The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History

Last updated
The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History
The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History.jpg
AuthorDavid Van Tassel and John Grabowski
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Subject History of Cleveland
Genre Reference encyclopedia
Publisher Indiana University Press
Publication date
October 1987 (print)
May 1998 (online)
Media type hardbound / internet
Pages1128
ISBN 0-253-31303-1
Website case.edu/ech/

The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History is a historical reference work covering Greater Cleveland and the Northeast Ohio community. It was the first modern study of an American city published in encyclopedia format. [1] It had two print editions (1987 and 1996) before moving online, becoming the first encyclopedia of a major American city on the Internet. The Encyclopedia is currently published digitally in collaboration with Case Western Reserve University and the Western Reserve Historical Society.

Contents

The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History was the brainchild of Dr. David Van Tassel, a history professor at Case Western Reserve University and the creator of National History Day. Van Tassel was approached by Homer Wadsworth, the director of The Cleveland Foundation, to write a history of Cleveland. Van Tassel decided that the project was best constructed as an encyclopedia rather than as a monograph. Wadsworth agreed and The Cleveland Foundation provided the seed money for the book in 1980. [2] The next year, Dr. John J. Grabowski, also of Case Western Reserve University, joined the project as managing editor. [3]

The first edition of the book took seven years to produce. It was published in October 1987 by Indiana University Press in association with Case Western Reserve University. The single-volume work totaled 1,128 pages and had more than 3,000 articles written by 250 contributors. [4] It received positively, with reviews noting its ease of use and the "uniform voice" achieved across its entries. [5] One review called it, "a monumental book in every sense. [6] The first edition went through four printings in one year.

Because of the book's success, Van Tassel was able to receive grants allowing for the additional publication of illustrated volumes covering topics of special interest such as fine arts and women. [7] [8] As the first modern study of an American city to be published in encyclopedia format, the Encyclopedia also served as a model for similar public history projects published by other cities, such as Philadelphia. [9] During the period from 1980 to 1996, Van Tassel raised $1.2 million for the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. This money went to paying publishing costs, encyclopedia staff, and writers, which included both university faculty (including members of Case Western Reserve University as well as other schools in northeast Ohio, like Cleveland State University, John Carroll University, and Oberlin College) and community members, who also helped determine the book's content.

In 1996, an updated version of the Encyclopedia was published to mark Cleveland's bicentennial. [10] It was published by Case Western Reserve University in conjunction with the Western Reserve Historical Society as was a second, companion volume: The Dictionary of Cleveland Biography. As such, the second edition of the Encyclopedia only contained 2,000 entries while the Dictionary consisted of over 1,600 biographical sketches. [11] [12] Both volumes were distributed by Indiana University Press.

By 2001, the two print editions of The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History had sold 24,000 copies. [13]

Digital history

In 1997, Case Western's Department of Information Services agreed to host an internet-based version of the encyclopedia. The IS staff donated more than $100,000 (equivalent to $189,801in 2023) worth of time to transfer the text of the 1996 edition of the Encyclopedia to a server at the university. They also designed an interactive website for the encyclopedia and created editorial software allowing for the constant modification of the information on the website. Being online has also allowed the Encyclopedia to include more visuals, including video, which has helped add understanding to its entries. [3]

The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History website went live in May 1998, becoming the first urban encyclopedia on the internet and serving as a model for similar projects nationwide. [14] [15] In its first month of operation, the site had 8,000 hits. By September 1999, it was averaging 50,000 hits per month from visitors around the world. By 2016, monthly hits numbered over 850,000. [3]

The CWRU Department of History created the Krieger-Mueller Chair, a joint position between the university and the Western Reserve Historical Society, to oversee the digital encyclopedia project, which by then had more than 4,400 articles. Additionally, two history graduate students supported by the Ralph M. Besse Fellowship assist in the maintenance of the online version of the Encyclopedia. [3] Grabowski, the current Krieger-Mueller Chair, encourages community engagement with the project, saying "Look at it. Let us know what you don't see that you want to see" and noting that the Encyclopedia's website has a tab for suggested corrections. [3] In 2018, the Encyclopedia launched an initiative to reconnect with Clevelanders by updating existing articles and creating new content in contemporary subject matters like African American History. [16]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cleveland</span> City in Ohio, United States

Cleveland, officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in Northeast Ohio along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the U.S. maritime border with Canada and lies approximately 60 miles (97 km) west of Pennsylvania. Cleveland ranks as the most populous city on Lake Erie, the second-most populous city in Ohio, and the 54th-most populous city in the U.S. with a 2020 population of 372,624. The city anchors the Cleveland metropolitan area, the 33rd-largest in the U.S. at 2.18 million residents, as well as the larger Cleveland–Akron–Canton combined statistical area, the most populous in Ohio and the 17th-largest in the country with a population of 3.63 million in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas A. Burke</span> American politician (1898–1971)

Thomas Aloysius Burke was an American politician from Ohio. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 48th mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, from 1946 to 1953 and in the United States Senate from November 10, 1953 until December 2, 1954. Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport is named after him.

<i>The Plain Dealer</i> Major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.

The Plain Dealer is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio; it is a major national newspaper. In the fall of 2019 it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily and 15th on Sunday.

Edward Blythin was an American politician and jurist of the Republican party who served as the 46th mayor of Cleveland, Ohio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Cleveland</span> History of Cleveland, Ohio, United States

The written history of Cleveland began with the city's founding by General Moses Cleaveland of the Connecticut Land Company on July 22, 1796. Its central location on the southern shore of Lake Erie and the mouth of the Cuyahoga River allowed it to become a major center for Great Lakes trade in northern Ohio in the early 19th century. An important Northern city during the American Civil War, Cleveland grew into a major industrial metropolis and a gateway for European and Middle Eastern immigrants, as well as African American migrants, seeking jobs and opportunity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William R. Hopkins</span> American politician

William Rowland Hopkins was an American politician of the Republican Party who served as the first city manager of Cleveland, Ohio from 1924 to 1929, during the brief period that Cleveland had a council-manager government instead of a mayor-council government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broadway–Slavic Village</span> Neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio, United States

Broadway–Slavic Village is a neighborhood on the Southeast side of Cleveland, Ohio. One of the city's oldest neighborhoods, it originated as the township of Newburgh, first settled in 1799. Much of the area has historically served as home to Cleveland's original Czech and Polish immigrants. While demographics have shifted over the decades, the largest part of Broadway today, Slavic Village, is named for these earlier communities.

The Cleveland Press was a daily American newspaper published in Cleveland, Ohio from November 2, 1878, through June 17, 1982. From 1928 to 1966, the paper's editor was Louis B. Seltzer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shaker Square station</span> Rapid transit station in Cleveland

Shaker Square station is a station on the RTA Blue and Green Lines in Cleveland, Ohio, located in the median of Shaker Boulevard at its intersection with Shaker Square, after which the station is named. It is the first station west of the junction of the Blue and Green Lines and serves as a transfer point between the two lines.

William A. Feather was an American publisher and writer, based in Cleveland, Ohio.

Flavel White Bingham was the 11th Mayor of Cleveland in 1849.

Irvine Uberto Masters was an Ohio ship builder who served as the mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, from 1863 to 1864.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reserve Square</span> Two-building skyscraper mixed use apartment complex in downtown Cleveland, Ohio

Reserve Square is a two-building skyscraper mixed use apartment complex in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Both buildings have 23 floors and are 266 feet high. Reserve Square is directly west of the senior residential Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority's Bohn Towers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Register of Historic Places listings in Cleveland</span> List of historic sites in Cleveland, Ohio, US

This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Cleveland, Ohio.

George Gund II was an American banker, business executive, and real estate investor who lived in Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States. He inherited his father's fortune and used a portion of it to purchase alien property seized during World War I. He sold this business at significant profit, and invested widely in banking, insurance, and real estate. Among his investments were a large number of shares in the then-small Cleveland Trust Company. Gund became a director of the bank in 1937 and president in 1941. He led the transformation of the institution into one of the largest banks in the United States. He retired as president in 1962, and was named chairman of the board of directors. A philanthropist for most of his life, he established The George Gund Foundation in 1952.

St. Barbara Catholic Church is a parish of the Roman Catholic Church in Cleveland, Ohio, within the Diocese of Cleveland. The parish church is located on Denison Ave. between West 16th St. and the southbound entrance to SR 176, in a part of the Brooklyn Centre neighborhood previously known in Polish as na Barbarowie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grace Goulder Izant</span> American journalist

Grace Goulder Izant (1893–1984) was an Ohio writer and historian who wrote for the Plain Dealer Magazine and published several books on Ohio history. She was the first Ohioan ever honored by the American Association for State and Local History, which recognized her work in 1962. She won the Cleveland Arts Prize for Literature in 1965 and was inducted into the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame in 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Historic country estates in Lake County, Ohio</span>

This is a list of historic country estates in Lake County, Ohio built between the years 1895 and 1930. Around 1885 the city of Cleveland, Ohio was home to an estimated 70 millionaires. While, at the same time, within three mile radius of the city of Willoughby in neighboring Lake Co. there were none, however, by 1918 there were then over 30 millionaires using large estates as their summer homes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bibliography of Cleveland</span>

The following is a bibliography of Cleveland, Ohio. It includes selected publications specifically about the city, Cuyahoga County, and the Greater Cleveland Metropolitan Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Euclid Avenue station (Pennsylvania Railroad)</span> Former railroad station in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.

Euclid Avenue, known after 1953 as Cleveland station, was a former railroad station at the corner of Euclid Avenue and East 55th Street in Cleveland. It was at the border of the Goodrich–Kirtland Park neighborhood to the north and the Central neighborhood to the south. Euclid Avenue station served as the terminus of the Pennsylvania Railroad line to Cleveland in its final years because of the closure and demolition of Cleveland Union Depot. The station was originally at ground level, but the tracks were later elevated over Euclid Avenue.

References

  1. ↑ Mires, Charlene. "The Encyclopedia as a Process of Civic Engagement," The Public Historian 35 no. 2 (May 2013), 16
  2. ↑ "Back on the Front Burner." Plain Dealer. 2 September 1981.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 McIntyre, Michael. "Celebrating 25 Years of Ever-evolving History as Encyclopedia of Cleveland History Reaches Milestone." cleveland.com. 19 October 2012. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  4. ↑ McClellan, April. "Researchers Dig to Portray the Real Cleveland." Plain Dealer. 6 June 1985.
  5. ↑ Blum, Carol Jean. "Review: The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, by David D. Van Tassel and John J. Grabowski." The Public Historian 12 no. 1 (1990), 102-103.
  6. ↑ Hoover, Dwight W. "Review: The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, by David D. Van Tassel and John J. Grabowski." The American Historical Review 94 no. 3 (June 1989), 863-864.
  7. ↑ "Fine Arts in Cleveland: An Illustrated History." WorldCat. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  8. ↑ "Women in Cleveland: An Illustrated History." WorldCat. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  9. ↑ Seligman, Amanda I. "Urban History Encyclopedias: Public, Digital, Scholarly Projects," The Public Historian 35 no. 2 (May 2013), 25.
  10. ↑ "Cleveland History." Plain Dealer. 12 July 1996.
  11. ↑ "The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History." WorldCat. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  12. ↑ "The Dictionary of Cleveland Biography." WorldCat. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  13. ↑ Reardon, Patrick T. "The Chicago Story: Book to Show Racial, Ethnic, Economic Diversity of Area." Chicago Tribune. 13 June 2001.
  14. ↑ "Cleveland City Encyclopedia Online." OAH Magazine of History 12 no. 4 (Summer 1998): 78-80.
  15. ↑ Tebeau, Mark. "Listening to the City: Oral History and Place in the Digital Era." The Oral History Review 40 no. 1 (Winter/Spring 2013): 25-35.
  16. ↑ "African American Content Update Team for Encyclopedia of Cleveland History." WRHS. 10 June 2020. Retrieved 17 November 2023
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.