Browse Interviews

Bob Gardin, of Big Creek Connects, grew up in the Old Brooklyn neighborhood, and has also been affiliated with the Tremont area. Informed by his background in business, politics, and urban planning, Gardin envisions an urban landscape where people are connected to the natural environment while still enjoying the benefits of living in the city. He remarks on the Jones Home Historic District, where he currently resides, and the importance of Cleveland's watersheds.

Joan Komic is a lifelong resident of Cleveland. Her family started out on the east side near Slavic Village, but moved to the Near West Side while she and her sister were still young. Komic describes growing up, maturing, and entering adulthood while living in the neighborhoods of Clark-Fulton, Old Brooklyn, and Brooklyn Center. Today she engages with her community through being active at a local church and the Jones Home Neighborhood Association.

Maria Agosto explains how the Hispanic community on the Near West Side, specifically in the Metro West neighborhood, is affected by various social and economic issues, including impending gentrification, the lack of a strong Hispanic professional culture, and the inadequate awareness of helpful community programs and services. Much of Agosto's professional career has focused on the empowerment of young professionals. She suggests that the neighborhood will be strengthened through an investment…

Gloria Ferris is an active member of Brooklyn Centre. She relates the rewards and challenges of community activism in the twenty-first century. After coming back into the realm of community engagement, Ferris cultivated a group of individuals to form the Brooklyn Centre Naturalists. From the efforts of this group, Ferris and others were able to create an action-oriented backyard habitat community initiative. Ferris goes into great detail of how the community has benefited from active engagement…

Kathy Oberst Ledger was born in New York and moved as a child to the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood. Ledger recalls when Detroit Shoreway. After getting married she moved to the Clark-Fulton neighborhood, which she recalls had a large Appalachian population mostly from West Virginia. She recalls that many Spanish-speaking residents moved to Clark-Fulton from Tremont. She discusses taking over Judy's White Oaks, a bar her parents ran, and turning it into a nightclub called Diamond Dill's Tropical…

Rebecca Kempton discusses growing up in the Clark-Fulton and Ohio City neighborhoods in the 1970s, including memories of Puerto Rican and Appalachian neighbors, Aragon Ballroom, West Side Market, and Tremont. She discusses her memories of the controversial school desegregation order to implement busing. She also recalls her decision to return to live in Clark-Fulton in 1999. She shares her affinity for historic preservation, her campaign to recall a city councilman, and her involvement in what…

Art Ledger, the son of migrants who left Alabama to work at Republic Steel in Cleveland, became the first African American taxidermist in the United States as well as the first African American to own property in his Near West Side neighborhood. He explains how the Near West Side has changed demographically over time. He discusses his childhood on the East Side and move to the Near West Side during high school, his experience as a U.S. Marine in the Vietnam War, and how after his return he…