Results for: black-history
1000 Greenlawn Avenue
Columbus

, OH

Landscape architect Howard Daniels designed the original portion of Green Lawn Cemetery in 1848. Noted Columbus architect Frank Packard designed Green Lawn’s Chapel mausoleum, the Hayden family mausoleum, and the Packard mausoleum. Spanning over 360 acres, the cemetery’s wooded setting provides a habitat for a variety of birds and other wildlife. The Chapel contains stunning stained glass windows and mosaic artwork by Tiffany & Company of New York. The monuments, obelisks, and memorials throughout the cemetery represent a wealth of artwork and a history of Columbus. As one of the oldest and largest cemeteries in Ohio, Green Lawn is the resting-place of many noted individuals who have made significant contributions to Columbus, Franklin County and the nation.

308 S Main Street
Poland

, OH

The Village of Poland officially incorporated in August 1866, a year after the end of the Civil War. In April 1867, the citizens elected John Leslie as mayor. As of 1880, Poland’s population exceeded 400. Through its history, the village has consisted of a four-acre village green, churches, schools, hotels, a sawmill, gristmill, post office, tannery, and foundry, as well as carriage, tin, and cabinet shops; drug, dry goods, and hardware stores, and doctors, blacksmiths, and shoemakers. Residents swam in and skated on Yellow Creek. The Poland Municipal Forest was established in 1938 and annexed later as the Village continued to grow. In 1966, the residents held a three day Centennial Celebration, featuring an address by Governor James Rhodes. The centennial year also saw the publication of a history of Poland and the restoration of Centennial Gardens.

3950 S Berkey-Southern Rd
Whitehouse

, OH

The Hines Farm Blues Club started on this site in 1949 as a party in Frank and Sarah Hines’s basement. The Club grew to become one of Ohio’s premiere blues and rhythm & blues venues until closing in 1976. A virtual “Who’s Who of African-American Artists” played here, first in a picnic shelter in the woods and then in the main building, erected in 1956. “Mr. Luke’s Outdoor Pavilion” that doubled as a skating rink was the last major addition. Holding as many as a thousand fans, Count Basie and his entire orchestra marked its opening with a performance under the stars in August 1961. Bobo Jenkins, Little Esther Phillips, B.B. King, Jimmy Reed, Buddy Lamp, and John Lee Hooker were among the musical greats who played Hines Farm. Important local blues artists Big Jack Reynolds, Curtis Grant, and the Griswold Brothers were regulars as well. (continued on other side)

6210 River Road
Fairfield

, OH

Around 1843, local Methodists organized a new Methodist Episcopal church at Fair Play and later erected a brick chapel. The congregation was short-lived, however, and fell into decline after one of its leading members, Joseph Lashorn, moved to Hamilton. In 1876, Reverend F. G. Grigsby of the United Brethren church organized a congregation here, repairing and occupying the old Methodist chapel for the next several years. The cemetery is the burial place for veterans from the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, and Civil War; some of whom are interred in unmarked graves. The last known burial was Etta Thomas in 1941.

3101 Clifton Avenue
Cincinnati

, OH

Dr. Jacob Rader Marcus (1896-1995), pioneering historian of the American Jew, founded the American Jewish Archives (AJA) in Cincinnati in 1947. In the aftermath of World War II and the brutal destruction of European Jewry, Marcus anticipated the need to establish a central repository dedicated to preserving the history of North American Jewry. The AJA, which began with a few boxes of documents, has become one of the world’s largest catalogued collections of primary source material on the history of American Jewry. An international community of scholars, researchers, and students utilizes the AJA’s vast archival holdings.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 1100 E 9th Street
Cleveland

, OH

When radio station WJW disc jockey Alan Freed (1921-1965) used the term “rock and roll” to describe the uptempo black rhythm and blues records he played beginning in 1951, he named a new genre of popular music that appealed to audiences on both sides of 1950s American racial boundaries–and dominated American culture for the rest of the 20th century. The popularity of Freed’s nightly “Moon Dog House Rock and Roll Party” radio show encouraged him to organize the Moondog Coronation Ball–the first rock concert. Held at the Cleveland Arena on March 21, 1952, the oversold show was beset by a riot during the first set. Freed, a charter inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, moved to WINS in New York City in 1954 and continued to promote rock music through radio, television, movies, and live performances.

10 E Elm Street
Monroe

, OH

Nathanial Sackett (1768-1854) and John H. Piatt (1781-1820) platted Monroe in 1817, naming it for President James Monroe. Monroe was a stagecoach stop between Cincinnati and Dayton and grew to be a rural village surrounded by farms and dotted with small factories, incorporating in 1907. Beginning in the mid-1950s and coinciding with the construction of Interstate 75, the village expanded geographically, through the annexation of surrounding farmland, and continued to grow in population. Monroe officially became a city in 1995, when its population exceeded 5,000 people (5,380). As of its bicentennial year of 2017, Monroe was home to more than 13,000.

1150 Joe Nuxhall Blvd
Hamilton

, OH

Celebrated Cincinnati Reds pitcher and radio broadcaster, Joe Nuxhall (July 30, 1928 – November 15, 2007) grew up here in Hamilton’s North End. On these fields the endearing story of “Hamilton Joe” Nuxhall began in the summer of 1943. Scouts from the Cincinnati Reds discovered fourteen-year-old Joe while he was playing with his father’s Sunday municipal league team. Because of World War II, the rosters of major league teams were depleted as players went off to fight. Joe, displaying exceptional talent and poise for his age, met the Reds’ dire need for pitchers. He signed a contract to play for Cincinnati on February 18, 1944. On June 10, at age 15, he became the youngest player in major league history when he pitched against the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals at Cincinnati’s Crosley Field. (Continued on other side)