Category: Fine Arts and Literature

BECK, JOHANN HEINRICH (12 Sept. 1856-26 May 1924), was a noted conductor, composer, teacher, and violinist. Born in Cleveland to Charles and Rebecca (Butler) Beck, he completed his musical education in Europe at the Leipzig Conservatory (1879-82), where he premiered his own String Quartet in C Minor at the Gewandhaus. Returning to Cleveland, he was active in music in the city for many years.

BELL, ARCHIE (17 Mar. 1877-26 Jan. 1943), covered drama and music for Cleveland newspapers for over 30 years. Born in Geneva, Ohio, to Samuel A. and Sarah Jane (Soden) Bell, he began working shortly after graduation from Geneva High School as secretary to the CLEVELAND WORLD's publisher B. F.

BELL, NOLAN D. (7 July 1920-26 Feb. 1976), a veteran of the Karamu Theater, was one of the best nonprofessional actors/comedians in America. He worked full-time for the Cleveland Sanitation Dept. to support his wife, Viola, and their 7 children (Robert, Charles, Nolan, Russell, Rowena, Denise, and Caree), while acting in more than 200 plays.

BENADE, ARTHUR H. (2 Jan. 1925-4 Aug. 1987) physicist and recognized expert on the acoustics of musical instruments, was born in Chicago, the son of James Martin and Miriam McGaw Benade who shortly returned to India with their son to resume their careers as teaching missionaries. Arthur went to school in Lahore (now Pakistan) and after completing high school, he returned to the U.S.

BERNARDI, GIACOMO (3 Jan. 1888-12 Aug. 1966) brought some of the greatest names in music to Cleveland in his career as impresario of more than 1,000 concerts. Born Jacob Moses Schwartzman in Bendery, Bessarabia, he immigrated to the U.S. in 1906 and soon found employment in a Cleveland clothing factory.

The BIEHLE FAMILY were designers and painters who worked on frescoes and decorative painting for such clients as the Chamber of Commerce, churches, and several of Cleveland's foremost families. August Frederick Biehle, Sr. (4 July 1856-10 Nov. 1918), the senior family member, was born in Freiberg, Baden. His father, a manufacturer of costume jewelry, died when he was 4.

BIEHLE, AUGUST FREDERICK JR. (13 Jan. 1885-7 Feb. 1979) emerged from the artistic background of the BIEHLE FAMILY to become a recognized member of the "Cleveland School" of artists (see ART). Born in Cleveland, the son of Christina (Mussler) and August F.

BINKLEY, ROBERT CEDRIC (10 Dec. 1897-11 April 1940), professor and Chairman of the Department of History at Flora Stone Mather College of Western Reserve University (WRU, 1932-40), earned a national reputation as an historian pioneering and advocating archival preservation methods such as the Photostat, microphotography, and mimeography.

BLOCH, ERNEST (24 July 1880-15 July 1959), was an internationally known composer, conductor, and teacher recruited to found and direct the CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF MUSIC in 1920. Bloch was born in Geneva, Switzerland.

BLODGETT, WALTER (28 May 1908-25 Oct. 1975), an organist and teacher, was curator of musical arts at the CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART (CMA) from 1943-74. Born in Grand Rapids, Mich., the son of Arthur W. and Asenath (Harvey) Blodgett, he was a graduate of Oberlin College and the Julliard School of Music.

BRILLIANT, NATHAN (4 Sept. 1894-Nov. 1983) was a leader in Cleveland's Jewish educational activities for more than 3 decades. He came from New York, where he had graduated from City College of New York and earned a master's degree in education from Columbia Univ. Besides teaching English for 6 years in the New York City Public Schools, he served as teacher and administrator in 2 Jewish schools there.

BROOKS, CHARLES STEPHEN (25 June 1878-29 June 1934) was an essayist and playwright who was instrumental in the founding of the CLEVELAND PLAY HOUSE. A Cleveland native, and the son of Stephen E.

BULKLEY, ROBERT JOHNS (8 Oct. 1880-21 July 1965), a prominent banker and businessman, was a Democratic U.S. Representative from 1910-14 and U.S. senator from 1930-39. Born in Cleveland, to Charles Henry and Roberta Johns Bulkley, he received an A.B. (1902) and M.A. (1906) from Harvard, and studied law for a year. Bulkley was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1907.

BURCHFIELD, CHARLES EPHRAIM (9 Apr. 1893-10 Jan. 1967) was probably the most renowned graduate of the Cleveland School of Art (see CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF ART) and maintained Cleveland ties even after settling in Buffalo, N.Y. Born in Ashtabula, O., the son of Wm.

CAFARELLI, CARMELA (1889-1 Sept. 1979) kept the flame of grand opera burning in Cleveland as impresario of the Cafarelli Opera Co. Born in Cleveland, she was the daughter of Rocco G. Cafarelli, an Italian who immigrated to Cleveland ca. 1887 to become the city's first harpist. She studied the instrument under her father and Henry B.

CARTER, CLARENCE HOLBROOK (1904 - 2000), famed Cleveland artist, was born in 1904 in the southern Ohio river town of Portsmouth. It may well have been the memory of the regional flooding in 1913, when he was six, that inspired his first important work, painted non-stop in one day and one night while he was still in art school.