Code,999004
Subject,Bennie Jean Johnson
Date,11/10/2006
Interviewer,Mark Souther
Abstract,"In this 2006 interview, Bennie Jean Johnson, a life-long resident of Cleveland, recounts many of her living experiences as an African-American in Cleveland.  She talks about her early childhood homes in E.55th and E.79th Street neighborhoods during the 1950 and 1960 decades.  She describes her experiences during the Hough Riots.  She talks about Leo's Casino and other well-known Cleveland east side institutions.  She also talks about her experiences in moving to the west side of Cleveland--first to public housing near the Airport in the 1970s, and then to West 83rd Street in the 1980s, where she and her children were subjected to episodes of violent racism by neighborhood youths.  Finally, she talks about her work as a Block Watch volunteer with the Detroit-Shoreway Association."
Special Notes,"civil rights, hough riots, racism, detroit shoreway, leo's casino, euclid avenue, sahara hotel"
minutes:,73
0,introduction and background
1,
2,coming to cleveland (family migrates from southern US) - father came in the 1930's; mother came in the 1940's.
3,
4,remembering 55th street  nieghborhood - lived in an apartment there.
5,"remembering Grand Avenue neighborhood (nieghbors, shops, factories) - near 79th St. rapid station.  Lived in a house."
6,
7,Remembers Van Dorn canning factory near 79th and Grand.
8,Moved to 79th and Chester.
9,"Leo's Casino - 75th and Euclid -  ""all the stars… anybody that was anybody came there"""
10,Leo's Casino after the Hough Riots; Motown groups at Leo's Casino.  Involvement of Cleveland Browns football players in 1960s.
11,
12,"Civil Rights: awareness of ""trouble down south"""
13,"""mom and dad both had the belief that no one was better than yourself, and you were no better than anyone else"""
14,parents' socioeconomic status and honesty about racism
15,
16,"Hough Riots: ""we knew there was something unusual going on but we didn't know it was…a riot"""
17,"""once we started hearing the shooting… we knew it was something different"""
18,[17:40] confusion and lack of communication cause escalation of violence
19,phone service program for low-income residents (digression)
20,
21,bus and car traffic is rerouted to avoid riot zone
22,National Guard presence in Hough
23,"""I never said anything to [the guardsmen] because they were white and they had guns"""
24,"eventually the ""ice was broken"" and national guardsmen were viewed with less trepidation"
25,Euclid Avenue: remembering old mansions
26,"""Leo's Casino was housed in an apartment [building] that was for the elite"""
27,"""55th and 105th were like downtown areas [with businesses, housing, and factories]"""
28,
29,The Red Carpet (theatre and bar)
30,Cleveland Clinic expands into surrounding neighborhoods
31,"Hough Riots: ""after the riots we stayed in the nieghborhood"""
32,"""urban decline:"" diminishing retail businesses on the east side of Cleveland"
33,"""[when]all the businesses started moving out of the neighborhood… I went to East Cleveland [and later to West Side 'projects' (1976)]"""
34,"Then to W. 83rd in 1981; West Side, race relations"
35,living in housing project briefly
36,"teenager shouts racial slurs: ""I was in shock"""
37,"""when we moved to W. 83rd, 'nigger' was scratched into the pillar of the house, and it was all downhill after that"""
38,"""they started throwing firecrackers up on the porch… it would shake the windows, shake the house"""
39,Cleveland Police and Federal Bureau of Investigation
40,"""I had called NAACP, city council - nobody helped"""
41,
42,"when white teen is arrested for vandalism and assault, violence escalates"
43,
44,buying a gun for protection; police advise not to shoot anyone
45,fired shot over their heads; that took care of the problem.
46,"Call and Post story ""The Pistol-Packing Mama"" leads to another FBI investigation"
47,missing pets
48,"""I wasn't surprised [by racism in the 80s]...racism is still alive today and it's 2005"""
49,"""if I had been renting there it might have been a little different"""
50,neighbors didn't move because she moved in.
51,
52,"""there were some changes that went on in the nieghborhood because we were there""; recent demographic changes - mixed neighborhood - mostly renters."
53,"Detroit Shoreway: City Council involvement; ""it's a collaboration of communities"""
54,Block Clubs
55,Back to childhood - Wonderbread Bakery Outlet Store (E. 50 and Chester): weekly shopping routine
56,asbestos contamination leads to use as illegal homeless shelter
57,Sahara Hotel
58,built to accommodate visitors to The Arena and other Midtown institutions like the Masonic Temple.
59,"description of ""Egyptian-type"" decor"
60,other institutions on site of Sahara
61,"""the Sahara didn't last that long ...[nor did other hotels east of downtown]"""
62,
63,
64,The Arena
65,"[1:04:50] ""it looked like the old ball stadium""; ""you could see everything.  you didn't need a… Jumbotron"""
66,events
67,taking children to the Arena
68,"Detroit Shoreway, retail"
69,"""mom and pop stores… and little restaurants""; ""Arab""-owned market"
70,boundaries of detroit shoreway neighborhood
71,"""it was more… close-knit - especially when I first moved in"""
72,[1:11:40] possible interview subjects
73,end
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