Cleveland Memory Rewind: A Casino in Cleveland is Old News...

With the opening of the Horseshoe Casino Cleveland at 100 Public Square on May 14th, it is interesting to note that another downtown casino once had high hopes of cashing it big with Clevelanders and other area high-rollers. The Mayfair Casino, under the "personal direction of George Pomerantz" opened in 1935 in the Ohio Theatre. The Ohio Theatre was redecorated in an Art Deco style, and billed as "Cleveland's Million Dollar Theatre Restaurant", it boasted a main dining room, a "Sky Bar" and the "largest and most beautiful Cocktail Lounge in America."

Basically a supper club, the Mayfair Casino drew some of the largest musical acts in the country, and though "the owners hoped to turn the establishment into an actual casino," it closed the next year in 1936 due to the fact that gambling was not allowed in Ohio.¹ The Ohio Theatre then reopened in 1943 with its original decor as part of the Loew's movie chain.

See photos of the Mayfair Casino in Cleveland Memory.

¹Case Western Reserve University, "Ohio Theater," Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, http://ech.case.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=OT.

Permanent link to this topic. Posted 2012-05-04 09:12:01. Reply to Lauren_Felder. Categories: Cleveland Memory.

Exhibit--Shirley Graham: Citizen of the World

Engaged Student Research:
Shirley Graham: Citizen of the World
Exhibit in the Michael Schwartz Library
1st floor
Through May 31, 2012

It began as an assignment to introduce dramaturgical research to students in ENG 347/547: African American Women Playwrights. The play to be researched was I Gotta Home, by Shirley Graham (DuBois), performed in Cleveland by the Charles Gilpin Players at Eldred Hall in 1939. Work in our Special Collections led one student to Tom-Tom, an opera written by Graham in 1932 when she was a student at Oberlin College. Further research revealed that Tom-Tom was performed at Cleveland Stadium, with an audience of 20,000. Tom-Tom was the first opera written by an African American female and earned Graham critical acclaim, yet it was never performed again. Not surprisingly, “Whatever happened to Tom-Tom?” became a research question with broad implications.

This project has presented an opportunity for three student scholars to create an exhibit designed demonstrate the potential of literature in service to broader learning, to impact an audience beyond the classroom. In so doing, their collective research shares Graham’s legacy with the university community and educates the Cleveland community of its critical connections to a woman who left footprints around the world.

Professor Adrienne Gosselin
English Department

The exhibit, Shirley Graham: Citizen of the World, which includes books, posters, photos and other memorabilia related to Shirley Graham (DuBois), is open during regular Library hours.

Permanent link to this topic. Posted 2012-05-02 11:42:34. Reply to Barbara_Florjancic. Categories: Library News.

Friends of the Library Book Discussion - The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

Book Discussion
The Paris Wife
by Paula McLain
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
(suggested reading accompaniment: A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway)
2121 Euclid Avenue
Rhodes Tower, room 503 (in the Michael Schwartz Library)
Free and open to the general public

Join the Friends of the Library on Wednesday, April 4, 2012 at 3:00 p.m. in the Michael Schwartz Library, RT 503 to discuss The Paris Wife by Cleveland poet and novelist Paula McClain. Annie Jouan-Westlund, CSU's Associate Professor of French, will lead this discussion.

A deeply evocative story of ambition and betrayal, The Paris Wife captures a remarkable period of time and a love affair between two unforgettable people: Ernest Hemingway and his wife Hadley. Chicago, 1920: Hadley Richardson is a quiet twenty-eight-year-old who has all but given up on love and happiness--until she meets Ernest Hemingway and her life changes forever. Following a whirlwind courtship and wedding, the pair set sail for Paris, where they become the golden couple in a lively and volatile group--the fabled "Lost Generation — that includes Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald." Read more about the book.

Coming April 11!
3:00 - 4:30 pm
CSU Michael Schwartz Library
RT 503
The Annual Local Authors Book Talk Series will feature Paula McLain, who will visit the Library on Wednesday, April 11, 2012 to discuss her New York Times best seller, The Paris Wife. Paula McLain is the author of Like Family,, a highly regarded memoir of life in foster care, two collections of poems, as well as A Ticket to Ride, her acclaimed first novel of growing up in the 1970s. She is the recipient of a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, holds an MFA from the University of Michigan.

To reserve a seat or for more information call 216-875-9734.

Permanent link to this topic. Posted 2012-04-02 08:19:50. Reply to Lauren_Felder. Categories: Library News.

Cleveland Memory Salutes the CSU Poetry Center as it Turns 50!

The Poetry Center at Cleveland State University will celebrate its 50th birthday on April 14th this year. Founded back in 1962 by poet and Fenn College English Instructor Lewis Turco, the Poetry Center at Fenn College, as it was known back then, was the 5th of its kind in the nation and would go on to become a lasting legacy in the Cleveland community.

Lewis Turco, who served as the director for the first two years, helped the Center achieve great success and attracted such literary luminaries as William Golding, author of Lord of the Flies, Kenyon College critic John Crowe Ransom, and Paris Review poetry editor X. J. Kennedy.
Read more about Lewis Turco and the Center's origins.

The Lewis Turco Collection in Cleveland Memory provides many first-hand resources that document the early years of the Poetry Center including:

• Poetry Center Scrapbook: Details the founding of the center and consists of various programs, newspaper clippings, and correspondence written by Turco.
• The Lewis Turco Audio Collection: A series of audio recordings donated to Cleveland State University, includes recordings by prominent poets as well as recordings made at the Fenn College Poetry Center during its first years. Selected tapes from the collection are being digitized by library staff and will be made available online.

Additional Links:

• About the Center- from the CSU Poetry Center website
• Cleveland State University Poetry Center - from the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History
• Cleveland State University Poetry Center - Wikipedia

Permanent link to this topic. Posted 2012-03-30 09:36:23. Reply to Lauren_Felder. Categories: Cleveland Memory.

Journal Finder Will Be Unavailable 8-9 PM on Sat., March 24th

Serials Solutions, providers of Journal Finder, report that due to an emergency upgrade, Journal Finder will be unavailable to users from approximately 8:00-9:00 PM (Cleveland Time), Saturday, March 24th.

Permanent link to this topic. Posted 2012-03-23 09:11:09. Reply to Lauren_Felder. Categories: Library News.

Library Events for CSU Open House Spring 2012

Coming to the big spring Open House at Cleveland State University on Saturday, March 31st? Be sure to include the Michael Schwartz Library as one of your must-see destinations.

In addition to guided and self-guided tours of our fantastic library, we will be holding a book sale from 10 am until 2 pm and hosting the following lectures:

• Mapping Cleveland - 10:00 am
  Presented by Bill Barrow, Special Collections Librarian
  Location: Library Special Collections, 3rd Floor
• Library: Online and In Person - 11:00 am AND 2:00 pm
  Presented by Kathy Dobda, Assistant Director for Public Services and the Head of Library Instruction.
  Location: Library LCLC.

Register now to attend the Spring Open House, and we look forward to seeing you in the Michael Schwartz Library on March 31st!

Permanent link to this topic. Posted 2012-03-15 08:33:28. Reply to Lauren_Felder. Categories: Library News.

Read-In Day: Call for Readers and an Invitation

In celebration of  Women's History Month, the Michael Schwartz Library, in conjunction with the English Department, the Cleveland State University Poetry Center, and the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, is hosting a Read-In Day on the 1st floor of the Library, from noon to 1:00 on Thursday, March 22nd.

The campus community is invited to hear fellow faculty, staff, and students read aloud both fiction and non-fiction prose and poetry by and about women that is significant to them. This event is free and open to the campus community.

CSU students, in particular, are encouraged to not only attend the event for their enjoyment, but also for the opportunity to make the most of Women's History Month by learning about and sharing literary works by and about women. There is also the possibility that said works will foster among the attendees further interest and education about women's literature and history.

If you would like to participate as a reader contact Professor Barbara Walker, English, at 216-687-2563 to discuss your selection and to schedule a time (limited to 5 minutes). Sign up today!

Read-In Day is a national initiative that is sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of English that focuses on literacy by encouraging reading.

Permanent link to this topic. Posted 2012-03-09 08:40:37. Reply to Lauren_Felder. Categories: Library News.

Library Hours during Spring Break

The Michael Schwartz Library will be open the following hours during Spring Break, March 11-18, 2012.

Sunday, March 11, 2012-CLOSED
Monday-Tuesday, March 12-13, 2012- 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Wednesday-Thursday, March 14-15, 2012- 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Friday-Saturday, March 16-17, 2012- 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday, March 18, 2012-CLOSED
You may access the Library’s online resources 24/7 at http://library.csuohio.edu.

Permanent link to this topic. Posted 2012-03-08 11:14:51. Reply to Tracy_Kemp. Categories: Library News.

Friends of the Library Book Discussion - World and Town by Gish Jen

Book Discussion
World and Town
by Gish Jen
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
2121 Euclid Avenue
Rhodes Tower, room 503 (in the Michael Schwartz Library)
Free and open to the general public

Join the Friends of the Library on Wednesday, March 21, 2012 at 3:00 p.m. in the Michael Schwartz Library, RT 503 to discuss World and Town by novelist and short story writer Gish Gen. Glenda Thornton, Director of the Michael Schwartz Library, CSU, will lead the book discussion.

From the much-loved author of Who's Irish? and The Love Wife, a world-sized novel set in a small New England Town. Hattie Kong--the spirited offspring of a descendant of Confucius and an American missionary to China--has, in her fiftieth year of living in the United States, lost both her husband and her best friend to cancer. It is an utterly devastating loss, of course, and also heartbreakingly absurd: a little, she thinks, "like having twins. She got to book the same church with the same pianist for both funerals and did think she should have gotten some sort of twofer from the crematorium." Moving, humorous, compassionate, and expansive, World and Town is as rich in character as it is brilliantly evocative of its time and place.

To reserve a seat or for more information call 216-875-9734.

Permanent link to this topic. Posted 2012-02-15 15:33:51. Reply to Lauren_Felder. Categories: Library News.

"African Americans in Cleveland": New Display at the Michael Schwartz Library

In celebration of Black History Month, the Michael Schwartz Library honors Clevelanders of African descent that have made a significant contribution beyond their own personal and family life to the history and development of Cleveland. The display not only features local past luminaries in sports, entertainment, and politics, but also includes individuals who have shined in science, engineering, education, business, medicine, journalism and more.

The photos in the posters on display are from the Cleveland Press Collection in Special Collections and represent only a small number of those that can be viewed online in Notable Blacks of Cleveland as part of the Cleveland Memory Project. Memorabilia was provided by Prester Picket, Coordinator, Howard A Mims African American Cultural Center.

Did you know that Alonzo Wright (1898-1976) was one of the most successful black entrepreneurs in Cleveland's history and was the city's first African American millionaires? Learn this and more by visiting the Black History Month display in the Library through February.

Permanent link to this topic. Posted 2012-02-15 11:25:03. Reply to Lauren_Felder. Categories: Library News.