CWRU Scholar Traces History of Cleveland Neighborhood Names at October Meeting of HHA

Noted Cleveland historian John J. Grabowski will discuss the topic of “Who Names the Neighborhood?” when he speaks to Hudson Heritage Association at its monthly meeting on October 13 at Barlow Community Center. Free and open to the public, the meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m., with refreshments to follow the meeting.

Dr. Grabowski holds a joint position as the Krieger-Mueller Associate Professor of Applied History at Case Western Reserve University and the Krieger-Mueller Chief Historian/Senior VP for Research and Publications at the Western Reserve Historical Society.  He also serves as the editor of the online edition of The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History and The Dictionary of Cleveland Biography.

His presentation on October 13 will trace the creation of Cleveland’s neighborhoods back to nearly the city’s founding in 1796, and will focus on the old and the new, as well as on areas both east and west of the Cuyahoga River.  Highlights will include a discussion of the multiple names for what is now Tremont, the creation of University Circle and the long history of Slavic Village, which owes part of its origins to a prehistoric native American mound. The presentation is a story not only of who names an area, but also the boundaries that define the sub-sections of Cleveland, Ohio.

Dr. Grabowski is well-known for his scholarship focusing on the City of Cleveland and for his publications, which include: The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History; The Dictionary of Cleveland Biography; and Cleveland: A Tradition of Reform, co-edited with the late Dr. David D. Van Tassel.  He is the author of Sports in Cleveland: An Illustrated History; Cleveland A to Z: Historical Essentials for Newcomers and Residents in Northeastern Ohio; and is co-author of Polish Americans and Their Communities in Cleveland.  He and his wife Diane are the authors of Cleveland: A History in Motion, and Cleveland: Then and Now.   They, along with Professor David Hammack, are the editors of Identity, Conflict & Cooperation: Central Europeans in Cleveland, 1850-1930.  His most recent works include: a history of Bilkent University; Cleveland Jews and the Making of a Midwestern Community, co-edited with Sean Martin; and Cleveland’s Cultural Gardens: A Landscape of Diversity, which he authored in partnership with photographer Lauren Pacini.