Category: Immigration and Ethnicity

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.

SS. PETER AND PAUL LUTHERAN CHURCH, 13030 Madison Ave., was established in 1901 to serve Cleveland's Slovak LUTHERANS. The first church was built on the corner of Thrush and Quail avenues in LAKEWOOD. In 1927 a new edifice was dedicated on the corner of Madison and Grace avenues.

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.

STONE, IRVING I. (5 Apr. 1909-17 Jan. 2000) was the founding chairman of AMERICAN GREETINGS CORP. who transformed a family business into a Fortune 300 company. Stone was born in Cleveland to Jennie (Kantor) and JACOB J. SAPIRSTEIN, who started the Sapirstein Greeting Card Company.

SULLIVAN, THOMAS C. (July 8, 1937-November 30, 2020) was a philanthropist and businessman who led his family’s coatings company, RPM Inc. through more than 50 years of growth and development. He was the youngest of six children born to Frank C. Sullivan and Margaret Mary Wilhelmy.

SVET-AMERICAN represented a merger of 2 newspapers that dominated Cleveland's CZECH-language press for the first half of the 20th century. The senior partner was the American, established as a daily in 1899 by FRANK J.

SWEENEY, ROBERT E. (November 4, 1924 - June 30, 2007) was a Democratic Party politician and lawyer who served as a U.S. Congressman and Cuyahoga County Commissioner.

SYRIANS. See ARAB AMERICANS.

SZABADSAG (Liberty) became in time the largest as well as oldest HUNGARIAN-language newspaper published in the U.S. It was founded in Cleveland by TIHAMER KOHANYI with the financial backing of local Hungarian citizens in 1891.

TALTY, HON.

TANAKA, HENRY T. (1922 - 2006) was a Japanese American psychiatric social worker. His achievements include being the founding director of Hill House – known today as MAGNOLIA CLUB HOUSE – and leading the successful movement for Japanese internment reparations.

THIRD FEDERAL SAVINGS AND LOAN ASSN. OF CLEVELAND, one of the largest savings and loans in Cleveland, has been a stable lending institution with headquarters in the Broadway area since 1938. Founded by BEN S. STEFANSKI with $50,000 in capital, Third Federal opened on 7 May 1938 at 6875 Broadway in Cleveland's Polish community.