Abstract
Art Ledger, the son of migrants who left Alabama to work at Republic Steel in Cleveland, became the first African American taxidermist in the United States as well as the first African American to own property in his Near West Side neighborhood. He explains how the Near West Side has changed demographically over time. He discusses his childhood on the East Side and move to the Near West Side during high school, his experience as a U.S. Marine in the Vietnam War, and how after his return he apprenticed with longtime taxidermist John J. Koza and eventually operated his own taxidermy business and the state’s first taxidermy school. He also discusses the area’s Puerto Rican community and the diversity of ethnic backgrounds in the Clark-Fulton section of the Near West Side. He recounts the role of a Clark-Fulton nightclub he owned, Diamond Dill’s Tropical Lounge, contributed to the racial integration of his neighborhood. He relates how he worked with fellow community members to designate the area International Village, form a bird sanctuary, and plant orchards and green spaces on vacant lots left after the demolition of abandoned houses.
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Interviewee
Ledger, Art (interviewee)
Interviewer
Nemeth, Sarah (interviewer)
Project
Metro West
Date
6-4-2017
Document Type
Oral History
Duration
52 minutes
Recommended Citation
"Art Ledger interview, 04 June 2017" (2017). Cleveland Regional Oral History Collection. Interview 956001_955030.
https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/crohc000/1091
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.
