Ohio

Cincinnati played a large part in creatng a refuge for escaped salaves and in the Underground Railroad movement.

Nearly a century after the American Revolution, the waters of the Ohio River provided a real and complex barrier for the United States to navigate. While this waterway was a symbol of freedom and equality for thousands of enslaved black Americans who had escaped from the horrible institution of enslavement, the Ohio River was also used to transport thousands of slaves down the river to the Deep South. Due to Cincinnati's location on the banks of the river, the city's economy was tied to the slave society in the South. However, a special cadre of individuals became very active in the quest for freedom undertaken by African American fugitives on their journeys to the North. Thanks to spearheading by this group of Cincinnatian trailblazers, the ""Queen City"" became a primary destination on the Underground Railroad, the first multiethnic, multiracial, multiclass human-rights movement in the history of the United States.

Featuring over 200 striking photographs from the 1920s through 1980, Black America: Cleveland, Ohio celebrates the rich history of this great city's African-American community. Its neighborhoods, churches, civil, religious, business and cultural leaders, musical icons, and sports heroes are all brought to life here through the archives of local newspapers and historical societies, as well as the private collections of many Cleveland residents.

Cleveland's Gospel Music documents the history of black gospel music from the 1920s through the 1980s. The gospel quartet groups, radio announcers, solo artists, and promoters established Cleveland as the gospel singers' metropolitan hub. An integral part of Cleveland's history and its rich African-American community, gospel singers didn't sing for money or fame, but sang to the glory of God, often beyond the point of exhaustion. This work is a celebration of the past praises of those who sang tirelessly for some 60 years.

While tire magnates like Harvey Firestone and John Seiberling were propelling Akron's rubber industry to the top, its African-American citizens were busy building and fortifying the "Rubber Capital of the World," supplying a tenacious workforce and cultivating a rich cultural and social environment. Great African Americans such as Rita Dove, Howard Hewitt, and James Ingram were born out of Akron and inspired all of America. Akron reveals the substantial contributions made to the community by African Americans through vintage images and supporting history, illuminating the churches, schools, labor forces, social organizations, athletics, and nightlife that played such an important role in making Akron the great city it is today.

Fascinating images of Cincinnati's African-American heritage.

Located on the banks of the Ohio River, Cincinnati was incorporated as a town in 1802. It became a major stop on the Underground Railroad and the gateway to the North for thousands of African Americans during the Great Migration after the Civil War. Cincinnati's African-American heritage is revealed here through images of African-American life in the community, churches, education, politics, entrepreneurship, civil rights, community benevolence and sports.

Located north of Cincinnati in the Mill Creek Valley, Lincoln Heights was the first African American self-governing community north of the Mason-Dixon Line.

The development of Lincoln Heights began in 1923 when the Haley-Livingston Land Companyof Chicago sold lots to black families in an unincorporated area called the Cincinnati Industrial Subdivision, now the southern section of Lincoln Heights.

Water and sewerage were provided by special assessment through the Works Progress Administration, there were no building and zoning code services, fire and police protection were virtually nonexistent, and street maintenance and lighting were extremely inadequate. In 1939, residents of the area began efforts to incorporate so they could provide safety and necessary services for their growing community. Several of the original petitioners for incorporation lived in the Valley View subdivision, which later became the Wright Aeronauticalplant, where many black migrants from the South came to help manufacture the famous B-29 bomber.

Nadine McIlwain and Geraldine Radcliffe reveal the celebrated legends, unsung heroes and historic firsts of African Americans residing in the Canton community.

From Canton's earliest days, the black population has contributed to the city's, and even the nation's, prominence and prosperity. During World War II, nineteen-year-old Harold White joined the famed Tuskegee Airmen of the Ninety-Ninth Fighter Squadron. Only a few years later, Dorothy White persevered through prejudice to become Canton's first black teacher, paving the way for a long line of dedicated teachers stretching to the present day. Renowned R&B group the O'Jays formed in Canton, and professional golfer Renee Powell is just one of many local athletes to reach the heights of her profession.

Washington County Underground Railroad explores Underground Railroad activity in southeastern Ohio using rare photographs, maps, documents, newspaper clippings, and historical research. Starting with the first fugitive slave escape routes, this book travels along the Underground Railroad lines into the stations, documenting the experience of the brave slaves fleeing for freedom and those who risked their lives to help them. Veterans of the War of 1812 helped establish the Underground Railroad in the Washington County area and assisted in this secret and dangerous operation for 50 years. Within these pages, authors Henry Robert Burke and Charles Hart Fogle uncover substantial aspects of this remarkable episode in American history-details that were hidden or simply left to words, until now.