About Cleveland Stories
Cleveland Stories is a place-based writing program for people who live, work or have ties in Mt. Pleasant and surrounding neighborhoods on Cleveland's east side. In 2018, Literary Cleveland hosted free writing programs in partnership with Seeds of Literacy and Neighborhood Connections. These workshops offered residents of these communities an opportunity to write their stories, learn about their neighborhood, and share their memories of the past and dreams for the future.
We're pleased to share the results of these efforts in Cleveland Stories: Vol. I, a nearly 150 page collection of poems, essays, and stories written by workshop participants. In addition to this manuscript, we've conducted a number of oral history interviews with longtime residents of Mt. Pleasant and other individuals with close ties to the neighborhood that can be found on this page.
We hope you enjoy learning about and connecting with the past and present of the Mt. Pleasant neighborhood.
Click here for the PDF Download version of Cleveland Stories, Vol I manuscript featuring poems, personal essays, and stories from writers and residents of Mt. Pleasant.
Oral History Interviews
Below are recently conducted oral history interviews featuring longtime residents of Mt. Pleasant and surrounding areas, as well as current staff and students at Seeds of Literacy's east side campus on Kinsman Road. Click on each person's photo to stream their complete interview.
Shorter audio clips courtesy of Mark Souther, Director of the Center for Public History + Digital Humanities at Cleveland State University's History Department. Learn more about Dr. Souther's Cleveland Voices podcast project.
DL Ware
Rochelle Gilbert-Cage
Rose Griffin
Demetrius L. Pate Sr.
Veronica Robinson
Jeff Mezo
Valerie Taylor
Deneen Fitz-Dixon
Diane Kelley
C. Henry Yarborow III
Charlotte Morgan
Funding and Support
This program is made possible, in part, by the Ohio Humanities, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
