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The ARK in Berea is the first structure in Cuyahoga County to incorporate sustainable building concepts from the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. Hand built in 1994 as a work of art by environmental artists David and Renate Jakupca, it is a study for future buildings for the Headquarters of the International Center for Environmental Arts (ICEA) and Eco Village. A hybrid structure utilizing cob, straw bales, aluminum cans, used tires, and recycled construction materials, the ARK (Architektur Recycled Kulturstall) helps to address the environmental problems of large urban areas and the trend of rebuilding rather than remodeling existing structures. The ARK is used as a museum, community center, and art studio of David Jakupca.
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William and Abigail Cutter Woodward founded Woodward High School, the first public high school west of the Allegheny Mountains, on this site October 24, 1831. Concerned that the poor of Cincinnati had no avenues for education, the Woodwards donated land, time, funding, and expertise to this venture that brought the arts and sciences to “those who have not the means of procuring such advantages themselves.” Notables include Dr. Joseph Ray, principal, 1851-1855, author of several popular mathematics texts; Professor William McGuffey, author of the well-known readers and spellers; and William Howard Taft, Class of 1874, former U.S. President. From 1856-1863, the home of Levi and Catherine Coffin was also located on this site. Both were legendary abolitionishts who helped enslaved people escape to freedom in Canada. Levi is often referred to as the “President of the Underground Railroad.”
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This historic college opened in 1847 as Otterbein University of Ohio, named for Philip William Otterbein (1726-1813), a founder of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. The church later merged with the Evangelical Church to become the Evangelical United Brethren Church, and later with the Methodist Church to become the United Methodist Church. Otterbein was one of the first colleges in the United States to open its doors to persons of color and women without restrictions on what they could study. While Otterbein’s educational offerings have evolved over the years to meet society’s needs, the college has remained committed to the liberal arts as the foundation of all learning.
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Willys-Overland Finishing Plant. Since 2004, the building at 14th and Adams Streets has been the home of the Toledo School for the Arts. The Willys-Overland Corporation erected the building c. 1916 to finish, ship, and sell the company’s cars. The popular Whippet and other models were delivered here to a second story loading dock from the Willys plant along what became Jeep Parkway. Vehicles were displayed behind floor-to-ceiling windows in a first floor showroom. The firm of Mills, Rhines, Bellman, and Nordoff designed the building and others in Toledo during the first third of the 20th century. In 1908, John North Willys (1873-1935) consolidated his company’s automobile production in Toledo. By 1912, Willys-Overland sales were second only to the Ford Motor Company’s. The company’s most famous product is the Jeep, which transported Allied service members from WWII to the 1980s and was a precursor to the sports utility vehicle.
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In August 1903, architects Daniel H. Burnham, John M. Carrere, and Arnold W. Brunner presented Mayor Tom L. Johnson and the City of Cleveland a plan that epitomized the City Beautiful Movement in America. The Group Plan envisioned a grand landscaped mall surrounded by public buildings in the Beaux-Arts style. The plan would create a monumental civic center, influence the design of buildings throughout the city, and lay the foundation for a city planning commission. The first of its kind in the nation, the Group Plan, as built, was the most completely realized of Burnham’s city planning efforts. In its green space and architecture, the Mall remains an enduring and vital element of Cleveland’s civic culture. (continued on other side)
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The Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur were founded in 1804 by Saint Julie Billiart to spread the message “Ah, how good it is to serve God.” In 1840, at the request of Bishop John B. Purcell in 1840, the Sisters travelled to Cincinnati, Ohio to help educate the city’s growing Catholic population. Choosing to serve the poor, the Sisters turned down land in Brown County and instead founded schools at Sixth Street in Cincinnati. Since the start of the 21st century, the Sisters serve in twenty-seven other states, the District of Columbia, and in South America, Europe, Africa and Asia. Sister Dorothy Stang, while working for land reforms for the poor in Brazil, was martyred in 2004.
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Sarah Mayrant Walker was born enslaved in Charleston, South Carolina, and sent to New Orleans as a young girl to study under a French hair specialist in the art of hair and scalp treatment, and goods manufacturing. Brought to Cincinnati around 1840, she used her networks to build a hair salon empire that catered to elite and wealthy women. In 1859, Sarah single-handedly desegregated the Cincinnati streetcars when she successfully sued The Passenger Railroad Company after a conductor refused her passage and pushed her off the moving car. As a result, Black women and children could ride inside a streetcar while men could ride on the platform. She and her husband, Peter Fossett, founded First Baptist Church of Cumminsville circa 1870. Both are buried in the Union Baptist Cemetery.
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The Dominican Sisters of St. Mary of the Springs founded Ohio Dominican University on this site on October 5, 1911. It was incorporated that year as the Ladies Literary Institute of St. Mary of the Springs, a “literary college and institution of learning for the general education and training of girls and young women” and authorized to grant college credit. The name was changed to the College of St. Mary of the Springs in 1924 when the founding Sisters expanded the collegiate curriculum to grant the four-year degree of Bachelor of Arts. Following a decision in 1964 to admit men, the name was changed to Ohio Dominican College in 1968. With the addition of graduate degree programs, the name was changed to Ohio Dominican University in 2002. Today, the institution serves traditional and adult students, reflecting the Dominican belief in lifelong learning.