Abstract
Michael Fedak, a longtime resident of Tremont, Ohio, was born in 1914 and lived in the neighborhood through much of the 20th century. Fedak discusses his family's immigration from Ukraine, his education, and his career in the steel industry and aircraft manufacturing. He reflects on changes in Tremont's demographics, the impact of urban development, and shifts in the community’s ethnic composition over time. Additionally, he shares his experiences working on aircraft production during World War II and his observations of neighborhood transformation. The interview provides details about the social and economic history of Tremont, as well as the lived experiences of an immigrant family in Cleveland.
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Interviewee
Fedak, Michael (interviewee)
Project
Tremont History Project
Date
2003
Document Type
Oral History
Duration
33 minutes
Recommended Citation
"Michael Fedak interview, 2003" (2003). Cleveland Regional Oral History Collection. Interview 223053.
https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/crohc000/1391
Transcript
Interviewer [00:00:01] And I’ll go ahead with my first question. What is your full name? And will you spell it for me, please?
Michael Fedak [00:00:12] Alright. My first full name is Michael D. Fedak. F-E-D-A-K. Michael.
Interviewer [00:00:20] Okay.
Michael Fedak [00:00:21] Alright.
Interviewer [00:00:22] Alright, thank you. And here’s the next one. When did you move to Tremont?
Michael Fedak [00:00:29] I was born-
Interviewer [00:00:30] Oh, you were born there? Okay.
Michael Fedak [00:00:31] I was on Fifth Street-
Interviewer [00:00:37] Alright.
Michael Fedak [00:00:37] In 1914. I have it here.
Interviewer [00:00:44] Alright. Well, Mr. Fedak, do you know when your parents moved to Tremont?
Michael Fedak [00:00:49] They came here from Ukraine. My dad came from, by ship, and he came to the United States and to Cleveland, Ohio.
Interviewer [00:01:16] Alright. Do you know why they moved to the Tremont area?
Michael Fedak [00:01:20] Why? Because his friends were in Tremont.
Interviewer [00:01:31] His friends were in [Tremont]? Do you speak- What other languages do you speak?
Michael Fedak [00:01:37] I speak Ukrainian. I could speak Polish excellent.
Interviewer [00:01:44] Terrific!
Michael Fedak [00:01:46] I know better than Pope De Weiss and I were, shall I say, spoke and were different languages. I could speak Russian, Slovak, Poland. And all the Slav- I understand all the Slavonic languages. When I worked in the mills in older steel, I could speak all the languages. [inaudible]
Interviewer [00:02:27] You know, I’m not really from, I don’t know how to speak them. But that’s neat that you can.
Michael Fedak [00:02:33] I spoke all these Slavic languages.
Interviewer [00:02:38] Wow. Okay. Where did your parents work or where did your father work?
Michael Fedak [00:02:42] My father worked, when he first came to the United States, he worked in the steel, Corrigan McKinney.
Interviewer [00:02:59] Corrigan McKinney. Where was that?
Michael Fedak [00:03:01] That’s Republic Steel.
Interviewer [00:03:03] Oh, okay.
Michael Fedak [00:03:05] I’ve gone 30 years.
Interviewer [00:03:07] That’s way back, huh?
Michael Fedak [00:03:09] I’m telling you. Right. Okay.
Interviewer [00:03:11] Where did you work?
Michael Fedak [00:03:13] I worked in most of the- Tried to go and work in the machine shops.
Interviewer [00:03:24] At Republic Steel?
Michael Fedak [00:03:26] And then I worked and I went to Fenn College when I- And to- Also I went to this- The companies actually I worked, went to, what the hell. Right now slips-
Interviewer [00:04:22] Okay, that’s no problem. But you worked in the machine shop.
Michael Fedak [00:04:25] I was in the machine shop.
Interviewer [00:04:27] Okay.
Michael Fedak [00:04:28] And then this Thompson Products, when I came out of the service, I went to work for them and they knew I was very sharp. I was perfect on the second shift. And when my boss knew how smart I was and so he recommended me to go to the tool and die. And so that’s how it worked. I became a supervisor.
Interviewer [00:04:15] Wow.
Michael Fedak [00:04:17] In [inaudible]. So when I went to work for Thompson Products, I worked for the different departments and I became a supervisor and then I became head of old Thompson Aircraft.
Interviewer [00:05:56] Alright, can you tell me a little bit about your memories of World War II.
Michael Fedak [00:06:01] It was not in World War I.
Interviewer [00:06:03] Well, what did you do during that time?
Michael Fedak [00:06:06] I designed and worked for Cleveland Aircraft. And I worked on the B-29.
Interviewer [00:06:20] The Superfortress.
Michael Fedak [00:06:21] The Superfortress. And then I also worked on the P-47.
Interviewer [00:06:30] Thunderbolt.
Michael Fedak [00:06:31] The P-47 was, yes, the Thunderbolt, but also the aircraft was design of the P-47, which is a Thunderbolt. And the midsection was the, shall I say, the 47 was the Thunderbolt.
Interviewer [00:07:10] Okay.
Michael Fedak [00:07:11] And then we started to make the P-47 a part of 60,000 horsepower engine. And then the P-47 wings. And I worked on the bolting the two wings together, see?
Interviewer [00:07:54] Oh, in the midsection. Alright. I understand.
Michael Fedak [00:07:58] And the P-47, the P-51 outboard wings, see, were bolted together and- But we did all of that. Only thing is, we could not get the [inaudible] with the wing section, the back wing section. And we lost 14 test pilots that were killed. And the cemetery-
Interviewer [00:08:42] That’s, that’s awful. That was during the war?
Michael Fedak [00:08:47] Yeah, right here. And most of the [inaudible]. Most of my friends and any works on the [inaudible] trying to get it to fly quietly and not lose all that.
Interviewer [00:09:18] Alright. Okay. The next question is, are you or were you married, sir?
Michael Fedak [00:09:25] Oh, I certainly was. I was married May 18, 19.
Interviewer [00:09:33] Did you marry someone from Tremont?
Michael Fedak [00:09:35] Yes. She lived on West 15th Street.
Interviewer [00:09:41] Okay.
Michael Fedak [00:09:42] So I knew her before I went to the service.
Interviewer [00:09:47] Well, that’s a good thing. Where were you married?
Michael Fedak [00:09:52] I was married on West 7th Street in St. Peter and Paul’s Church.
Interviewer [00:10:02] Okay.
Michael Fedak [00:10:02] I had my reception on West 14th Street in the National Hall.
Interviewer [00:10:10] Alright.
Michael Fedak [00:10:11] And I had over 40. I had quite a large reception. Reception.
Interviewer [00:10:23] Terrific. What years did you live in Tremont?
Michael Fedak [00:10:27] I was all the way from when I was born. And in 1922, my dad moved from West 5th street to the Tremont area and he bought the house on 2485 Tremont.
Interviewer [00:10:56] Okay.
Michael Fedak [00:10:57] Okay.
Interviewer [00:10:57] Alright. Do you remember at all or actually can you tell me what your first impressions of Tremont were as a child?
Michael Fedak [00:11:07] Well, I didn’t speak the language until I went to the first grade.
Interviewer [00:11:18] You didn’t speak English until the first grade?
Michael Fedak [00:11:20] No. Mrs. Slapnicka, Mrs. Slapnicka was the- She was of Slovak language and her husband was the- He was a Cleveland ball player organizer. [Cy] Slapnicka was a- He worked for the Cleveland Indians.
Interviewer [00:12:02] Okay. What did you like about. I mean, what was Tremont like when you were a child?
Michael Fedak [00:12:07] Well, I liked it very good, because Mrs. Horton, she was the principal of Horton Dairy. Her father lived on Denison and 44th Street.
Interviewer [00:12:26] Okay, yes, sir, I know that area.
Michael Fedak [00:12:30] So you see, it was pretty close. You know, everybody understood and knew there that like Mrs.- The nurse was Mrs. Boone.
Interviewer [00:12:45] I see, so everyone knew each other.
Michael Fedak [00:12:47] Yes.
Interviewer [00:12:47] Alright.
Michael Fedak [00:12:48] Yeah.
Interviewer [00:12:49] After you lived in Tremont for, you know, 30 years or so, did it change at all or what were your impressions then?
Michael Fedak [00:13:00] Never did change much like Mrs. F[?] of the Merrick House and Mrs. Maloney. See, I work for Mrs. Maloney, as shall I say, a caretaker of her house and everything. And then she used to give out jobs to us during the Depression. I worked at A.E.R. Schneider of Cleveland Cliffs, which is now, their house was at the Gold Coast.
Interviewer [00:13:49] Okay, I understand. So Tremont remained the same?
Michael Fedak [00:13:57] The same to me because I knew everybody. And when I graduated in ’32, 1932, we couldn’t get a job. I used to work and did all for Mrs. Maloney. I used to give up garden spaces for his families. Okay, alright.
Interviewer [00:14:30] What were you in Tremont in 1967?
Michael Fedak [00:14:36] 1967.
Interviewer [00:14:39] Had you moved out?
Michael Fedak [00:14:43] I was.
Interviewer [00:14:44] Okay, well, from the time that you first lived in Tremont until the time that you left, how did it change? What was different about it? Who left?
Michael Fedak [00:14:54] Well, no more, shall I say, the nationalities were being changed and most of it began to become Appalachian and the Poquito hablo Espagnol, Senor. Okay?
Interviewer [00:15:26] Hispanics. [crosstalk] I understand, okay. Did your friends move out of the Tremont area? And about what time?
Michael Fedak [00:15:36] They began to move around the ’30s, ’40s.
Interviewer [00:15:47] They moved out in the ’40s?
Michael Fedak [00:15:48] Yeah.
Interviewer [00:15:49] Who moved in to replace them?
Michael Fedak [00:15:51] Most of them were becoming, like I say, the Appalachian and the Hispanic. Yeah, Hispanics. Okay.
Interviewer [00:16:02] What was your impression of those people?
Michael Fedak [00:16:05] Well, they were trying to get ahead.
Interviewer [00:16:10] What were they doing to the Tremont area? Were they a positive influence or a negative or-
Michael Fedak [00:16:16] Oh, well, most of ’em, they didn’t take care of their neighborhood and mostly they didn’t, like my house, when they moved there. You know, they didn’t take care of their neighborhood. You know, so-
Interviewer [00:16:43] So that was a negative thing?
Michael Fedak [00:16:45] Yeah.
Interviewer [00:16:46] You think? Alright, I understand. So as the neighborhood changed, it changed for the, probably to the worst, you think, or-
Michael Fedak [00:17:02] Well, not for the worst. I wouldn’t say that. Just the way they were brought up, that’s all.
Interviewer [00:17:15] Okay. What were your thoughts when the long-term residents of Tremont moved out? Like when they, I guess-
Michael Fedak [00:17:28] Well, they were trying to get ahead into areas. During the ’30s, most of my neighbors began to anglicize their names. Follow me?
Interviewer [00:17:55] Oh, really? They would change their names?
Michael Fedak [00:17:56] Oh, sure, sure. 90% of ’em during my time when I was living, you know, in the ’30s and up to the ’40s. Because, like, [inaudible] was, they anglicized it to Green.
Interviewer [00:18:22] [inaudible] became Green? Wow.
Michael Fedak [00:18:25] Well, yes.
Interviewer [00:18:27] Why did they do that?
Michael Fedak [00:18:28] Well, to get ahead, you know, because you couldn’t go nowhere. They Anglicized their names like [inaudible] became Black. Okay? And there’s different names changed to Anglicans.
Interviewer [00:19:02] I understand. Okay. When your neighbors and friends would move out, where would they go?
Michael Fedak [00:19:09] Well, they usually went to Parma or out to the west, you know, like, look at, like, Westlake, you know what?
Interviewer [00:19:29] In Fairview Park.
Michael Fedak [00:19:32] Fairview Park and Parkview.
Interviewer [00:19:36] Okay.
Michael Fedak [00:19:36] Okay.
Interviewer [00:19:37] That’s where they would go?
Michael Fedak [00:19:38] Yeah.
Interviewer [00:19:39] Alright. Did you keep up with them once they left Tremont?
Michael Fedak [00:19:47] What do you mean by-
Interviewer [00:19:49] I mean, were you still in contact with your neighbors and friends who left the Tremont area?
Michael Fedak [00:19:54] Yes and no. You know.
Interviewer [00:19:56] Okay.
Michael Fedak [00:19:57] Yeah.
Interviewer [00:19:58] Well, the ones you kept up with, the ones you kept speaking to, was their life better or worse when they left?
Michael Fedak [00:20:06] Oh, I suppose it was better, you know, because they Anglicized their names, you know? Like-
Interviewer [00:20:18] Did that make it easier for them?
Michael Fedak [00:20:23] That made it easier. Like, you know, Charlie would be black. Follow me?
Interviewer [00:20:31] I understand.
Michael Fedak [00:20:33] All that. So. So even now, I know their real-
Interviewer [00:20:42] You know their real names?
Michael Fedak [00:20:43] Yeah.
Interviewer [00:20:44] Okay.
Michael Fedak [00:20:46] And I never changed, you know. Fedak is Fedak. Okay?
Interviewer [00:20:52] I understand that. Okay. Did you have good friends move away and change their name and that kind of thing? Did you have close people who you were real close to do that?
Michael Fedak [00:21:04] Yeah, I would say. Yeah, but they changed it, you know, Anglicized it, and that’s it.
Interviewer [00:21:16] And who would replace them in the neighborhood? Who would move in?
Michael Fedak [00:21:22] Move in mostly were either, like, the- From the Appalachian, you know, from West Virginians, you follow me?
Interviewer [00:21:38] I understand.
Michael Fedak [00:21:39] And then Puerto Ricans. Okay? Which was doing this Spanish and that. You know, I speak Spanish.
Interviewer [00:21:53] You speak Spanish?
Michael Fedak [00:21:54] Oh, sure. Poquito hablo espanol [inaudible]. I was in this Canal Zone in Panama for two years.
Interviewer [00:22:11] Oh, really?
Michael Fedak [00:22:12] Oh, sure. That’s where they sent me, you know, when I was washed, to see if I could get in through the air. But it was a sham, you know.
Interviewer [00:22:27] I understand.
Michael Fedak [00:22:28] Okay. You know, that it’s just like, what I was. I knew more in the steel mill more than they did. You know, they just don’t get that.
Interviewer [00:22:46] They only let you get so far. What did the residents of Tremont who stayed in Tremont. What do they think of the Hispanics and Puerto Ricans and West Virginians who moved in?
Michael Fedak [00:23:02] Like some of them I know they just look down on them, you know, in a sense, you know, I know a couple of them that even to this day lived it.
Interviewer [00:23:23] And they don’t like them?
Michael Fedak [00:23:24] Well, yes and no. You know, they accept them but you know, they looked down on them. Okay.
Interviewer [00:23:34] Would you say that Tremont changed for the better or for the worse when the different types of people moved in?
Michael Fedak [00:23:45] Well, I would say they were the people who tried to get ahead, you know, and those people that came to live in the Tremont area tried to better themselves, you know.
Interviewer [00:24:13] But what did that do to the neighborhood?
Michael Fedak [00:24:15] Well, it changed. They didn’t, they didn’t take care of the neighborhood.
Interviewer [00:24:26] Was there any crime because of it or-
Michael Fedak [00:24:29] Oh, a lot of it was.
Interviewer [00:24:31] There was crime. Like what?
Michael Fedak [00:24:34] Well, when they lived, moved into the Valleyview, you know, and then they didn’t take care of it and you know, and began to- It went down in shelters the neighbors neighborhood and then they began to had a lot of crime and everything.
Interviewer [00:25:18] What types of crime?
Michael Fedak [00:25:20] Well, and I would say like when in the Valleyview, they mostly was in crime would be mostly, what, Coke and everything else there.
Interviewer [00:25:54] Like drugs?
Michael Fedak [00:25:56] Drugs. Mostly drugs.
Interviewer [00:25:58] Well, that’s a shame. So the neighborhood definitely changed for the worse as long-term residents moved out.
Michael Fedak [00:26:06] Yeah.
Interviewer [00:26:08] Okay. What made you leave Tremont? Why did you decide to leave?
Michael Fedak [00:26:13] Well, I lived there when I got married and then my wife and I were trying to- See, I lived in [inaudible] Parma for a long time and I used to know a lot of people in that.
Interviewer [00:26:43] You knew a lot of people in Parma. But what made you leave Tremont though? Well, why did you decide to move to Parma?
Michael Fedak [00:26:52] Well, to get ahead, you know.
Interviewer [00:26:56] So the Tremont area was not where you wanted to stay?
Michael Fedak [00:27:00] Well, at that time. They had a reputation when my, even when I was growing up it had a reputation of crime and you know, and burglary and you know, and you.
Interviewer [00:27:24] Were wanted to get away from that. What do you like more about living out of Tremont than in this suburb? Parma. Now what’s better about Parma?
Michael Fedak [00:27:42] Well, it was, it was cleaner, you know.
Interviewer [00:27:53] Okay.
Michael Fedak [00:27:55] And that was it. And that’s all I could say.
Interviewer [00:28:03] Do you think that people work harder in Parma or they have better jobs or something like that?
Michael Fedak [00:28:09] No, the same. You know what I mean? People are people, you know, and some are better and try to get ahead and some don’t. You follow Me. And that’s all I could say.
Interviewer [00:28:30] Okay. What do you miss about Tremont? What do you miss about living there?
Michael Fedak [00:28:42] I knew everybody.
Interviewer [00:28:44] It was a neat community.
Michael Fedak [00:28:46] Yeah. And see, now, you take where I live. See, I knew where the Kenleys, you know, the Kenleys.
Interviewer [00:29:00] I. I don’t know them now.
Michael Fedak [00:29:02] Oh, no. But you know who the Kenleys were?
Interviewer [00:29:05] No, I don’t.
Michael Fedak [00:29:07] The Kenleys, where John Kenley did all the plays on Broadway. For you to follow me.
Interviewer [00:29:19] Okay, I understand.
Michael Fedak [00:29:20] Yes. He only lived a block away.
Interviewer [00:29:25] Oh, he did?
Michael Fedak [00:29:26] Oh, how. What. And shall I say the. You know, Fantasia. I knew that.
Interviewer [00:29:42] I’ve heard of it. Yes. Okay, I’ll just, I’ll stop the tape. [tape flipped a recording resumes] Alright, we’re back. And continue the interview. So you had friends who moved out of treatment because of the crime and that kind of stuff, and they moved into western suburbs of Cleveland.
Michael Fedak [00:30:14] Yeah.
Interviewer [00:30:14] Okay. And here’s really, my last question is if. Let’s say you were moving to Cleveland today, you had a family and things like that, would you move into Tremont or no?
Michael Fedak [00:30:28] I think yes now, because it’s coming, becoming- A lot of people are moving into Tremont for the restaurant, restaurants and art and what have you.
Interviewer [00:30:55] So the neighborhood’s improving?
Michael Fedak [00:30:57] Yes.
Interviewer [00:30:57] Okay. The thing about that improvement that’s going on in Tremont is that a lot of the residents there, like a lot of the Hispanic residents and the- I don’t know about the Appalachian people, but a lot of the people who live there, they don’t have the money to go to the restaurants and that kind of thing. Is that- Do you think that’s okay, or is that.
Michael Fedak [00:31:22] I don’t know. I couldn’t make a statement. Okay.
Interviewer [00:31:28] But as far as Tremont and what they’re doing to improve the neighborhood and urban development, side B, this tape. So this renewal that’s going on in Tremont, that how things are getting better? That’s what you like to see?
Michael Fedak [00:31:52] I think so.
Interviewer [00:31:57] What about the discrimination of the Slavic people? Like how you said you can’t. How people had to change their names and that kind of thing. Does that- Do you see that anymore?
Michael Fedak [00:32:08] No, not so much. You don’t see them trying to Anglicize it like they used to? Follow me?
Interviewer [00:32:24] I understand. So that’s a good thing. What kind of people live in Tremont now?
Michael Fedak [00:32:34] Well, I don’t know because I haven’t been there for a long time.
Interviewer [00:32:40] Alright, well, that’s true. That’s all the questions I have, so I’ll stop the tape.
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