Code,990055
Subject,Christine Branche
Date,8/5/2013
Interviewer,Timothy Klypchak
Abstract,"This is the second interview with Christine Branche. She discusses the arts and the Ludlow Community Association. She describes the Karamu Theater. Near the end of the interview, she talks about going to various opera houses and taking in wonderful operas with her husband. She spends a great deal of time talking about Ludlow and the efforts of the Ludlow Community Association to preserve a stable, integrated model community."
Tags,"Luke Easter Park, Karamu House, Jelliffes, integration, Ludlow Community Association, fair housing, racial tension, Ludlow Housing Office, Shaker Square, Helen Simpson, Ludlow Community Picnic, events, fundraisers, Stouffer's, Colony Theater, SHAD, Buckeye, opera"
Special Notes,
minutes:,
0,"Introductions, resuming of a previous interview; begins with Luke Easter Park but doesn't remember much about it"
1,"Admonishes tim for saying was instead of is, but a discussion about the Karamu house and who the Jelliffes were; where they lived; she was on the board"
2,"It was integrated theater, who did great work; She thinks it would be a fantastic story to do one on Karamu;"
3,Her involvement with Karamu- fondest memory: managed the ushers and greeters
4,Recruited people from the community to volunteer as an usher; a place where people could interact and network; led to many people beginning as actors; provided a variety of interactions for people
5,"The theater was a wonderful thing for cleveland according to her; She remembers going to many shows, but she saw too many to pick a favorite; she loved how they could involved an audience"
6,"Eventually ended up with 3 theaters; the ""theater in the round"" was a marquee and innovative; its at 89th and quincy; big name actors and actresses but she does not remember who they are"
7,Pick up where we left off: Talk about purchasing her house- Ludlow Community Association; Remembers in the 1950s a bombing
8,"The bombing stunned everyone; it had not become the Ludlow Association yet, but it created a large reaction; the year after Ludlow was formed"
9,"Formed the Ludlow Housing office in 1956, which pulled together groups to support the idea of integration-led to the community association; coordinated things with Suburban center for fair housing, Fair housing Incorporated among others"
10,Public housing in Ludlow almost tore the community apart
11,"The association focused the community and it became highly organized; When they moved in no one realized at first,"
12,Neighbor was the principal at the school where she went to work; describes other neighbors around her house when she moved in
13,Describes a policeman who bought some houses recently and they are worried because he might rent it out to section 8 folks
14,"Describes block watch to protect the community; Asked about the founders of the association, but she looks through documents and can't find them"
15,refers him to a list she gave to ask one man about the founders; Describes her interactions with some of the founders
16,but says she has trouble saying who was an original and who wasn't because they all got along together; also she dropped out because she had to take care of her mother and her mother-in-law among other things
17,"Describes some of the programs in the community association-fundraising became a big thing, also did christmas carolling"
18,"Also tried to get memberships at the swimming pool, Thornton, for african-americans; Shaker skating club as well"
19,"In the late 1950s or early 1960s, Helen Simpson, a founder, was on the staff at NBC was murdered, which stunned the community; It was not singling out, she just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time"
20,Thinks they caught the murderer; It happened in the cleveland part of Ludlow but it was still their community
21,"Ludlow Community picnic, many of the programs were about attracting young people; The big deal fundraiser was the Ella Fitzgerald concert at Severance Hall in 1966"
22,1967 Nancy Wilson came to raise funds as well; Describes what it took to get Ella to Severence-needed a connection
23,"Did not keep any of the documents, Also was involved in many things-tough to keep track of everything; Lists some of the stuff shes involved in now"
24,Describe the Ludlow Company-it was a real corporation that had a major impact on policy
25,"Not unusual any more, the company founded in 1956. Involvement of merchants at Shaker square was selective but not negative; used Stouffer's for many things"
26,"Mentions the Colony Theater helping, but no real specifics because it was so long ago. The colony Theater would give them space to meet"
27,"Moreland Courts were off-limits to African-Americans, like every apartment complex;"
28,Changes in Ludlow: Less integrated now then it used to be; the primary reason for many people was that people could live in Cleveland for political reasons but send their kids to Shaker Schools
29,"Also, it was very convienent; Much less integrated than when her kids went to school in the area"
30,Talks about her kids and how long they went to school; revitalization of shaker square-involvment of Ludlow and her opinions
31,"It used to be better then a few years ago it fell apart, and now its being revitialized-more upseting for people who were in the area for a long time"
32,Describes where Stouffer's was: used to be a full restaurant there not just frozen foods- used to be a chain as well
33,She doesn't know why they moved-no problems with the area; Used to be a bookstore across the street near a restaurant - tries to remember the name of a restaurant
34,"Events at Stouffer's? She doesn't remember, except when Shaker Square had an event then Stouffer's would be included"
35,Describes the Neighborhood Watch which broke down into street clubs who got info on how to deal with problems
36,"some were more active than others, info would constantly be dispursed- who to call, what to have on hand"
37,It was a very good program; describes problems with some teenagers and the watch found out these kids were from further in Cleveland
38,Ludlow Community functions other than fundraising-community activities (Fall and Spring for sure) also if anything happened there was a piece of mail circulated
39,Louis Stokes lived down the street within the Ludlow Community because they could live here and could still be in Cleveland;
40,She is not sure what they do today because she is not involved anymore; She recommends talking to the chairman of the association now
41,Recommends talking to another gentleman that has been around since the beginning;
42,Ludlow Association became a cooperating partner to SHAD the association in Buckeye-doesn't remember what SHAD stands for; its the buckeye version of the Ludlow Association
43,"She used to be a lot more active back then, less now; Husband loved operas so they have been to six opera houses in Italy, the Met in NYC,"
44,Talks about her husband's love for history; and points to many opera recordings that her husband kept on cassettes; would go to the Institute of Music or the Music Hall for the opera in Cleveland
45,Rare instances Severance Hall would do something; the colleges would do it too so they went to Oberlin all the way to here; occasionally would go with Bob Madison
46,Plenty operas available if you want to go;
47,Thanks and End of interview
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