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 Collections
Protest Voices
The Protest Voices series is a collection of oral history interviews with Catholic peace activists in Northeast Ohio. Interviews were conducted during the Protest Voices: Using Activist Oral Histories to Teach Historical Thinking Undergraduate Summer Research Award in 2016, focusing on Anti-Vietnam protests and Catholic activism surrounding US- involvement in El Salvador in the 1980s. Clips were then associated with Ohio Department of Education Social Studies Content Standards at…
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.…
Near West Side Community Activism
The interviews in this series were conducted by Bali White, a graduate student in the Cleveland State University Department of History. The collection reflects a collaboration with Michael Fiala and the Cleveland Catholic Worker. Along with a core focus on housing justice work on Cleveland’s Near West Side (including advocacy for affordable housing through the Near West Housing Corporation, Ohio City Near West Development Corporation, and Cuyahoga Community Land Trust, and hospitality and…
Featured Interviews
Taffy Epstein interview, 25 September 2011
At 91 years old and having lived in Shaker Towers for more than 45 years, Taffy Epstein is one of the oldest and longest-standing residents of the towers. Professionally Epstein produced and sold dance and gymnastics apparel. In this interview Epstein relates her many of her experiences she has had living in the towers and how they have changed over the years. Of particular interest are the descriptions she gives of the large parties that she used to throw and her involvement in the integration…
John Hemsath Interview, 2006
John Hemsath provides an in-depth retrospective of the history and evolution of Cleveland's Playhouse Square. Beginning with Vaudeville and spanning through the ongoing renovations and present, most subjects that relate to the theater are touched upon. However, a majority of the discussion revolves around issues pertaining to restoration and revitalization of the various theaters.
Ronnie and Willis Meyer Interview, 2011
Willis Meyers' family has farmed in the Cuyahoga Valley since the middle to late nineteenth century. Willis grew up in Northampton, and has many memories of family, farm, and community life, businesses, technology, and transportation from the Great Depression era forward. Ronnie, Willis' son, currently owns the farm on Steels Corners Road, where he has had a successful horse farming business. Willis, 95 years old, has many memories of the history of the valley, and shared detailed stories about…