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  The Sandusky Collection

  Angela Presutto and Ron Davidson

  Sandusky, Ohio was founded as Portland Township in 1816, renamed Sandusky City in 1817, and incorporated in 1824. The city of Sandusky is in the Firelands region of the Western Reserve, situated where Sandusky Bay flows into Lake Erie (about halfway between Toledo and Cleveland). The city's early economic and demographic growth was greatly influenced by the natural environment and resources of the region.Transportation innovations, such as steamboats and railroads, brought migrants from the east into the city and beyond, and moved raw materials through the city for delivery throughout the Midwest. The moderating effects of Lake Erie on the region's climate influenced the development of agriculture – most notably in establishing Ohio as an early center for the wine industry in the United States.

  Other natural resources, including limestone, nearby forests, and the abundant waters of Lake Erie, inspired a variety of industries, including ice harvesting. At various points in its history, the Sandusky region has been a major lumber port, a site of multiple stone quarries, one of the nation's leading lakes fisheries, early aeronautics and the home of innovative manufacturing companies.

  Best known today as the home of Cedar Point amusement park, Sandusky's history includes much in recreation and entertainment. Bands and singing societies, frequently inspired by the German culture of many of the city's immigrants, played an important role in the city's culture. The city parks system has been a source of pride for more than a century.

  This collection attempts to showcase not only the historically unique aspects of Sandusky but give a general overview of important businesses, locations, people and events that influenced the city. The collection contains images from Sandusky Library and the Cleveland Press Collection.

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  The Shaker Heights Collection

  Meghan Hays and Kristen Poole

  Founded in 1912, Shaker Heights is situated on the eastern side of Cleveland, Ohio. Famous for its planned garden-city design, neo- traditional architecture,and green spaces, the city of Shaker Heights preserves many of the traditional ideals of its primary builders, the brothers Oris Paxton and Mantis James Van Sweringen.

  In the 1950s, Shaker Heights neighborhood associations resisted white flight and fought to preserve its racially integrated communities, a commitment that continues to this day. Such values echo those espoused by the North Union Shakers, who from 1822 to 1889 occupied the land on which the village of Shaker Heights was later constructed and for whom it was named.

  Now a city of just under 30,000 residents, Shaker Heights remains a community dedicated to its schools, its natural spaces, its people, and its history.

  This collection is a small portion of the materials available for patron use in the Local History Collection at the Shaker Heights Public Library and the Elizabeth Nord Library Collection at the Shaker Historical Society. 415 of the photos in this collection were donated to the Shaker Public Library by Pulitzer Prize winning Cleveland Press reporter David Dietz,who acquired them when the paper stopped its presses for good in 1982.

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  The Viktor Schreckengost Collection

  Viktor Schreckengost, the "American DaVinci" was a Cleveland artist, teacher and industrial designer who reshaped the field of American design and influenced generations of students. Mr. Schreckengost combined artistic and functional brilliance in his designs for product ranging widely from pedal cars, printing presses, and kitchen appliances to furniture, dinnerware, and toys. He also created hundreds of watercolors, sculptures, and decorative ceramics including the iconic "Jazz Bowl."

  Mr. Schreckengost founded the first industrial design program in the nation at the Cleveland Institute of Art. For more than 70 years, he instructed nearly 1,000 students, who have produced billions of dollars of successful products for American industry.

  His honors include a Gold Medal from the American Institute of Architects. At age 100, he received the National Medal of the Arts from President George W. Bush during a White House ceremony. Viktor Schreckengost passed away in 2008 at age 101.

  The Schreckengost Collection, dating back to the 1920s, includes job folders with correspondence, sketches, blueprints, and contracts with other prominent firms in the Cleveland area who participated in a particular job. Companies and organizations with which Viktor was associated during his career are included in the archives. The collection is housed in Special Collections at the Michael Schwartz Library, Cleveland State University. See the Schreckengost Collection Finding Aid or read the brochure.

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  The Wheeling and Lake Erie Railroad: Cleveland's Iron Cross

  Stephen Gage, Whitney Foster, and Lynn M. Duchez Bycko

  The Wheeling and Lake Erie Railroad (WLE) was founded in 1871 and it was originally designed to span the distance from the Ohio River through the coal fields of southeastern Ohio to the ports on Lake Erie. Over several decades the WLE would grow through construction and mergers into a significant transport feed to Cleveland’s growing industries, mainly freighting coal. In the beginning, however, only 13.5 miles of track had been laid by 1887, and the railroad was jokingly called the "Wailing and Leg Weary."

  After several early financial embarrassments, including a complete shutdown in 1879, Jay Gould, an American financier who became a leading American railroad developer and speculator, began buying large amounts of Wheeling’s stock the following year. With the fresh influx of funding, construction resumed.

  Containing over one thousand photos in many different sizes and dating from 1863 to 1962, these photos are housed in 18 archival file boxes. Included with the photographs is a registry which lists the location of many assets by division and branch. This collection originally served to document railroad property, as the Interstate Commerce Commission mandated that all U.S. railroads photograph all assets, including equipment, motive power, towers, bridges and more. The purpose of this was to levy taxes on these items to be paid to the government. The Michael Schwartz Library purchased the Wheeling and Lake Erie photographs in 2000 from a collector.

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  The Youngstown-Warren Collection

  Lindsay Platt

  The "Rust Belt", an area stretching from the Midwestern to the Northeastern United States, was once known as the "foundry of the nation" and was the embodiment of American industrial prosperity. Today the "Rust Belt" is characterised by struggling cities attempting to retool and redefine themselves in the wake of global economic change and shrinking populations. Two such cities are Youngstown and Warren, Ohio. Both historically big steel towns, their locations along the Mahoning River made them ideal for the transportation of steel.

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  Tony Mastroianni Review Collection

  Douglas Mastroianni

  Read a collection of 20 years' worth of local reviews of theater, film, and music, as well as interviews with celebrities passing through Cleveland.

  Cleveland native Tony Mastroianni wrote about the theater, movies, television and art during his 32 years with the Cleveland Press. Mastroianni won three Newspaper Guild awards for critical writing and three Press Club awards. The Cleveland Performer, a monthly publication for theater people, voted him the most knowledgeable and readable of all local critics. In 1984, he was given the William F. McDermott award of the Cleveland Critics Circle for contributions to the local theater. He was the paper's entertainment editor when it closed in 1982.

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  Top 100 Cleveland Indians Roster

  Vern Morrison

  To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Cleveland Indians in 2001, the Cleveland Indians organization released a roster of the top 100 greatest Indians as selected by a panel of veteran baseball writers, historians and executives.

  Of the more than 1,500 men who played for the Indians throughout their history, these players are notable for their presence, ability, achievements, and popularity. To further commemorate these players, Cleveland Memory has complemented the roster with photos of the players, where available.

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  T.W. Grogan Company Collection

  Chet A. Walker

  The T.W. Grogan Company was formed in June, 1926 by Thomas William Grogan who visualized an opportunity for a progressive building management organization in Greater Cleveland. During its history, the T.W. Grogan Company specialized in building management, financing, brokerage, mortgage loans, appraisals, and special services.

  In addition to several smaller properties throughout the Cleveland area and the rest of the country, some of the prominent and notable Cleveland landmark buildings managed at one time by the T.W. Grogan Company include the Hanna Building, the Euclid Arcade, the Osborn Building, the Leader Building, the Rockefeller building, and the Carnegie Medical, Bolton Square Hotel, and the Cedar-Glen Apartment buildings.

  A small real-estate operation started by Grogan in a one-room office eventually grew to more than 300 properties in Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Missouri, and New Jersey. T.W. Grogan had its main offices in the Hanna Building, which they had purchased from the Hanna family in 1958. By the time of the company's closing in 1999, in addition to the Hanna and Osborn Buildings, the T.W. Grogan Company owned and managed several parking lots in downtown Cleveland, the Aurora Commons office building and shopping center in Aurora, and The Phelps Townhouse, a 140-unit exclusive downtown Cincinnati apartment complex.

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  V.A. and Military Hospitals of Greater Cleveland

  Gary W. Jamison

  Boasting many fine hospitals and a reputation as a medical innovator, Greater Cleveland can also take pride in the medical facilities that have been provided for its wounded sons and daughters returning home from military service throughout the years. In 1811 the first medical facility for veterans was authorized by the federal government, but for the most part, the direct care and medical needs of veterans were met by the individual states and communities.

  In 1837, the U.S. Congress authorized the creation of a network of 26 government-owned hospitals to provide medical care primarily for seamen. The U.S. Marine Hospital, which opened in 1852 on Erie (E. 9th) and Murrison streets in Cleveland, was part of this network. It moved to a new location at E. 124th and Fairhill Rd. in 1929 when the building and site were sold to the Pennsylvania Railroad. After 1953 the U.S. Marine Hospital closed down and was eventually given to the State of Ohio. 1959 it was re-opened as a state psychiatric facility, the Fairhill Psychiatric Hospital.

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  Wilbur & Sara Ruth Watson Bridge Book Collection

  In March of 1983, Dr. Sara Ruth Watson, a former Professor of English and Engineering at Fenn College, donated a large collection of rare books and fifteen albums of photographs, all on historic bridges, to the Michael Schwartz Library at Cleveland State University where they now reside as part of the Library's special collections.

  The collection was begun by Dr. Watson's father, Wilbur J. Watson, a distinguished civil engineer and bridge designer who from his student days at Western Reserve University collected books on bridges and continued this interest during a long professional career. He founded the Watson Engineering Company in Cleveland, developed some important early concrete standards and authored several books, one with his daughters Sara Ruth and Emily.

  Dr. Sara Ruth Watson initiated, and from 1940 to 1970, taught a pioneer course in the History of Civil Engineering. She continued and expanded her father's collection. In October 1986, after the death of her sister, Dr. Watson established the Emily M. Watson Endowment Fund for the maintenance and acquisition of books and periodicals to the Watson Bridge Book Collection, which have as their primary focus the history of civil engineering with a special emphasis on bridges. Dr. Sara Ruth Watson left a bequest in 1996 to further support the Watson Bridge Book Collection.

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  Winkelman v. Parma City School District

  Jacquelyn McCloud

  The story of Jacob Winkelman, a six-year old autistic child from Parma, a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, sparked a national debate about special needs education in the United States. The issue was whether parents could represent the interests of their special needs child in court without being represented by an attorney.

  The controversy surrounding Jacob’s special education needs resulted in a landmark decision by the United States Supreme Court. On May 21, 2007, the United States Supreme Court answered affirmatively, resolving a three-way split in the United States Court of Appeals. This case was a major victory for the special education needs movement in the United States and has great significance because it ensures that children with disabilities have a voice that will be heard by the courts.

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  Yesterday's Lakewood

  William G. Becker

  This illustrated history consists of over 3,000 photographic images from the Lakewood Historical Society and Cleveland State University Special Collections. The site gives viewers an opportunity to see the development of the City of Lakewood, Ohio through photographs of residences, buildings, and street scenes dating from the early 20th century through the early 1990s.

  Whenever possible we have included supplemental information about the image and its location to help viewers to understand the life and times of those who lived and worked in Lakewood.