Monday, November 21, 2016
This morning, the EA staff had a wonderful private tour of the Cleveland History Center with Kelly Falcone-Hall, the CEO of the museum’s parent organization, Western Reserve Historical Society.
Lovingly known as Cleveland’s attic, the Cleveland History Center is located in the museum-dense University Circle area. The museum was established just 30 years into our city’s history (in 1867), making it the oldest cultural institution in the region. 2017 is a major anniversary for the museum; it’s celebrating 150 years!
The historical society and museum buildings themselves are part of our region’s history. With 40,000 SF of space sitting on eight acres, the joined Hay-McKinney Mansion (1938) and Bingham-Hanna Mansion (1942) together create the space that holds the museum’s signature pieces including…
The Crawford Auto & Aviation Collection: Donated by the widow of Fred Crawford, the former CEO of TRW and an avid car collector.
This amazing collection shows automobiles at their various stages of development from the early part of the 20th century, when Cleveland was an auto manufacturing hub that rivaled Detroit, to today. It also has the very first Delorean to roll off the factory line (to be featured in a 2017 exhibit). As a matter of fact, this museum is the only place in the world that displays under one roof each of the three types of stainless steel vehicles ever created! As the saying goes…they never rust, bust, or dust!
In June 2017, the museum will close off the street in front and host an antique car show featuring their collection. How’s that for a fun Father’s Day outing idea?
The museum also features…
The Euclid Beach Park Grand Carousel: Originally built by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company for an amusement park on the lake in Cleveland (closed in the 1960’s), these colorful hand-carved wooden horses spent some time in Maine prior to their permanent placement at the museum.
Photo Courtesy of WRHS.
Kids (and adults) can ride for just a token year round ($3.00 gets you 3 tokens); and while you don’t have to pay full admission to the museum if your kids JUST want to ride the carousel, you’d be doing your whole family a disservice if you didn’t buy a full ticket ($10/adults; $5/12 & under) and spend a day exploring this place! There are 58 horses and four chariots, and native Clevelanders of a certain age get pretty nostalgic when they step foot on the wooden platform and hear the familiar creaking sound that takes them back to their childhood memories.
Another must see is…
The Chisholm Halle Costume Wing: Named after the beloved and much missed CEO of legendary Cleveland department store Halle’s, this climate controlled room shows a curated view of its 30,000 piece collection of clothing from the late 18th century to today, and the exhibit
constantly rotates.With the largest political campaign button collection in the nation, the Cleveland History Center featured those, and many other historical pieces, when the RNC convention was in town this past summer.
And in 2017, the Stokes Exhibit, will tell the story of brothers Carl and Louis Stokes who were born in near poverty and lived in public housing. Carl Stokes eventually became the first black mayor of a major US city, and Louis Stokes went on to serve in Congress. The American dream personified.
Here are a few other ways the general public can use the museum’s collections…
- If you own a century home in NE Ohio, chances are the Cleveland History Center has a copy of the original blueprints. If you have a remodel job coming up, how handy would that be?
- Genealogy Library: This library offers classes with experts and a huge library filled with original documents and photos.
If your organization believes that connecting job candidates and newcomers to the rich fabric of NE Ohio will help you attract and retain the best talent possible, call us. We think alike. 216.231.9311.