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Guardians of Traffic,” four double-sided figural pylons towering over 40-feet above either end of the Hope Memorial Bridge, have connected Cleveland’s east and west side since 1932. They were designed by architect Frank R. Walker and lead sculptor Henry Hering. More than 20 immigrant stonemasons — many fromthe Italian village of Oratino — carved the figures at Ohio Cut Stone Company on Random Road from sandstone quarried in nearby Berea. The Italian sculptors lived or worshipped in Cleveland’s Little Italy. Each hand-carved Guardian holds a different vehicle, meant to portray the history of ground transportation. Voted “an outstanding architectural triumph” by the American Institute of Steel Construction in 1936, the bridge and its iconic Guardians were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
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The Greater Abyssinia Baptist Church (GABC) organized with 250 members on December 16, 1945, at a Phillis Wheatley Association meeting. Led by its first pastor, Rev. John Rollins Plummer, the congregation raised $47,000 to purchase the Jewish Synagogue at East 105th Street and Tacoma Avenue from the Beth Hamedrosh Hagodel Beth Israel Congregation in 1946. It later purchased a parsonage, land for parking, and created a Federal Credit Union. Tragically, Rev. Plummer was killed in a car accident on October 22, 1951. The church’s lower auditorium was remodeled and dedicated as J.R. Plummer Memorial Hall. Honoring its missionary and pastoral care foundations, the church built a $3M senior citizens complex nearby. An endowment fund, instituted by its pastor’s savings in 1995, ensures that this commitment to civic leadership endures.
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Acquiring the African American Cultural Garden was a struggle for equitable access to public space in Cleveland during the Civil Rights era. Between 1961 and 1977, Black Clevelanders sought space to celebrate Black pride and culture within Cleveland’s Cultural Gardens. Activists lobbied the Cultural Garden Federation, City Council, and engaged the Black community to acquire a garden space. When the African American Cultural Garden was dedicated on October 23, 1977, dignitaries from Ghana, Togo, Kenya, and Tanzania, were joined by national, state, and city officials to celebrate the first garden space assigned to a community of color.
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Olivet Institutional Baptist Church, one of the largest African American churches in Cleveland, was founded in February 1931. In 1950, the congregation constructed a new building on Quincy Avenue. The Olivet Institutional Baptist Church ministerial leadership and its congregants were ardent supporters of the civil rights movement. Combining social and political action with the ministry, Olivet supported sit-ins to integrate lunch counters and public facilities in the South and participated in social activism in Cleveland. During the pastorate (1952-1973) of Reverend Odie M. Hoover (1921-1973), Olivet became a key voice in the civil rights movement. In 1964, Rev. Hoover accompanied Dr. King to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. The O.M. Hoover Christian Community Center, dedicated by Dr. King in 1966, symbolized Olivet’s commitment to community building and civil rights. (Continued on other side)
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