Browse Interviews

Sean Watterson, co-owner of the Happy Dog on Detroit Ave., expresses the importance of community spaces in bringing Cleveland together as a whole. Since he was raised on the east side, but owns a business on the west side, he has made it his mission to expose east siders to the west side and to encourage west siders to attend cultural and arts events on the east side. Watterson has traveled the world, but he always knew Cleveland was where he belonged.

Rev. Dean Van Farowe currently serves as Pastor of the Calvary Reformed Church located in the Detroit Shoreway Neighborhood. He discusses the rewards and challenges of working with an urban congregation and provides a brief history of the church and how the neighborhood has changed over the past 17 years.

Moneeke Davis currently serves as a Board Member for the Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization, representing the Southwest Quadrant of the neighborhood. She describes variations among the sectors of the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood. Davis was initially concerned about how her section of the neighborhood was being treated, but soon came to understand the complexity of community development organizations. She describes herself as a dedicated social servant and vocal advocate for her…

Bernadette "Bernie" Rose, a lifelong Detroit Shoreway resident, relates how her neighborhood was on unsteady ground in the 1960s-1980s. But from the efforts of three community members it was transformed into the vibrant place it is today. Since the 1990s the community feel, which closely resembles a big family, has gradually returned to the streets of Detroit Shoreway. The empty store fronts, commonly found lining Detroit Avenue in the 1980s, are now occupied. The only hope is that more…

Gerald Meyer describes changes in the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood.

This group interview explores changes in the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood, including details about Battery Park, Union Carbide, Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization, Edgewater Park, and Herman Avenue.

In this 2006 interview, Bennie Jean Johnson, a life-long resident of Cleveland, recounts many of her living experiences as an African-American in Cleveland. She talks about her early childhood homes in E.55th and E.79th Street neighborhoods during the 1950 and 1960 decades. She describes her experiences during the Hough Riots. She talks about Leo's Casino and other well-known Cleveland east side institutions. She also talks about her experiences in moving to the west side of Cleveland--first…