Read Our eBooks

Cleveland Memory's eBooks are available as part of the Michael Schwartz Library eBook Collections on ProQuest Ebook Central and on EngagedScholarship@CSU, Cleveland State University's digital repository. These links will take you out of the Cleveland Memory website.

Alexis, Olivier
Hart Crane in Akron and Cleveland 1919-1923: Ohio Roads and Bridges to The Bridge, 2007

"It is the 1920's. A young poet stands on a bridge at midnight. Below him the river slides black and mysterious, beyond him the lights of the city sparkle. He looks up and raises his arms towards the sky in speechless communion. His fingers 'spread among stars.' He is consumed with the visions which in a few years will culminate in The Bridge. Who might the poet be? Hart Crane, of course. And the bridge and city? The Brooklyn Bridge in New York, right? No, wrong! The bridge is the Detroit- Superior Bridge and the city is Cleveland." — from the Introduction

Barrow, William C.
The Euclid Heights Allotment: a palimpsest of the 19th century search for real estate value in Cleveland's East End, 1997 (Available through the Electronic Theses & Dissertation Center)

The Euclid Heights Allotment was a late nineteenth predecessor to the Van Sweringen brothers' Shaker Heights development, anticipating many of the themes of its more famous successor. Located on the heights overlooking Case Western Reserve University, Euclid Heights was the first elite subdivision to marry new electric streetcar technology with the romantic appeal of Cleveland's heights and provide a sheltered, restricted residential community for the wealthy citizens gradually moving out Euclid Avenue to the University Circle area.

Bellamy, John Stark II
By the Neck Until Dead: A History of Hangings in Cuyahoga County, 2000

A Cleveland Memory exclusive! John Stark Bellamy II is familiar to local readers for his previous three books on famous murders. This, his first e-book (and ours!), will have no corresponding print edition.

Bier, Thomas E.
Housing Dynamics in Northeast Ohio: Setting the Stage for Resurgence, 2017

The book presents an overview of regional housing dynamics and consequent impacts in Northeast Ohio since the 1940s. Focus is on the city of Cleveland and its host county. Dynamics are examined in terms of supply and demand, population movement, lifespan of buildings, and the influence of government on the choices people have when considering where to live. Impacts include housing decline and abandonment, change in property value, and urban sprawl. Recommendations, centered on tax-base growth sharing, are presented for altering existing dynamics to support Northeast Ohio’s resurgence.

Blake, Joseph G.
The Van Sweringen Developments in Cleveland: A Senior Thesis, 2015

Submitted by Joseph G. Blake in May 1968 to the History Department of the University of Notre Dame, Indiana in partial fulfillment for a Bachelor of Arts Degree, it examines the Van Sweringen Developments in Cleveland, Shaker Heights, and the Cleveland Terminal development.

Bluestone, Daniel M.
Cleveland : An Inventory of Historic Engineering and Industrial Sites, 1978

"As part of the Office of Archeology and Historic preservation, Department of Interior, the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) documents historic engineering and industrial sites throughout the Nation. This inventory is the first step in the documentation process." -- from the Introduction

Boberg, Alice; Grabowski, John J.; Wroblewski, Ralph; Zielinski-Zak, Judith
Polish Americans and Their Communities of Cleveland, 1976

"Courageous, proud and daring, the Poles are like the eagle that has served as their national emblem since the twelfth century. They have preserved their culture and national identity against the nearly insurmountable odds of debilitating alien rule, devastating major wars and the surrender of their lands for 150 years to foreign powers. The Poles' intense pride in their culture is more than justifiable considering the broad spectrum of human endeavor they have enriched through their contributions." This 3-part monograph by four different authors covers Polish history and culture, immigration to America, and the Polish community of Cleveland.

Boyle, John J. III
From Ark to Art : The 20-year Journey of the Civic, Cleveland Heights, Ohio, from Jewish Temple to Multi-purpose Community Facility, 2000

The Civic is a former Jewish temple located in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, an inner-ring suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. The building was close to being abandoned and possibly torn down after its former congregation built a new facility farther out in the suburbs. This study describes how a former temple came to serve the community in a new and different way in the secular world.

Bridges of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County, 1918

Prepared by a general committee appointed by Henry W. S. Wood, general chairman of the committee in charge of the exercises coincident with the formal dedication of the new Detroit-Superior high level bridge.

Callahan, Nelson J and William F Hickey
Irish Americans and their Communities of Cleveland, 1978

The history of Cleveland is intimately connected with the settlement of the Irish immigrants. Their struggle for survival in the early days, their social, political and economic upward movement as well as their impact on the growth of Cleveland is vividly portrayed in this monograph by two distinguished Clevelanders.

Cikraji, Michael
The Cleveland Nazis: 1933 - 1945, 2016

During Cleveland’s Great Depression grew the first seeds of American Nazism. The city fostered an explicitly Nazi German-American Bund, a covert Silvershirt Legion detachment and prominent diplomatic agents from the Third Reich. Festooned with photos and meticulously documented, this book examines the timeless questions of American allegiance, the responsibilities of democratic governance, the security threats of "Un-American" activities, and the passions, motivations and dreams of American immigrants. In the most unlikely of places, here is a case-study true story of the fascinating, bewildering and terrifying rise of American Nazism.

Cleveland Union Station: a description of the new passenger facilities and surrounding improvements, 1930

When the Cleveland Union Terminal was formally opened in 1930, this souvenir dedication book was issued, explaining the new project and showing beautiful drawings of the facility.

Although not credited in the orginal book, the illustrations appear to be the work of John Kemeny, noted illustrator of Hungarian language publications in Cleveland at the time.

Collins, French.
Origin and History of the Cleveland Viaduct, 2017

Originally published in 1878, this eBook edition is an account of the origin of the Cleveland Viaduct, Cleveland's first high-level bridge, which opened in December 1878.

Condon, George E.
Cleveland: the best kept secret, 1967

Former Plain Dealer columnist George Condon coined the phrase "The Best Kept Secret" that has since become synonymous with Cleveland (no longer the Mistake on the Lake!). This book is his masterpiece, a compilation of history, familiar names and faces, and the tongue in cheek humanism that made his column a household institution in Cleveland for a quarter century. (Review from Amazon.com)

Cunningham, Randy
Democratizing Cleveland: The Rise and Fall of Community Organizing in Cleveland, Ohio 1975-1985, 2007

Democratizing Cleveland is the result of almost fifteen years of research on a topic that has been missing from local works on Cleveland history: the community organizing movement that put neighborhood concerns and neighborhood voices front and center in the setting of public policies in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

D'Alessandro, Edward
The Ginney Block: Reminiscences of an Italian-American Dead-end Street Kid, 1988

Long before Jacobs Field, the area just south of downtown was the site of the Haymarket district, the Central Market and parts of the Big Italy neighborhood. Edward D'Alessandro lived in "the Ginney Block," an Italian immigrant apartment building, until the new Cleveland Union Terminal construction project demolished it in 1928.

Post script: This self-described "dead-end kid" graduated Magna Cum Laude from John Carroll University and enjoyed a 40-year career at the Cleveland Public Library, retiring in 1970 as Director of the Library.

D'Alessandro, Edward
My Father was a Tailor, 1999

The author recounts the life of his father, Rocco D'Alessandro, a master tailor, who immigrated to Cleveland, Ohio from Italy at the turn of the 20th century.

Davis, Dave and Mazzolini, Joan
Plain Dealing: Cleveland Journalists Tell Their Stories, 2018

"Plain Dealer" is a book of essays by 25 accomplished Cleveland-area journalists. It's a book of stories, many never told before. It's a first-person account of journalism in Cleveland, life in the newsroom, the issues and events these journalists covered, and the characters they worked with and met.

The stories begin in the 1950s and go up to 2013, covering the post-World War II era through the days when Cleveland was a three daily newspaper city, then two, then one. The book ends with the mass layoffs and resulting decline that ushered in "digital-first" age.

De Crane, Ray
Five Decades at The Press, 1998

Memories of a 44 year veteran of The Press, written specifically for Cleveland Memory and the Cleveland Press Collection.

Ellis, William Donohue
The Cuyahoga, 1998

from the last chapter:
"...the crooked little Cuyahoga, no larger than many a good fishing stream, required of men their best effort and magnified them. It turned them into giants who forced the valley into the pivotal position in mid-America's economy.

The little river is still challenging men to works so vast that mile for mile it can't be matched by any river I have ever heard of in the world."

The Gamut Archives (1980-1992)

The Gamut : A Journal of Ideas and Information was published from 1980 to 1992 by Cleveland State University in the fall, winter, and spring/summer of each year. It contains articles and creative works by writers and artists of Northern Ohio about topics of interest to readers of this region.

Gehring, Blythe
Vignettes of Clifton Park I, 2017

Blythe Gehring with her husband and two children moved to Clifton Park in 1959 where the pending extension of Clifton Boulevard was the subject of hot debate. Her curiosity about the "Park" and the impact the extended road would have on it led to a seven year research project culminating in the publication of "Vignettes of Clifton Park"

Gehring, Blythe
Vignettes of Clifton Park II, 2017

Research of this second project started in 1971-1972 and again in 1983 to December 31, 1995. All photographs were taken in 1985. Vignettes of Clifton Park II explains missing house additions and landscape changes. The purpose of this book is to list owners of the properties, a genealogy of the homes so to speak.

Gibans, Nina Freedlander
The Community Arts Council Movement: History, Opinions, Issues, 1982

Initially published in 1982, this book serves as an historical survey of the community arts council movement, as well as an analysis of programs, practices, and trends. Research for the book includes analysis of original source documents from arts councils, as well as discussions with more than 100 members and leaders of arts councils nationwide, including leaders of the National Endowment of the Arts and the American Arts Alliance.

Griffin, Burt W.
Cities Within A City: On Changing Cleveland's Government, 1981

Burt W. Griffin has been a judge of the Common Pleas Court of Cuyahoga County, Ohio since January 3, 1975. From 1966 to 1975, he served as a legal aid lawyer in various capacities including Executive Director of the Cleveland Legal Aid Society and National Director of the Legal Services Program, U.S. Office of Economic opportunity.

He was Assistant Counsel to the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy during 1964.

Judge Griffin has been a life-long resident of Greater Cleveland. He was born in Cleveland's Hough section in 1932, lived in the Shaker Square area of Cleveland from 1937 to 1960, and has resided in Shaker Heights since then. Judge Griffin is a political science graduate of Amherst College, B.A. Cum Laude, 1954 and Yale Law School, J.D., 1959. (from the original back cover, but still current in 2005)

Hannibal, Joseph T.
Guide to Stones Used for Houses of Worship in Northeastern Ohio, 1999

The purpose of this guide is to serve as an introduction and field guide to the stone used for Northeastern Ohio’s sacred landmarks. Both exterior and interior stones are described. Locations are given so that visitors can find various interior features. Finally, interesting facts having to do with the stones are given in a remarks section and references to sources used.

Heaphey, James
Parish

Written for his family and submitted to Cleveland Memory, this is James Heaphey's personal account of growing up on Cleveland's east side. James Heaphey is currently a professor emeritus at the Graduate School of Public Affairs, State University of New York and once served as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Air Force from 1951 to 1954. He is the author of two other books, How to Survive in an Organization and Legerdemain: The President's Secret Plan, The Bomb and What The French Never Knew.

Johnson, Tom L. , edited by Elizabeth J. Hauser
My Story 1911

"In the main, the things I shall tell about Cleveland are the things that might be told about any city or state. The source of the evil; the source of the good; the source of the shame and corruption; the contest between opposing economic interests; the alliance among those identified with the franchise corporations on the one hand, and the unorganized people on the other, is the same everywhere."

Kennedy, James Harrison
A History of the City of Cleveland: Its Settlement, Rise and Progress 1796-1896, 1896 (from Library of Congress)

This book was published in 1896 to commemorate the centennial of the City of Cleveland.

Klein, Richard
Cleveland Mayor Ralph J. Perk: Strong Leadership During Troubled Times, 2013

"This book is a tribute to one of Cleveland’s greatest leaders. Ralph J. Perk embodied the quintessential 20th century politician. A dedicated administrator with both insight and foresight, he dedicated nearly fifty years to public service." — Richard Klein

Klein, Richard
Fast-Food Restaurant Industry: A Cleveland Perspective 1930-2016, 2016

"This writing will focus on some the major fast-food establishments that served Greater Cleveland and how they evolved over time. Emphasis will also be placed on some of the smaller as well as larger restaurants. To lend additional clarity, this study will investigate some leading national chains whose innovations within the industry set the pace for current development." — Richard Klein

Klein, Richard
"Let's Go Shopping at the Square" Cleveland's Leading Downtown Department Stores: A Business Legacy, 2017

"This book is a tribute to the eight major downtown Cleveland department stores and their many loyal customers. For over 150 years, these large stores dominated the local retail scene. They represented exciting places that not only provided a full range of goods and services all under one roof, but also, offered a special shopping adventure every time their customers visited" — Richard Klein

Klein, Richard
The Legacy of the Pharmacy Industry: Cleveland, Ohio, 2014

"This book recognizes the many business contributions made by the major Cleveland, Ohio-based drugstore chains over the past two hundred years and how their highly resourceful approaches towards marketing and retailing affected the national pharmacy industry over that same period of time." — Richard Klein

Knepper, George W.
A Brief History of Religion in Northeast Ohio, 2002

This monograph presents a concise but comprehensive look at the history of religion in Northeast Ohio. Starting with the early settlers from New England, Professor Knepper traces the increasingly diverse mixture of faiths that now characterize the life of the sacred in Northeast Ohio. In doing this, Professor Knepper is drawing on a lifetime of study into Ohio's history.

Lackritz, Marc E.
The Hough Riots of 1966, 1968

During the night of July 18, 1966, racial turmoil in Cleveland's Hough neighborhood resulted in one of the most serious outbreaks of civil disorder in the city's history. A week later, when the National Guard had finally restored order, four people were dead, dozens were injured, hundreds of fires had been reported, and millions of dollars of property had been destroyed.

This thesis was presented to Princeton University only two years after the riots.

Lapeyrolerie, Olivia
"No Water for Niggers": The Hough Riots and the Historiography of the Civil Rights Movement, 2015

"This dissertation aims to disprove the declension narrative's interpretation of the 'long, hot summers' by specifically examining the Hough riots. Historiographical trends demonstrate that the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements were not separate, sequenced periods, delineated by the riots into two, distinct ideologies. Existing in the North before the riots, both movements were more complex than the narratives' moralistic binary. The Civil Rights Movement sought to restore to African-Americans the rights of citizenship guaranteed by the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments through legislative change. In its most essential form, the Black Power Movement called for the independent development of political and social institutions for black people and emphasized pride in black culture. The Civil Rights and Black Power Movements were two different approaches to the amelioration of the black condition in America. This dissertation will argue that the Hough riots, including its cause and aftermath, were at the intersection of both these strategies." — From the Introduction.

Lederer, Clara
Their Paths are Peace, 1954

The Cultural Gardens constitute a verdant symbol of the perpetual renewal of the human spirit through past cultures and future aspirations. As divergent elements of an harmonious whole, they represent democracy and brotherhood as set forth in the American ideal. They are testimony to the faith of their founders that in the visions of poet and prophet, of artist and musician, are after all to be found the supreme realities of history, and that it is the dreams of men which forge the destinies of nations.

Macron, Mary Haddad
The Arab Americans and Their Communities of Cleveland, 1981

The contributions of the Syrian and Lebanese people in the political, educational, professional and business life of America are numerous. These achievements were made despite serious obstacles and prejudices which they faced in the early years. This book offers one profile of that history in the Cleveland area.

Manry, Robert N.
Tinkerbelle: The story of the smallest boat ever to cross the Atlantic nonstop , 1966

On June 1, 1965 Robert Manry, a copy editor for the Plain Dealer and a Willowick, Ohio resident, left Falmouth, Massachusetts aboard his 13.5-foot sailboat, Tinkerbelle, to begin his voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. He arrived in Falmouth, England seventy-eight days later on August 17, 1965. At the time of the crossing Tinkerbelle was the smallest boat to have ever crossed the Atlantic.

Miggins, Edward M.
A Guide to Studying Neighborhoods and Resources on Cleveland, 1984

This monograph was written as part of the Cleveland Heritage Program in 1984 to provide more up-to-date information for researchers of Cleveland's history. The focus is well-established neighborhoods in Cleveland.

Miller, Carol Poh
Ohio City: A Proposal for Area Conservation in Cleveland, 1975

The author’s master’s thesis, written in the mid-1970s as the first preservation efforts were underway in Cleveland's Ohio City neighborhood. Poh Miller argues for the conservation of Ohio City’s diverse cultures and people, as well as its distinctive architecture. This thesis was submitted to the faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of the George Washington University in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. Originally written: May 1975; Online publication: September 2018.

Morris, Jeffrey
Beechwood, The Book, 1996

from the foreward by Darrell A. Young:
"The city fathers have been called visionaries. The city has been studied by architects, planners, engineers and the like from all over the country. What is it about Beachwood that has attracted so much attention?

To be certain, there is something magical that has taken place over the last 80 years in Beachwood and Jeffrey Morris has finally documented the historical blueprint from which we can study and learn. This book is the first opportunity to understand our heritage and to delve into the intellect that forged this wonderful community."

Morris, Jeffrey
Haymarket to the Heights, 2014

This document traces the movement, growth and demise of the small neighborhood synagogues, or shuls, established by newly-arrived Eastern European Jews in the Haymarket area as they migrated to the eastern suburbs.

Mosbrook, Joe
Cleveland Jazz History, Second Edition, 2003

A comprehensive chronicle of the jazz scene in Cleveland, Cleveland Jazz History covers the city's earliest links to jazz all the way to the major players at the turn of the 21st century.

Ohio and Western Pennsylvania Dock Company
The Pennsylvania Railroad's Cleveland Docks, 1946

A brief history of the iron ore and coal docks of the Pennsylvania Railroad in Cleveland, published 1946 for the Pennsylvania Railroad Centennial and the City of Cleveland Sesquicentennial.

Otten, C. J.; Clark, Saxon D.; Lowstuter, A. B.; and Hauck, Charles W.
The Central Retail Food Market of Cleveland, Ohio, 1951

Prepared by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, the data in this report was compiled to help Cleveland City officials determine the feasibility of building a new public retail market in downtown Cleveland to replace the current Central Market.

Papp, Susan M.
The Hungarian Americans and Their Communities of Cleveland, 1981

Cleveland was at one time the city with the second largest population of Hungarians in the world (after Budapest). This history of the Cleveland Hungarian community outlines within a historical context how and why Cleveland became such a large Hungarian center and the nature of the ethnocultural community which existed and still exists. This study is the first comprehensive history of this community in Cleveland.

Porter, Philip W.
Cleveland: Confused City on a Seesaw, 1976

No detached, scholarly, objective examination of the past, this is an eyewitness account of Cleveland during Phil Porter's fifty-year career as a working newspaperman in the city, told in his own blunt, subjective, often controversial style.

Phil Porter retired in 1966 as executive editor of The Plain Dealer.

Rodgers, Timothy G.
Remembering Ruetenik Gardens, 2017

A brief account/history of Ruetenik Gardens, a successful greenhouse vegetable-growing industry in Orwell, Ohio founded by Martin Ruetenik in the 1880s.

Seltzer, Louis B.
The Years Were Good, 1956

"This life and those years are shared with you in the pages of this book by a man who would be remarkable at any time in history and is doubly remarkable in today's...world. Reading what he has to say of himself, of his career, of his work, of his philosophy, is to find yourself thinking of the quiet sages of another era."

Seltzer was editor of The Cleveland Press from 1928-1966.

Stokes, Carl B.
Promises of Power: a political autobiography, 1973?

Carl Stokes was the mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, and famous as the first black mayor of a major American city. He put together a coalition and maintained it with the force of his personality and convictions. He attracted many idealistic and talented people to his administration, which has had a lasting impact on local politics. This is his own story, told simply and frankly.

Tevesz, Michael J.
Stained Glass Windows of Trinity Cathedral, Cleveland, Ohio, Produced by Wilbur H. Burnham Studios, 1999

This monograph specifically focuses on the windows of Trinity Cathedral produced by the Wilbur H. Burnham Studios. Located below the great windows of the transept and along the side aisles of the nave, as a group, they tell a thematically unified story based on legendary and biblical information about the life of Jesus.

Veronesi, Gene P.
Italian-Americans & Their Communities of Cleveland, 1977

"The essays included in this monograph emphasize Italian contributions to the human scientific and artistic heritage, review the painful process of immigration and settlement, they give special attention to the Italian-American community of Cleveland: to its neighborhoods, social and cultural activities as well as to its contributions to the growth of the greater Cleveland area."

Wallen, James
Cleveland's Golden Story 1920

"Instead of simply harboring institutions, as the river's mouth receives its ships, Cleveland is using them consciously and directly for the benefit of its citizens. If the writer of this narrative were asked to set forth Cleveland's great idea, he would employ but two words---Cleveland cares. Cleveland will grow richer but not scornful, more powerful but not ungentle, more illustrious but not forgetful. And for this ideal, Cleveland's image will ever dwell like a kindly light on the hearts of men."

Watson, Sara Ruth, and John R. Wolfs
Bridges of Metropolitan Cleveland, 1981

"The panorama of Cleveland's Cuyahoga Valley shows bridges of all sizes, styles, functions and types. We are chronicling a history of bridges, but with special attention to the influence of our environment upon them. By discovering this influence as it has operated in the past, we can design and build with better understanding for the future. Descriptions are sometimes technical and detailed, sometimes sociological and historical, and sometimes humorous, chatty, even legendary. In short, there is something for everyone-for the engineer, for the local historian, for the sociologist, and, last but not least, we hope, for the general reader who has a bit of curiosity."

Whittlesey, Charles
The Early History of Cleveland, 1867

This landmark work, the first book-length history of Cleveland, blends history and geography together with historical information collected from a wide range of sources. Chapter headings range from "Pre-Adamite History", to "Expeditions of Rogers, Wilkens, and Bradstreet", to "Fluctuations of Level in Lake Erie". Also included is geological information and a history of the Native Americans in the area, as well as journal entries from the early survey parties that surveyed the Western Reserve.