Why a Historical Marker Isn't Enough;

Or, Why We Need to Retain Historic Houses as Part of Our Communities

In the past few months, I've raised a louder voice for preservation of buildings relating to historic individuals and events. As a result, I've seen many different suggestions as to things that we should be doing instead of preserving these buildings.

Some have suggested that photographic documentation is enough. Others have have suggested that a given building isn't worth saving because it wasn't where the individual created their most important works. Still others have suggested that the individual's achievements would be better commemorated by a statue. One even suggested, in a letter to the editor of the Plain Dealer, on Wednesday, that we should deconstruct the Langston Hughes house and re-use the lumber to build a community center.

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I'm a youth services librarian in the inner city. In my experience, when you talk about overarching historical themes, you get a lot of blank looks. But when you can talk about important individuals who lived in their neighborhoods, who walked the same streets as they walk every day, it's possible to make a real connection.

It's not enough to just show photographs of a house that once existed. There's an importance that actual artifacts have that simply isn't conveyed in photographic reproductions. We aren't content with a museum exhibit of photographs of Satchel Paige's baseball uniform or Langston Hughes' manuscript poetry - we demand the real thing.

Many important individuals have come out of Cleveland - individuals that the children I serve can look up to. We tell them that these historic figures are worthy of respect and admiration, that they are people the children can look up to, but then we demolish what little remains of these great people's physical connection to the city. What message does this send?

As I've said before, I don't believe that these houses should be made into museums. I just think that they should be preserved as part of the community. There are plenty of historic houses that remain private residences - take the John Heisman birthplace or the Jeremiah Gates residence, the oldest house in Cleveland.

It's our collective fault that some of these houses have been allowed to decay to this point. We failed to bring them to the public attention when they needed less work. There are plenty of homes throughout the area that individuals and companies are in the process of rehabilitating, either as their own residences, or with the intent of resale. It costs a lot of money to demolish a house - $10,000 plus - wouldn't a more appropriate expenditure of the public money be to put that expense into the rehabilitation of the structures? $10,000 would often be enough to make the difference between a house that can be rehabbed in a cost effective manner and one that cannot.

Why should the public pay for any part of the rehabbing of a private residence? Because, while not open to the public, these houses are part of our history. The cost of fixing up any one of them to museum standards, with proper accessiblity, mechanical, and fire suppression systems would likely cost a half million dollars. This hypothetical sum might instead be divided over 25 houses, to the tune of $20,000 each. It would stabilize 25 sites important to the history of our community, and would provide the public a greater value than one small museum.

It's not about public vs. private funds, however. It's about a respect for the history of our city. It's about showing our children that we care about their past. It's about showing that the figures we claim matter actually matter to us.

Mystery Photo for September 2, 2010

Do you know what this building is or where it is located? An initial hint: it is still standing.

Update: We have a winner in the first commenter!

Here's what the building looks like today:



Be the first to identify it in the comments here and win your choice of the following books:

• Covering History: Revisiting Federal Art in Cleveland, 1933-43, a beautiful, 72 page joint publication of the Cleveland Artists Foundation and the Cleveland Public Library. It picks up where Karal Ann Marling's work (Federal Art in Cleveland) left off, and is highly recommended.
  
• Any of the other publications of the Cleveland Artists Foundation that are still in print. The CAF is the organization publishing works on the history of art in greater Cleveland.
  
• Shaker Heights Fences by Patricia J. Forgac (1984, 16 pages)
  
• Shaker Heights: the Van Sweringen Influence by Claudia R. Boatwright (1983, 56 pages)

All guesses must be made as comments on this post. If the answer has not been correctly guessed by 2pm, the post will be edited to include a clue. If it has still not been guessed by 8pm, it will be edited again to include another clue.

If you publish books or other products relating to Cleveland history and would like to offer them as prizes, please email clevelandareahistory@gmail.com

Book review: The Severances

Diana Tittle's latest book, The Severances: An American Odyssey, from Puritan Massachusetts to Ohio's Western Reserve, and Beyond covers four hundred years of the history family that is integral to the cultural landscape of northeast Ohio.

The text, which is meant for a general audience, is introduced by a small segment in 1864, as Louis H. Severance packs to leave Cleveland to fight in the Civil War. From there, the work begins with the first members of the family and the conditions that caused them to move from England to Massachusetts in 1634 or 1635. The journey continues through New York and in Ohio in the early 19th century. We visit the oil fields of Pennsylvania, deal with some of the less gruesome parts of the Civil War, see California in the 1870s, and cruise around the Mediterranean with Samuel Clemens. Julia Severance's education at Wells College in the 1880s leads into her part in the story of Frances Folsom's marriage to president Grover Cleveland.

Employment with Standard Oil lead to wealth, and eventually, philanthropy. This included the endowment of the College of Wooster, the Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College, the Cleveland Museum of Art, Severance Hall, and St. Luke's Hospital.

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Ms. Tittle has given us, in this volume, a commendable piece of research. I was at first concerned by the relative lack of footnotes - I kept asking how she knew this or that fact - until I stumbled upon the source notes, which consume 40 pages, in a font rather smaller than the rest of the text. For a work of original research such as this, such extensive documentation should be expected.

I believe that this book could be made better through the use of more images. While there are a few sections of photographs, they are on the same stock as the rest of the book, so they don't stand out, and there isn't any key between the corresponding pages and the images. Further, Ms. Tittle does such a good job of illustrating certain subjects that I'm sure she's seen them, yet the reader is left without any visual confirmation. She describes a chest that likely belonged to Mary Severance, circa 1700, in Deerfield, Massachusetts that recently sold at auction, or, in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, "the large, Federal-style home [that Martin Severance II built] for his family in 1784 that still stands near Bridge Street between Severance and Maple." I want to see these things. A piece of furniture, at at time when there was so little, that retained a family connection is rare, and makes for a stronger story. Likewise with the house, hewn by Martin Severance II's own hands. Alas, it is also currently omitted by Google Streetview. There are many similar examples - if it means making the book a bit longer, so be it - it's the cost of a stronger, more useful title.

There are a few smaller issues I feel the need to raise. The first is the occasional use of what can be best described as anachronistic language. Ms. Tittle's intent is clear, however - to convey a certain place and time. There are also times where I feel the desire for a greater idea as to the exact location. One example of this would be the Severance's home, Longwood - is described as being on Kinsman Road, near Woodland Cemetery. Noting a contemporary cross street would help illuminate the location. Another is the house that Joseph Severance built on lot 36, in Deerfield, Massachusetts and which the author believes is still standing, as part of Deerfield Village. Unfortunately, Deerfield Village (and the other obvious sources) refer to the houses by the names of their builders or select historic occupants, so there is no easy way for the casual reader to determine which of the houses pictured on the Deerfield Village website was built by Severance. Finally, Ms. Tittle relies heavily on the privately held Severance Family Records. I always feel a slight unease as any work that relies so heavily on a source that the random reader can't go check if she or he chooses, but at the same time, there's no way the book could have been done without that collection.

The Severances absolutely excels in painting a picture of middle to upper middle class life in Cleveland in the 19th century and the causes that might have brought them here. In this particular respect, it exceeds every other title I can think of. For that reason, it will be a strong addition my personal research collection - shelved with other aspects of 19th century Cleveland life, rather than with organizational and family histories.

The Severances: An American Odyssey, from Puritan Massachusetts to Ohio's Western Reserve, and Beyond is published by the Western Reserve Historical Society. 400 pages. Sewn hardcover. $37.50. ISBN: 978-0-911704-61-7. It may be ordered from TheSeverances.com, which also has information about upcoming lectures associated with the release of the book.

Frankie Yankovic boyhood home condemned

Jim Schumacher, a reader of Cleveland Area History recently brought to my attention another condemned property of historic significance. It was outside the area that I tend to focus - mostly because I only have so much time, so the things that are close to my job or home get more attention. I drove out to look at the house, a duplex built c. 1915, a style that is seen throughout the greater Cleveland area.



While the house shown here, 15702 Saranac Avenue, in the Collinwood neighborhood of Cleveland, may be ordinary, the family who resided on the first floor, while renting out the second, was not. It included a young Frankie Yankovic, who would go on to be known as the Polka King. The family lived at this address from approximately 1917-1930 - from when Frankie Yankovic was two through the age of fifteen. More on this part of Yankovic's life can be read in Bob Dolgan's book, America's Polka King: the Real Story of Frankie Yankovic and His Music (Gray and Company, 2006).

I've obtained a list of the code violations. The pages listing the actual violations are pages 2 and 3 from January 20 and pages 4, 5 and 6 from April 20. They indicate that all of the basic fixtures have been removed from the kitchen. One can probably expect that all the plumbing has been removed as well as the hot water heater and furnace. As I've mentioned before, having to start over and replumb the whole structure isn't necessarily such a bad thing. With any old house, you're either going to have to pay for the previous owner having completely replumbed the structure or you're going to have to deal with major plumbing issues yourself. Replacing all of it before you move in is better than the surprise of a leaking ceiling on a cold winter morning.

Other violations speak to a generally deteriorated condition, but not something that is beyond hope. The only one that really concerns me is the state of the foundation. I didn't see any obvious problems from the exterior, so they may not be as major as the violation list suggests.

More photos of the house may be found here.

I contacted the office of Councilman Polensek, whose ward this historic structure falls in. An obvious concern for how the state of this house might affect the neighborhood was expressed. It was noted that "The house in question is a nuisance property and is constantly a target of illegal dumping."

Illegal dumping is a real problem. I suspect that trimming (or completely removing) the massive bushes in front of the house would help to stem this problem. Further, I suspect that the dumping is the result of the house being empty, rather than the physical condition of the property.

Why does Yankovic's boyhood home matter so much? This is a man who sold more albums than anyone else who ever came from Cleveland. He remained in Cleveland, and didn't move away like so many others did once they made it big. His childhood here surely played some role in that. Further, Yankovic toured more than 320 days a year - he likely spent more time in this home than many later residences.

Why does Yankovic matter? Jim Schumacher, who told me about the threat to this historic site put it far better than I can.

"Here's a guy who my grandparents danced to, who created music that made me jump around the house every Sunday after sitting still in church when Polka Varieties came on. The whole world still celebrates happy times - like weddings - dancing to his music. When you stand there, you can really picture how he grew up, something you can't do anywhere else. And besides, where would Big Chuck be without Frankie Yankovic?"

The Historical Significance of the Cold Storage Warehouse

Photograph by Thom Sheridan

If you drive on Interstate 90 through downtown Cleveland, you've surely seen the Cold Storage Warehouse, most notable at this point in time as the large flat surface used as a support for billboards. The building is located just south of the Cuyahoga River.

Built in 1927-1928, the Distribution Terminal Warehouse represented a major change in the way food was handled and distributed in greater Cleveland. This insulated cold-storage structure will be demolished to make way for the new I-90 bridge.

I've wanted to write something about the structure. I recently learned that the Ohio Historical Society had published a document detailing the historic significance of this building. I wrote to the author, Nancy Campbell, who was kind enough to mail me a copy. I present here the PDF (warning: 17 MB!), Historic Context for Cleveland’s Distribution Terminal Warehouse: The Significance of a Cold Storage Building.

In this document Ms. Campbell provides historical context for the Cold Storage Building, explaining why it was needed and how it fit into the food service industry in this area. She further describes grocery shopping in northeast Ohio at the time. In addition to a description of this building, she also describes other extant cold storage structures in Cleveland. Finally, she concludes with a reprint of a 1932 article about the terminal by Wilbur J. Watson, and compares the photos used in the article with recent photos of the same structures.

This structure is likely past the state of preservation. The building appears to many a simple concrete box with few aesthetic merits. The historical significance of it is not in the exterior details, but in the landmark it represents in our commercial history. Nancy Campbell's 48 page analysis is worth a read, or, at the very least, a skim. We need to understand just what it is that we are losing.