Browse Interviews

Diana Woodbridge grew up in Tucson, Arizona, and Shaker Heights, attended college at Miami University, and taught school for a short time in Painesville, Ohio. She discusses the struggle for fair housing in the Heights in the 1960s-70s and the formation of two key organizations: Forest Hill Housing Corporation and Heights Community Congress.

Jesse Johnson, a retired sergeant first class, was a leader in a local union. He describes his early experiences and how the United States changed after he came back from the war in Korea. He also mentions the riots that occurred in the 1960s, which changed Clevelanders' perception of race relations. He describes various injustices in workplaces and housing. He also describes what it was like being an African American regional leader of a union, and the various battles he fought in order to…

Lana Cowell, a transplant from Youngstown, Ohio, discusses fighting for integration in Cleveland Heights. She begins by talking about her father and how he owned Idora Park in Youngstown. She then explains the push for integration in Cleveland Heights. She describes how the Housing Center at Cleveland Heights began at St. Ann's Church and gives an extensive background. She also discusses, in great detail, the Heights Community Congress. She briefly mentions the business districts of Cleveland…

Isaac Haggins was born in New Bern, North Carolina, in 1930. He grew up in Tennessee and Asbury Park, New Jersey. After graduating from West Virginia State College in 1949, Haggins moved to Cleveland to join his brother in the Glenville neighborhood in 1953. In 1956 he bought his first home near Rockefeller Park. After a stint selling shoes, he entered the real estate business, opening an office in Glenville and later in Union-Miles. In 1968 he was the first black real estate broker to open an…