Tag Archives: Cincinnati History

T. M. Berry Project: Great Living Cincinnatian Award

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By Laura Laugle

In 1984, while Theodore M. Berry was heavily involved in the battle to end racial segregation in Cincinnati Public Schools, the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce chose him as a “Great Living Cincinnatian.”  This prestigious designation by the Chamber is part of the organization’s annual honor conferred on local citizens who have made a substantial impact on Cincinnati life.  Joining Berry in being honored that year was Cincinnati Bell CEO, Richard T. Dugan.  Every year since 1967, the Chamber of Commerce (now called the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber) has chosen a select few Cincinnatians as “Great Living Cincinnatians” based upon their achievement in five categories over a lifetime of work: community service, business and civic attainment on a local, state and national or international level, leadership, awareness of the needs of others, and distinctive accomplishments that have brought favorable attention to their community, institution or organization. Continue reading →

T. M. Berry Project: Berry and the Fight for Fair Housing in Cincinnati, Part 3

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By Laura Laugle

All these delays caused one huge problem: members who had been in need of homes back in 1947 found housing before homes could be built for them at Hollydale in the mid to late 1950s. The result was an enormous expense for the Cedar Grove Homestead Association, which had to refund many of its original members’ investments. Gail Berry remembers her father going to Cedar Grove meetings and to the building site at Hollydale in Springfield Township many times during her childhood. Fortunately, as Berry points out in the article to the right, this type of persistence paid off and the association managed to build a safe and stable community for Cincinnati’s black residents.

Approximately 200 homes were built in the subdivision in the middle part of the 20th century. Thanks to the efficiency of the building techniques used, the homes in Hollydale were relatively affordable. However, the people who ended up settling there were the same people who could afford to wait for houses to be built to his/her specifications and who generally had steady if not large incomes. At first glance then, it would seem that Hollydale would have had little effect on the massive overpopulation problems in Cincinnati’s low income black neighborhoods. However, this is one instance (of only a few) where “trickle down” economics seems to apply beautifully. People moving to Hollydale cleared up at least a little space in the basin of the city which, when combined with additional new housing projects like Park Town, Garden Hill and Richmond Village for which Berry acted as counsel and others like Laurel Homes and Lincoln Court eventually created enough housing to relieve much of the congestion plaguing poor black neighborhoods. Continue reading →

Historical Cincinnati Maps

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A map of Cincinnati in 1869 from The Queen City in 1869 by George E. Stevens

By Janice Schulz

The Archives & Rare Books Library has digitized some historical Cincinnati maps dating from 1802 – 1929 and has made them available for research on our website. The maps are all located in materials from our Rare Books Collection and are scanned at a high resolution to provide detail for researchers.

The maps provide both geographical and social information about the City of Cincinnati through the years. Several of the maps included keys or labels indicating buildings and landmarks and can show trends in public services and the development of particular communities. Continue reading →

T. M. Berry Project: Berry and the Fight for Fair Housing in Cincinnati, Part 2

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By Laura Laugle

On May 28, 1948, less than a year after its initial formation, Cedar Grove Homestead Association had the funds available to authorize Berry to begin negotiations to purchase a 93 acre tract of land. The final price for the land: $17,500. Unfortunately, getting the owner to sell to an association made up entirely of African Americans wasn’t so easy…

The problem for Berry and his partners was, as expected, discrimination. The chosen plot of land for the subdivision which would be named “Hollydale” was a farm in Springfield Township near Glenview Golf Course. Continue reading →

T. M. Berry Project: Berry and the Fight for Fair Housing in Cincinnati, Part 1

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By Laura Laugle

Cincinnati has had a housing problem for a long time; after all, only so many people can fit into the basin that makes up downtown and its immediate surroundings. However, for much of the city’s early history, the African American population was so small and resident Caucasians depended so heavily on the services which they provided that their housing was simply not a problem. The few blacks living in Cincinnati in 1900 made up only about 4.5% of the city’s total population. Out of practicality (who could afford to rent a horse each day for the housemaid’s commute?) blacks lived either with the white families they served or in neighborhoods close to the whites for whom they worked. As a result, high income white neighborhoods were home to black domestics and middle and lower income white neighborhoods, especially those near business districts, were home to working class blacks. That is not to say that race relations in Cincinnati were A-Ok; there were riots throughout the 1800s, rampant legal and illegal discrimination and general tension, but whites simply had no other choice but to accommodate the blacks living among them. Continue reading →

Theater on the River: The Showboat Majestic Records

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By Suzanne Maggard

In 1967, the City of Cincinnati purchased an old showboat named the Majestic and docked it at Cincinnati’s Public Landing.  The city was in the process of attempting to revive its riverfront and thought the boat, which spoke to an earlier era of river travel, might be a perfect addition.  To keep the tradition of the showboat alive, the city leased this boat to the University of Cincinnati, and in the summer of 1968, UC theater students began performing on the Majestic. Continue reading →

T. M. Berry Project: Sargent Shriver and Special Thanks to Gail Berry West and Judge Ted N. Berry

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By Laura Laugle

Berry and Shriver talkingMy favorite finds for this week come to the Archives and Rare Books library courtesy of Judge Ted N. Berry and his sister Gail Berry West who kindly donated another addition to the Theodore M. Berry Collection. The pair came to visit the ARB while Gail was up from Washington D.C. visiting. I had a great time escorting them down memory lane with some items of particular interest I pulled from the collection for their visit.

Among the treasures they brought were these two photos which picture Berry and Shriver at a meeting with top management at the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) and Vice President Hubert Humphrey (seated at the far end of the table next to Sarge in the photo below.) Though they worked together closely for almost four years during the Johnson administration we have only a few photos of Berry and Shriver together and little in the way of correspondence other than that which pertains to the operation of OEO programs. Continue reading →

Wish you could Dance? Check out the Cincinnati Ballet Records in ARB

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Whether you love to dance or just wish you could, you’ll certainly enjoy viewing the photographs, drawings and posters in the Cincinnati Ballet records.  This recent donation to the Archives and Rare Books Library spans almost the entire history of the Cincinnati Ballet from the early 1960s until 2009.  These records provide a look into the formation of this acclaimed Cincinnati institution and even its connections with UC. Continue reading →

City of Cincinnati Annexation Records

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By Janice Schulz

Map of Cincinnati 1819

Cincinnati in 1819 from “Centennial History of Cincinnati,” 1904

The Archives & Rare Books Library holds a unique collection of local government records vital to the understanding of Cincinnati’s growth from a small walking city into the expansive metropolitan area that exists today. Acquired in 1996 from the Cincinnati Clerk of Council and through the Ohio Network of American History Research Centers program, the Cincinnati Annexation Collection includes annexation records generated by the City and the villages from 1869 to 1939 as well as former village records acquired by Cincinnati at the time of annexation, some dating back to 1829. These records are an excellent resource for researching the history of Cincinnati’s neighborhoods.

Continue reading →