in Solon and he complains about living in a less diverse neighborhood",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 67,Shares certain key contacts and stories about some of those contacts,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 68,Describes a project that took inner-city school children and had them meet mentors,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 69,Goes back to describing lists of contacts for these interviews,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 70,Feels lucky to be alive,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 71,De facto segregation bothered her on a deep level,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 72,Stereotypes reversed when she was asked if she understood segregation because she was from the south,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 73,North accused of being hypocritical,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 74,Talks about East West division in Cleveland,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 75,"""the feeling of crossing [the river]""",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 76,River much more devisive here than in other cities; Thanks and End of Interview,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,