Understanding the Collection
Cleveland Voices contains a wide range of interviews of varying provenance. Interviews are organized into dedicated collections. This guide provides an overview of the different types of collections.
Read the GuideResearch Guides
African American Experience
Cleveland Voices includes many interviews with African American men and women, who recount their experiences and accomplishments in the Cleveland area, illustrating themes of both struggle and success.
Read the GuideWomen's Experience
Women’s experiences in history too often remain untold. Cleveland Voices features interviews with many women, highlighting their varied experiences, from raising families to piloting airplanes, participating in politics, and much more.
Read the GuideFeatured Collection
LGBTQ+ Cleveland
This collection features oral history interviews with LGBTQ+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Same-Gender Loving) community members, leaders, and activists in the greater Cleveland area. Interviews explore the history of Cleveland’s LGBTQ+ communities, groups, organizations, places, and spaces both past and present. Interviews in this collection were conducted by Riley Habyl, a graduate student at Cleveland State University Department of History, beginning in the summer of 2023.…
Featured Interview
Peter van Dijk Interview, 31 August 2006
Peter Van Dijk has worked as an architect in Cleveland since arriving in the city in 1961. In this 2006 interview, he talks about some of the architectural renovation projects on which he has worked, including the Huntington Bank restoration and his work in preserving the theaters at Playhouse Square. Van Dijk shares his general thoughts on Cleveland's architecture and development, lamenting the city's development mistakes and stressing that Cleveland's many assets have been misused. Missed…