SCOTTISH HERITAGE ASSN. OF NORTHEASTERN OHIO, formerly known as Clan Grant No. 17 of the Order of the Scottish Clans, is a fraternal society organized on 13 Apr. 1885. Named in honor of President U. S. Grant, who was of Scottish descent, the organization in its early years met in City Hall. Thos. S. Davies, the owner of a soap-manufacturing company, was chief in 1886; Peter Miller was secretary, and Chas. R.
SEMENOFF, NIKOLAI PROKOFIEVITCH (12 Mar.
SERBS. Although the Serbs are not one of Cleveland's largest ethnic groups, they have made themselves widely known throughout the city. Serbian immigration to Cleveland came in 2 main periods: from the beginning of the 20th century to the beginning of WORLD WAR I, and from the end of WORLD WAR II to the mid-1980s.
The SHALHEVET INTL. FOLK ENSEMBLE was founded in 1968 by Paul and Carole Kantor to preserve and promote the folklore, dance, and music of all the lands in which the Jewish people have lived.
SIEGEL, JEROME (October 17, 1914 - January 28, 1996), was a comic book writer who co-created Superman alongside JOSEPH SHUSTER. Siegel, the youngest of six children, was born in Cleveland, Ohio.
SLOVAKS. At one time in the early 1900s, Cleveland was reputedly the city with the largest number of Slovaks in the world. As of 1970 an estimated 48,000 persons of Slovak birth or ancestry resided in Greater Cleveland, making Slovaks one of the city's major immigrant groups.
SLOVENES, a South Slav people whose homeland, Slovenia, declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, began settling in Cleveland in the 1880s, with immigration heaviest in the periods 1890-1914, 1919-24, and 1949-60. Prior to WORLD WAR II, most emigrants were peasants from the economically underdeveloped rural areas of Slovenia, looking for economic betterment.
The SLOVENIAN AMERICAN NATIONAL COUNCIL (Slovenski Ameriski Narodni Svet) attempted to unite Americans of Slovenian heritage to assist the occupied homeland during WORLD WAR II.
The SLOVENIAN NATIONAL HOME, in the 6400 block of St. Clair Ave., is the largest and most significant social and cultural center for local Slovenian Americans. Ideas for a national hall were discussed as early as 1903, when the Slovenian sokols sought to build a gymnasium and library. The opening of Knaus' Hall that year, followed by other privately owned halls, slowed the plans for a publicly held center.
SMETONA, ANTANAS (10 Aug. 1874-9 Jan. 1944), who came to Cleveland in Apr. 1942 as the exiled president of Lithuania, was born of peasant parents in Uzulenents, became an ardent promoter of Lithuanian nationalism as a youth, and as a result was expelled from college and later from law school in St. Petersburg, where he was also jailed.
SNAJDR, VACLAV (26 Sept.1847-4 Sept. 1920) was a prominent Czech-American journalist and publisher who was active in Cleveland business and politics. Snajdr was born in Ceska Budejovice, Bohemia (Czechoslovakia), the son of John and Appolonice Snajdr. Educated at the Gymnasium School at Mlada and the College of Neuhaus in Prague, Snajdr was forced to flee to Berlin during student demonstrations in 1867-68.
SOKOL POLSKI, the Polish Falcons of America, is a cultural and recreational society locally headquartered on Broadway. Similar to the Czech Sokol movement (see SOKOL CLEVELAND), the Polish Falcons began as a movement to foster national pride and patriotism among POLES in Poland in 1867.
SOKOLOFF, NIKOLAI (28 May 1886-25 Sept.
SOMMER, FRANCIS ERICH (18 Feb 1890-6 Dec 1978), scholar, linguist, and polyglot of GERMAN origin, was born in Speyer, Bavarian Palatinate, German Empire (today Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany), son of Hans Sommer and Maria Katharina Hoffmann.
SOUTH BROADWAY is a southeast Cleveland neighborhood and Statistical Planning Area (SPA). An exceptionally irregular shape, it extends nearly to I-490 on the north and as far south as Grand Division Ave. It is bounded on the west by I-77 and on the east by E. 79th St. and Broadway Ave.
SOVIET AND POST-SOVIET IMMIGRATION. The growing community of immigrants from RUSSIA and the former Soviet Union is becoming a palpable presence in Cleveland.
SPECTOR, SIDNEY (16 Sept. 1915 - 24 Jan. 1999) was a national authority on the housing and healthcare needs of the elderly. He was born in Cleveland to Eva (Crystal) and Abraham Spector, a tailor in a clothing factory. He attended Glenville High School and Miami University where he received a B.A.
SPELLACY, HON. LEO M. (5 Nov. 1934 - 28 May 2021) was the longest-presiding judge in the history of Cuyahoga County and was very active in service initiatives throughout his lifetime. He was the fourth of five children born to William Spellacy and Margaret Kelly.
SPIRA, HENRY (21 June 1862-10 Apr. 1941) was a banker whose principal customers were the immigrants settling in Cleveland during the first 3 decades of the century. Spira, son of Bernath and Esther (Deutsch) Spira, was born and educated in Richwald, Hungary, immigrating to the U.S. in 1879. He and worked as a laborer for a steamship company before migrating to central Ohio where he worked as a peddler and shopkeeper.
ST. ELIZABETH CATHOLIC CHURCH of Cleveland celebrated its first mass on 11 Dec. 1892, the first U.S. church established for Hungarian Roman Catholics. HUNGARIANS came in great numbers to the Cleveland area during the late 1880s and early 1890s. At first they worshipped at ST.
ST. JOHN BYZANTINE CATHOLIC CHURCH was the first Byzantine (or Greek) Catholic parish established in Cleveland. It was founded in 1892 by a group of Byzantine Catholic families with the approval of the Roman Catholic bishop. The first pastor was Rev. John Csurgovich, who served for about 4 years. The parish was originally known as St. John the Baptist's Church.
The congregation of ST. PATRICK'S CHURCH on Rocky River Dr. in Cleveland was organized in 1848 (when the area was known as Rockport), one year after the Diocese of Cleveland was established. Masses were said in homes until a frame church was built in 1854. Cathedral priests ministered in the early years, including Bp. AMADEUS RAPPE.
ST. VITUS CHURCH, at E. 61st St. and Glass Ave., was the first Catholic church in Cleveland for SLOVENES. Later one of the largest Slovenian churches in America, St. Vitus's first service was on 6 Aug. 1893. The first priest was the newly ordained Vitus Hribar. The first services were held at ST. PETER CHURCH in Cleveland.
