Description: Caption reads: "Residence Street in Cleveland Heights." which is covering another caption, which reads: "St. James Parkway, Shaker Heights." This photograph shows the intersection of Cedar Road and N. St. James Pkwy, a typical residential scene in a Cleveland suburb. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B04F08_11_01
Subjects: Cleveland (Ohio)--Buildings, structures, etc.
Places: Cleveland Heights (Ohio); Cuyahoga County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph from the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus is of 24-year-old Barney Kenneth Davis. His formal attire suggests that the photograph was taken during his trial or sentencing. Davis, convicted of murdering a Cleveland Heights police officer, was the 273rd individual to be executed via the electric chair in Ohio. The caption at the bottom reads: “No. 273 Barney Kenneth Davis of Cuyahoga County, Legally Electrocuted June 23, 1949 for the Murder of Norman C. Reker.” In 1885 the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus, Ohio, became the location for all executions, which previously took place in the various county seats. In 1896 the Ohio General Assembly mandated that electrocution replace hanging as the form of capital punishment. The Ohio Penitentiary regularly offered tours as well as souvenir photographs and postcards of the building and prisoners on death row. A total of 315 prisoners, both men and women, were executed in the electric chair known as “Old Sparky” between 1897 and 1963. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL08325
Subjects: Ohio History--State and Local Government--Law; Capital punishment--Ohio--History; Death row; Electrocution; Ohio History--State and Local Government--Corrections; Ohio Penitentiary (Columbus, Ohio); Prisons--Ohio
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio); Cleveland Heights (Ohio); Cuyahoga County (Ohio)
 

Description: This black-and-white photograph is a portrait of John D. Rockefeller, Sr., from the original manuscript of "Forest Hill Park: A Report on the Proposed Landscape Development," 1938. This photograph, likely taken in the early 1930s, shows an older Rockefeller seated in a formal suit and tie. Forest Hill Park, designed by Cleveland landscape architect Albert Davis Taylor, was formerly the estate of industrialist J. D. Rockefeller. John Davison Rockefeller, born in Richford, New York, was an oil industry businessman who came to be known as one of the richest men in history, having owned, at one time, ninety percent of the United States oil refining industry. In his youth, he moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where he became a bookkeeper at 16. In 1862 he went into business with entrepreneur Henry Flagler and Samuel Andrews, a firm which later changed its name to the Standard Oil Company. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. joined his father in 1897 but focused his efforts on philanthropy rather than the family business. He bought the land of Forest Hill from his father in 1923, selling and donating portions of the estate for various public uses. In 1938 he gave over 200 acres to East Cleveland and Cleveland Heights, land which became the Forest Hill Park. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL05087
Subjects: Rockefeller, John D. (John Davison), 1839-1937; Parks--Ohio--Cuyahoga County; Parks; Landscape architects; Environment
Places: Cleveland Heights (Ohio); Cuyahoga County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph shows a suffragist posed on a horse dressed as a mythical goddess during a women's suffrage parade, 1914. On the back of the photograph, a written note identifies the woman as Matilda Spence of Painesville, Ohio. However, coverage of the parade in The Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper on October 4, 1914, identifies the woman as Mrs. William Reed Taylor (Katherine Kelley Taylor) who was from Cleveland Heights, Ohio. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL00075
Subjects: Suffrage -- Ohio; Multicultural Ohio--Ohio Women; Women social reformers - Ohio; Cleveland (Ohio)
Places: Painesville (Ohio); Lake County (Ohio)
 

Description: Aerial view photograph of Shaker Heights, Ohio, looking to the north. The houses on the lower edge of the image face Shaker Boulevard. The road on the left is Leighton Road, while the one on the right is Southington Road. Original description reads: "Shaker Hts. residences (Shaker Lake in background)." The city's name has origins in two local sources: the community was laid out on land formerly owned by the North Union Community of the United Society of Believers, more commonly known as Shakers, and "Heights" refers to the plateau east of Cleveland that rises sharply in elevation from 582 feet above sea level at the base of the Cedar Glen Parkway to 950 feet above sea level in nearby Cleveland Heights; Shaker Heights' elevation is 1050 feet above sea level. Ralph Russell established the North Union Settlement in 1822 with just over 80 individuals. In 1826, the group dammed Doan Brook, thus creating the Lower Lake and establishing a gristmill and a sawmill. Later, in 1854, the community built a second dam, creating the Upper Lake, and constructed another mill. Also called "The Valley of God's Pleasure," the colony peaked around 1850 with about 300 settlers. As the Shakers practiced celibacy, the colony faded away and was closed in 1889. In 1905, the land was bought by brothers M.J. and O.P. Van Sweringen, who envisioned the first garden-styled suburb in Ohio for the site. The brothers constructed homes, set aside land for churches and schools, and planted trees. Originally referred to as Shaker Village, the community was incorporated in 1912 and reached city status in the 1930s. Shaker Heights is known for its stringent building codes and zoning laws, which have helped to maintain the community's housing stock and identity throughout the years. Approximately seventy percent of the city of Shaker Heights is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Shaker Village Historic District. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B04F10_01_01
Subjects: Suburbs--Ohio--Cleveland; Aerial photography; United Society of Believers; Russell, Ralph; Van Sweringen, Oris Paxton, 1879-1936; Van Sweringen, Mantis James, 1881-1935; National Register of Historic Places
Places: Shaker Heights (Ohio); Cuyahoga County (Ohio)
 

Description: In 1886, the Society of Jesus established St. Ignatius College in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1923, St. Ignatius College became John Carroll University, named for the first Catholic archbishop in the United States. Twelve years later, the university relocated to a suburb of Cleveland known as University Heights. This picture shows the campus at its new location. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B05F04_016_1
Subjects: Education; Universities and colleges; John Carroll University; Architecture--Ohio--Pictorial works.; College campuses; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Cleveland (Ohio); Cuyahoga County (Ohio)
 

Description: A caption on the back of the photograph reads, "Rockefeller Homestead, East 40th & Euclid Ave. Cleveland, Oh." The Rockefeller Homestead was the name of the mansion built on John D. Rockefeller's Forest Hill Estate. The Forest Hill Estate was located in East Cleveland, near Cleveland Heights, and was built near the end of the 1800s. The house in this photograph is most likely not part of the Forest Hill Estate, but of Millionaire's Row built along Euclid Ave. It is possible that this house was owned by the Rockefeller family, or another wealthy Cleveland Industrialist. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B01F11_032_001
Subjects: Rockefeller, John D., 1906-1978; Cleveland (Ohio)--Buildings, structures, etc.--Pictorial works.
Places: Cleveland (Ohio); Cuyahoga County (Ohio)
 

Description: Dated 1937, this photograph shows the Abbe Observatory, located on Lafayette Circle in Clifton Heights in Cincinnati, Ohio. Abbe Conservatory was the only commemoratively-named weather station in the United States. The Observatory is named after Cleveland Abbe, a Cincinnati meteorologist known as "Old Probability," first director of the National Weather Service. Abbe came to Cincinnati at the request of the Cincinnati Astronomical Society in 1868, restored its neglected observatory, and began daily forecasts in 1869. In 1870, Abbe no longer had financial support for his research and he left Cincinnati for New York where he was appointed director of the National Weather Service in 1871. This photograph is one of the many visual materials collected for use in the Ohio Guide. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration by executive order to create jobs for the large numbers of unemployed laborers, as well as artists, musicians, actors, and writers. The Federal Arts Program, a sector of the Works Progress Administration, included the Federal Writers’ Project, one of the primary goals of which was to complete the America Guide series, a series of guidebooks for each state which included state history, art, architecture, music, literature, and points of interest to the major cities and tours throughout the state. Work on the Ohio Guide began in 1935 with the publication of several pamphlets and brochures. The Reorganization Act of 1939 consolidated the Works Progress Administration and other agencies into the Federal Works Administration, and the Federal Writers’ Project became the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio. The final product was published in 1940 and went through several editions. The Ohio Guide Collection consists of 4,769 photographs collected for use in Ohio Guide and other publications of the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio from 1935-1939. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B03F12_010_1
Subjects: Meteorology; Cincinnati (Ohio)--Buildings, structures, etc.; Science and Technology
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: In 1886, the Society of Jesus established St. Ignatius College in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1923, St. Ignatius College became John Carroll University. John Carroll was the first Catholic archbishop in the United States. Twelve years later, the university relocated to a suburb of Cleveland known as University Heights. This photograph displays the faculty house at this new location. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B05F04_017_1
Subjects: Education; Architecture--Ohio--Pictorial works.; Universities and colleges; John Carroll University; College campuses; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Cleveland (Ohio); Cuyahoga County (Ohio)
 

Description: Eight photographs document the Donald Gray Memorial Gardens in Cleveland, Ohio. Gray designed the Horticultural Gardens for the Great Lakes Exposition of 1936-1937. The gardens remained north of the Cleveland Municipal Stadium after the exposition and were named for Gray after his death. The garden did not survive the demolition of Memorial Stadium and the rebuilding of the Cleveland Browns Stadium in 1997. Donald A. Gray (1891-1939), landscape architect and designer, was born in Tyrone, Pennsylvania, the son of Charles G. and Rose (Williams) Gray. He graduated from Bucknell University in Pennsylvania and attended Harvard University, afterwards working briefly with Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., in the Olmsted Brothers firm in Brookline, Massachusetts, the premier landscape architect firm in America. Gray came to Cleveland in 1920, establishing a practice in landscape architecture and designing many private gardens and estates in Cleveland, the Heights, and outlying suburbs. In 1925 he traveled to England, studying the gardens of great houses there. He designed the landscaping for the development of Fairhill Road houses in 1931, making his own home there for several years. He designed the landscape for Forest Hill Park and some of the designs for the Cleveland Cultural Gardens in Rockefeller Park. Dedicated to "making a beautiful city of Cleveland," Gray worked on developing the Cleveland Garden Center with Mrs. William Gwinn Mather and Mrs. Charles. A. Otis. On 11 Jan. 1928, Gray married Florence Ball. They had 1 daughter, Virginia. Gray died in Cleveland and was buried in Highland Park Cemetery. The photographs were taken by Ihna Thayer Frary. The Ihna Thayer Frary Audiovisual Collection was given to the Ohio Historical Society by Mr. Frary in two sections. One was in March of 1963 and the remainder in May of 1965 by his sons, Dr. Spencer G. and Allen T. Frary following their father's death. I.T. Frary (1873-1965) was the publicity and membership secretary for the Museum of Art in Cleveland, Ohio. He taught for many years at the Cleveland Institute of Art and Western Reserve University's School of Architecture. He did much research of Ohio and American architecture and was the author of seven major works and numerous scholarly articles on architectural and art history. One of his major works was Early Homes of Ohio published in 1936. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om3347_4834646_001
Subjects: Plants and Animals; Architecture; Stadiums; Gardens; Boats
Places: Cleveland (Ohio); Cuyahoga County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph of C. Walder Parke in uniform. The photographer, Clifford Norton, started his own very influential portrait studio in Cleveland during the early 20th century, and was thriving at the time this picture was taken. Charles Walder Parke was born on July 28, 1924, and grew up in Shaker Heights, Ohio. He enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces in 1942 intending to be a pilot during WWII, but spent most of his military career as a navigator on B-17 Flying Fortresses in the 94th Bombardment Group. Parke earned two Bronze Stars, an Air Medal with several Oak Leaf Clusters, and the Distinguished Flying Cross for his successful bombing missions, including some over Berlin. He is best known for being on board a B-17 which was shot down over France by German planes on June 25, 1944, during a non-combat mission. The crew managed to make an emergency landing, and everyone inside survived. After the war, Parke founded the Cleveland-based Laurel Industries Inc., which became a prominent supplier of antimony oxide to the plastics industry. He died of Lou-Gehrig’s Disease on September 15, 1996, at the age of 72. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: MSS1510_B03F01_008
Subjects: Parke, Charles Walder, 1924-1996; Portrait photography; United States Air Force; Military uniforms; Air pilots, Military
Places: Cleveland (Ohio); Cuyahoga County (Ohio)
 

Description: Bust-length photograph of C. Walder Parke in uniform. The photographer, Clifford Norton, started his own very influential portrait studio in Cleveland during the early 20th century, and was thriving at the time this picture was taken. Charles Walder Parke was born on July 28, 1924, and grew up in Shaker Heights, Ohio. He enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces in 1942 intending to be a pilot during WWII, but spent most of his military career as a navigator on B-17 Flying Fortresses in the 94th Bombardment Group. Parke earned two Bronze Stars, an Air Medal with several Oak Leaf Clusters, and the Distinguished Flying Cross for his successful bombing missions, including some over Berlin. He is best known for being on board a B-17 which was shot down over France by German planes on June 25, 1944, during a non-combat mission. The crew managed to make an emergency landing, and everyone inside survived. After the war, Parke founded the Cleveland-based Laurel Industries Inc., which became a prominent supplier of antimony oxide to the plastics industry. He died of Lou-Gehrig’s Disease on September 15, 1996, at the age of 72. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: MSS1510_B03F01_011
Subjects: Parke, Charles Walder, 1924-1996; Portrait photography; United States Air Force; Military uniforms; Air pilots, Military
Places: Cleveland (Ohio); Cuyahoga County (Ohio)