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Dunbar, or Corsica Hollow, was an African American neighborhood on the western edge of Madisonville. Its streets and lots were laid out in 1886 after Mahlon and Anna Leonard subdivided their 10-acre tract near Duck Creek and sold lots to African Americans. Many early Dunbar residents were from the South; some born there prior to emancipation. Prominent early citizens included Harriet Deatherage, Elihu Parks, Gandison Embry, Thomas Duett, and James Murphy. Dunbar was home to the New Mission Missionary Baptist Church, founded in 1907. Originally meeting in a one-room building, the extant congregation relocated to Ravenna Street in 1963. By the late 1920s, Dunbar had about forty houses, a grocery run by Henry Lowman, and a hair salon run by Flora Hector. (Continued on other side)
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Miranda Boulden Parker lived at 2644 Marsh Avenue from 1907 to 1915. She moved into the four-family rental home with her daughters Bianca and Portia, who both worked as teachers. Miranda Parker was the widow of John P. Parker, Ripley’s Underground Railroad hero, born into slavery who famously helped more than 400 fugitives escape to freedom. In March 1914, after several vacant apartments in their Marsh Avenue home were repeatedly vandalized, daughter Bianca assumed the role as building caretaker. When she appealed to the police for help against vandals breaking windowpanes, shutters, and transoms, the police made no effort to arrest the offenders. Instead, the Health Department issued a 24-hour eviction notice. Bianca Parker sued Norwood’s Health Officer and Chief of Police unsuccessfully. The Parker family left Norwood for the more welcoming and integrated Madisonville neighborhood.
Miranda Boulden Parker lived in a home on this site from 1907(1) to 1915(2). She was the widow of Underground Railroad hero John P. Parker, who had been born into slavery. They lived in Ripley, Ohio, where John P. Parker helped more than 400 fugitives escape to freedom.(3) After his death in 1900, Miranda and their daughters Bianca and Portia, both teachers, came to Norwood. Here they rented an apartment in a four-family dwelling where Bianca became the caretaker.(4) From 1913-‘14, vandals broke over 63 windowpanes, shutters, and transoms. Bianca appealed to the police for help. Instead, the police notified the Health Department, who gave the Parkers a 24-hour eviction notice. The Parkers moved out of Norwood after unsuccessfully suing the city. (123 words)
City of Norwood, Ohio
Norwood Historical Society
The Ohio History Connection
This park was established by the City of Norwood in 1923(5) for the purpose of preventing Black Americans from owning homes here.(6) From 1907(7) to 1922(8), a four-family house on this site was rented by Black families.(9) George and Sarah Hirst lived in one of those units. On July 5, 1922, the Hirsts purchased a vacant lot next door(10) to the four-family dwelling and hired a Black contractor to build them a home.(11) White neighbors, fearing that a “Negro colony” might be developing, petitioned(12) Norwood City Council to take action.(13)(14) The Council used the right of eminent domain to seize the vacant lot from George and Sarah Hirst.(15) The Council also seized several other adjacent lots and demolished the four-family dwelling, creating Marsh Park.(16) (125 words)
City of Norwood, Ohio
Norwood Historical Society
The Ohio History Connection
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James E. Campbell was governor of the State of Ohio from 1890-1892. From 1913-1924, he served as president of the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society, which later became the Ohio Historical Society. His daughter Jessie Campbell Coons named Campbell Memorial Park for him in 1929 after educator Minnie R. Shrum deeded the land for the Shrum Indian Mound to the Ohio Historical Society. The park and mound were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.
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This nation’s landmark case on the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures began in Cuyahoga County. In 1967, for the first time in history, African-Americans both argued and heard a case at the U.S. Supreme Court. Defense attorney Louis Stokes and assistant prosecutor Reuben Payne debated limits on police searches before the first African-American Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall. The Supreme Court held that Officer Martin McFadden’s frisk and seizure of guns from suspects on Euclid Avenue about to rob a jewelry store was constitutional. They upheld Cuyahoga County Appellate Court Judges Joseph Silbert, Joseph Artl, and J.J.P. Corrigan and adopted the rule trial Judge Bernard Friedman issued: Police may search for weapons if they have a reasonable suspicion that a suspect is armed and dangerous.
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Bethel A.M.E. Church was the first African American church in Worthington. Black residents joined Worthington’s established churches as early as 1847 or worshipped together in their homes. Peter Banks with D.H. Taborn, Charles Kiner, J.T. Horton, and James Birkhead organized the A.M.E. congregation in 1896. Rapid growth moved their meetings to the Worthington Town Hall by 1897. A lot was purchased from Millie Alston on September 24, 1897, and a house relocated to serve as Bethel Chapel. Local carpenter Chester Hard constructed a new building that was dedicated as St. John A.M.E. in 1914. The church has served as the religious and social hub of Worthington’s Black community for more than a century. While St. John A.M.E. Church retains their original location, worship services moved to 7700 Crosswoods Drive in 2004.
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Here in 1963 congregants of Beth Israel-The West Temple, led by Louis Rosenblum, Herb Caron, and Rabbi Daniel Litt, founded the Cleveland Committee (later Council) on Soviet Anti-Semitism, the first American organization created to advocate for freedom for Soviet Jews. In 1970 this work led to the formation of the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews (UCSJ) under the leadership of Louis Rosenblum. The UCSJ, whose national office was located here 1970-1973, became the largest independent Soviet Jewry organization in the world. By the turn of the 21st century, the efforts begun here helped 1.6 million Jews leave the former Soviet Union. (Continued on other side)
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“…on Sunday morning, especially in the African American community, you could go down the street and hear The Wings Over Jordan just coming from everybody’s house….” Glenn Brackens, 2017. Upholding the sanctity of traditional African American spirituals, believing in the power of radio to uplift listeners, and recognizing his choir’s rich talent, Rev. Glenn T. Settle (1894-1967), pastor of Gethsemane Baptist Church, originated the “Negro Hour” on Cleveland’s WGAR in 1937. The Sunday morning radio show featured the choir’s moving renditions of spirituals and was originally directed by James Tate (1918-1986). Williette Firmbanks Thompson (1910-1992) was assistant director and a soloist (Continued on other side)
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Invited to speak at three Cleveland high schools, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his powerful “Rise Up!” speech to students at Glenville High School on April 26, 1967. It signaled King’s opening drive to elect African Americans to prominent government positions in northern cities. Encouraging students to “develop a sense of somebodiness,” King challenged them to “work passionately and unrelentingly for first-class citizenship.” Recognizing the fear of racial unrest in the city, King underscored the significance of nonviolence. “Our power lies in our ability to say non-violently that we’re not going to take it any longer,” he asserted. Making Carl Stokes’ mayoral bid the focus of his push for Black voters to elect Black leaders, King urged Glenville’s students to join civil rights organizations and community action programs.