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These interviews were conducted between 2004 and 2006 by public school teachers in the Teaching American History (TAH) grant-funded Academy of American History summer institute at Cleveland State University, sponsored by the US Department of Education. The project was a collaboration between CSU, the City Club of Cleveland, Western Reserve Historical Society, and St. Clair-Superior Community Development Corporation. Interviews in this series focus on the Civil Rights movement in Cleveland, Carl…

The American Institute of Architects (Cleveland Chapter) Oral History Project. In 2006, in collaboration with Nina Friedlander Gibans, the Center began collecting oral history interviews with some of Cleveland’s best-known architects. 26 interviews in all were captured by Gibans and a team of researchers and students from the Center. These interviews help bring the city’s great buildings to life, and shine a light on current issues in architecture and urban design, making the series a major…

These interviews comprise stories from the Arab American community in Cleveland. The educational, political, religious, and socio-economic backgrounds of the interviewees are diverse in scope and shed light into the unique contributions Arabs have made to their local communities since immigrating to Cleveland dating from the 1950s onward. Interviews were conducted by Dr. Abed Tayyara, associate professor of Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies and director of Middle Eastern Studies at CSU and Ms.…

The interviews in this series resulted from an initiative spearheaded by Campus District Inc. to document stories in conjunction with the planned closure of the high-rise building in the Cedar Estates housing project. Jane Addams High School students learned oral history techniques alongside CSU interviewers.

Interviews with members of the City Club of Cleveland, conducted by Dr. Tom Humphrey of the Cleveland State University Department of History.

The interviews in this series originated Dr. Mark Tebeau’s Local History Seminar in 2002 and again in 2005. In a partnership between Dr. Mark Tebeau and the Cleveland Cultural Gardens Federation, students in Tebeau’s fall 2002 seminar conducted interviews about the Cultural Gardens to support “sound portraits” that were produced in collaboration with WCPN as part of its Accents radio program. Additional submissions were conducted in 2005, 2009, and 20012 with select excerpts being added to the…

The Cleveland German-American Oral History Project was conceived of and directed by Dr. Mark B. Cole with funding from the Cleveland Donauschwaben German-American Cultural Center and the Michael Schwartz Library at CSU. The goal of this oral history collection is to not only safeguard the unique stories of Cleveland's Danube Swabians and other ethnic German groups, but also to preserve these invaluable resources for future researchers seeking to learn about the social, cultural, and economic…

Initial interviews in this series were conducted between 2011 and 2013 at the Coventry Village Reunion in support of Historic Heights App Tours, a Cuyahoga Arts & Culture-funded grant project sponsored by FutureHeights, Cleveland Heights Historical Society, and Cleveland Heights Landmark Commission. Additional interviews were collected in 2018 in coordination with the Cleveland Voices podcast.

This series of interviews with members of the Cleveland Hiking Club, conducted in 2017, covers a number of topics relating to the history of the club, outdoor recreation and the natural environment, and members' recollections of hikes in the Cleveland Metroparks and Cuyahoga Valley National Park, as well as other parks and natural landscapes in Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky, and nationally and internationally. The Cleveland Hiking Club is one of the nation's oldest and largest organizations…

Interviews with Cleveland Metroparks staff and partners collected in 2012 and 2013. Interviews cover a variety of topics relating to parks operations, biological and environmental sciences, anthropology, and natural history.

Cleveland Voices is a podcast by the Center for Public History + Digital Humanities at Cleveland State University Department of History that combines oral history excerpts from the Cleveland Regional Oral History Collection with new and original commentary and historical interpretation to create a fuller picture of the city's past and present. Listen now in your favorite podcast app.

Interviews in this series were conducted by public school teachers as part of the Teaching American History (TAH) grant-funded Constructing, Consuming, and Conserving America project, sponsored by the US Department of Education, in collaboration with the Educational Services Center of Cuyahoga County and Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The bulk of the interviews focus on the operations and history of the park and region, though several also deal with nurseries in Lake County, Ohio.

Oral history interviews with select alumni, trustees, faculty, and other friends of Cleveland State University, conducted by staff at the CSU Center for Public History and Digital Humanities in coordination with the Office of the President and Office of Alumni Affairs on the occasion of CSU's 50th anniversary.

This series represents one day of mini interviews by CPHDH staff at the Cuyahoga County Fair.

Interviews in this series were conducted by students and researchers in the History Department at Cleveland State University in partnership with Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization (DSCDO). Interviews took place at Gordon Square Arcade and in other venues in the neighborhood. Select oral histories were accessible for several years in listening stations in the Gypsy Beans coffee house at Detroit Avenue and West 65th Street.

The first generations of African American artists who were active in the Cleveland region were showcased in the 1993 exhibition Yet Still We Rise: African American Artists in Cleveland 1930-1970. In 2005, a second exhibition was organized by Cleveland Artists Foundation (ARTneo). In addition to gallery shows, this exhibit – titled Each in Their Own Voice: African American Artists in Cleveland, 1970-2005 – documented subsequent generations of African American artists through oral history…

Interviews in this series were collected by undergraduate students at Cleveland State University under the supervision of Drs. Mark Souther and Regennia Williams, with funding from the Office of the Provost. The series focuses on the African American experience in the Fairfax and Glenville neighborhoods. Some of the interviews reflect collaborations with Antioch Baptist Church, Fairfax Renaissance Development Corporation, Famicos Foundation, Karamu House, Senior Outreach Services of Cleveland,…

These interviews focus on the Cleveland garment industry and were conducted in support of a collaborative research project by Marc Frisch and Sean Martin.

Interviews conducted by students in Urban History (HIS 304) at Cleveland State University Department of History, supervised by professors Mark Tebeau and Mark Souther.

Interviews conducted by students in Introduction to Public History (HIS 311) at Cleveland State University Department of History, supervised by professors Mark Souther and Mark Tebeau.

Interviews conducted by students in History of U.S. Tourism (HIS 319) at Cleveland State University Department of History, supervised by professor Mark Souther.

Interviews conducted by students in the Local History seminar (HIS 400) at Cleveland State University Department of History, supervised by professors Mark Tebeau and Mark Souther.

Interviews conducted by students in Research Seminar (HIS 695) at Cleveland State University Department of History, supervised by professors Mark Souther and Mark Tebeau.

Interviews focusing on art and technology innovators, conducted by CPHDH staff at the inaugural Ingenuity Festival in downtown Cleveland.

Interviews conducted by staff at International Women’s Air and Space Museum (IWASM) in Cleveland, Ohio. This collection of interviews exemplifies the diversity of women's aviation history preserved at the International Women's Air & Space Museum. From Women Air Force Service Pilots to Powder Puff Derby Pilots to the first women to work in Air Traffic Control and Mission Control; each of these women have a unique story framed by their contributions to air & space. The collection of these…

Interviews conducted by CSU student Sara Ziemnik with members of the Japanese American Citizens League, focusing on the World War II internment experience.

These interviews with residents of the Judson Park retirement community focus on personal recollections of the city's history and development. Interviews were conducted with the support of the Unger Family Foundation and the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University and were carried out by staff at Judson, alongside a team of researchers and students from Cleveland State.

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.…

Interviews in this series were conducted by Sarah Nemeth, a graduate student at the Cleveland State University Department of History, in cooperation with the Metro West Community Development Organization, which serves the Stockyard, Clark-Fulton, and Brooklyn Centre neighborhoods. The oral histories captured in this series focus primarily on those west side neighborhoods.

In 2007, the Center was contacted by MidTown Cleveland, a community development organization dedicated to revitalizing Cleveland’s Midtown Corridor. Together, the Center and MidTown Cleveland worked to locate business owners, developers, activists, clergy, and residents with ties to the area. Center staff then conducted a number of oral history interviews, each of which tells a story about the area’s rich history and prospects for the future.

Interviews in this series were conducted by Shaker residents in partnership with the City of Shaker Heights as part of a Moreland History project in 2017. Interviews took place at the Shaker Main Library. For more information about the Moreland neighborhood visit: shakerlibrary.org/local-history/research/moreland-neighborhood-history.

Interviews with staff and former campers at Camp Mueller, one of the nation's first African-American summer camps, located in what is now the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The camp is operated by the Phillis Wheatley Association in Cleveland, Ohio.

This series comprises a wide range of interviews conducted by Center staff since 2005 in support of the Euclid Corridor History Project, Neighborhood Connections, and a number of mostly short-term collaborations. It also includes a number of standalone interviews by Center staff.

Interviews in this series were collected by students and staff at Cleveland State University’s Center for Public History and Digital Humanities during the ten year anniversary celebration at Prosperity Social Club in the Tremont neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio. The event featured a gathering of the Dembowski family, who ran Dempsey’s Oasis – a neighborhood pub at 1109 Starkweather Avenue that later became Prosperity Social Club – from 1938-2000. The series includes interviews with members of the…

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…

Interviews in this series were collected by undergraduate students at Cleveland State University under the supervision of Dr. Mark Souther, with funding from the Office of the Provost. The series contains interviews with pioneers of suburban residential integration and social activists who supported peaceful managed integration/desegregation and fair housing in Cleveland Heights and Shaker Heights in the 1950s to 1970s.

Oral Histories relating to Re-imagining Cleveland, a project of Neighborhood Progress, Inc. Interviews were conducted and processed by students under the supervision of Dr. Mark Tebeau and Dr. Mark Souther as a component of Local and Urban History courses at CSU. For current information about this project, please visit: www.npi-cle.org.

Interviews in this series, covering topics relating to the preservation of the West Creek and Cuyahoga River watershed (Cleveland, Ohio), were collected by participating teachers in the Rivers Roads and Rails grant, a Teaching American History (TAH) grant, sponsored by the US Dept of Education.

This collection of interviews covers topics of race relations and rock and roll music in Cleveland between 1952 and 1966. The interviews were conducted by Dana Aritonovich as she researched her thesis – The Only Common Thread: Race, Youth, and the Everyday Rebellion of Rock and Roll, Cleveland, Ohio, 1952-1966 – in pursuit of a Master of Arts in History at Cleveland State University, which was successfully completed in 2010. Interview subjects are music fans, musicians, and disc jockeys from…

A series of interviews by Jim Lanese and Kenneth Valore documenting religious buildings across Greater Cleveland.

A series of interviews conducted by Center staff with a small contingent of residents at the Seven Hills Senior Center in Seven Hills, Ohio, in conjunction with the Euclid Corridor History Project. Memories of downtown shopping are prominent in this series.

These interviews, conducted by students as part of a CSU Provost-funded Undergraduate Summer Research Award project led by Drs. Mark Souther and Mark Tebeau, supported commemoration of the Shaker Heights Centennial in 2012. For more information, please visit: historicshaker.com.

Interviews in this series were conducted by the Shaker Historical Society to give voice to diverse perspectives in the Shaker Heights community and help to fill gaps in the written historical record about the city since the 1930s. The initial phase, funded in 2021 by a grant from Ohio Humanities, focuses on the Village Garden Club, an organization that dates to 1930.

The Shaker Lakes Nature Center Oral History Project was initiated by Nature Center founding member Nancy King Smith, with interviews by researchers, students, and public school teachers in collaboration with the Center. Interviews cover a variety of topics relating to the creation of Shaker Lakes and the Nature Center, as well as to the broader issues in wildlife preservation and environmental education. Although the Shaker Lakes were man-made (serving as a major part of the development of…

Nina Friedlander Gibans initiated this interview series, which includes interviews with prominent Clevelanders living in Shaker Towers near Shaker Square.

This collection of interviews was conducted by staff at Cuyahoga Community College's Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Humanities Center as part of a yearlong, community-wide commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Carl Stokes' election as mayor of Cleveland. Mayor Stokes and his brother, Congressman Louis Stokes, played key roles in the advancement of the city and the nation through the civil rights movement and beyond.

University Circle is home to many of the city’s oldest and most respected institutions: Severance Hall, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and Case Western Reserve University to name just a few. Since 1970, University Circle Inc. (UCI) has coordinated development in the area. These interviews with UCI staff, community activists, and local residents and workers in the University Circle area, conducted by students as part of a CSU Provost-funded Undergraduate Summer Research Award project led by Drs.…

These interviews, conducted by students as part of a CSU Provost-funded Undergraduate Summer Research Award project led by Drs. Mark Souther and Mark Tebeau, supported commemoration of the West Side Market Centennial in 2012.

Interviews with members of the Cleveland Artists Foundation (ARTneo), focusing on WPA art and architecture, collected between 2004 and 2006 by public school teachers in the Teaching American History (TAH) grant-funded Academy of American History summer institute at Cleveland State University, sponsored by the US Department of Education.