BINGHAM FOUNDATION. See WILLIAM BINGHAM FOUNDATION.
BINGHAM, CHARLES W. (22 May 1846-3 Mar. 1929), was a businessman active in Cleveland cultural institutions. Born in Cleveland to William and Elizabeth Beardsley Bingham, he graduated from Yale with a B.A. in 1868. Bingham spent 3 years in Europe studying geology, mining, and chemistry. He earned his M.A.
BINGHAM, FLAVEL W. (15 May 1803-1867) was a lawyer and politician who served 1 year as mayor of Cleveland. He was born in New York to Flavel and Fanny White Bingham and came to Cleveland in 1837, where he set up the law practice of Collins & Bingham. He was elected councilman and chosen city council president in 1845.
BINGHAM, WILLIAM (9 Mar. 1816-17 Apr. 1904), a prominent Cleveland businessman, was born in Andover, Conn. to Capt. Cyrus and Abigail Foote Bingham. He was educated in Andover and Monson, Mass. schools before coming to Cleveland when he was 20. His father helped him establish a hardware business with GEO.
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.
BIRD, PHILIP SMEAD (9 Nov. 1886-10 June 1948), a clergyman and civic leader, was born in Newtonville, Mass., the son of Joseph Edward and Gertrude Hubbard Smead Bird. He graduated with an A.B. from Pomona College, Claremont, Calif. (1909); from the University of California with a Master of Literature degree (1910); and from Union Theological Seminary, New York, in 1913.
BIRDTOWN (also known as the Bird’s Nest) is a nationally registered historical district in the Cleveland streetcar suburb of LAKEWOOD. Bordered by Madison Ave. on the north, W.
BIRINYI, LOUIS KOSSUTH (19 Apr. 1886—3 Sept. 1941) was a prominent member of the Cleveland Hungarian community. Author, journalist, and lawyer, Birinyi was an articulate spokesman on behalf of his native Hungary.
BIRNS, ALEX "SHONDOR" (21 Feb. 1905-29 Mar. 1975), a notorious criminal, was involved in rackets, PROSTITUTION, theft, assault, and murder from the days of Prohibition until his death. Born to Herman and Illon Birn, the family immigrated to Cleveland from Austria-Hungary in 1907.
BIRTHRIGHT, INC., which opened its first Cleveland office at West 147th Street and Detroit Avenue in March 1971, is a nonsectarian volunteer organization offering pregnant WOMEN of all ages an alternative to abortion. It counsels single and married women experiencing emotional or financial difficulties who wish to continue pregnancies to term.
BISHOP, ROBERT H., JR. (22 Aug. 1879-29 Sept. 1955), a Cleveland physician, was a leader in hospital administration, in anti-tuberculosis (TB), and other public health issues. Born in Mankato, Kan., he graduated in 1903 from Ohio's Miami University where his great-grandfather had been the college's first president and his grandfather a Latin Professor.
BIVINS, JAMES LOUIS “JIMMY” (6 December 1919-4 July 2012) was a professional boxer, who beat some of the top fighters of his day, but never fought for a championship. He was called by Sports Illustrated the best modern heavyweight never to get a title shot.
BLACK GAY PRIDE has been an official annual celebration of Pride among Black Clevelanders since 1997.
BLACK HAWK (1767-3 Oct. 1838) was an American Indian chief of the Sauk, and leader of the Black Hawk War against the U.S. in 1832. Born in a Sauk village on Rock River, Ill., near the present day city of Rock Island, Ill., he came to Cleveland in 1833 to visit his mother's grave on the CUYAHOGA RIVER.
The BLACK LAWS were a series of early 19th-century restrictions on Cleveland's black citizens imposed by the Ohio state constitution of 1802 and by state law. Growing antislavery sentiment in the WESTERN RESERVE caused most of these laws to be repealed before the Civil War. Like other Northwest Territory states, Ohio was influenced by southern attitudes toward race.
BLACK MILITARY UNITS, prohibited by state officials and Ohio's militia law of 1803, served in the CIVIL WAR nonetheless. However, legal restriction of militia service to whites was not removed in Ohio until 1878.
The BLACK TRADES COUNCIL was founded in June 1991 by George D. Edwards, an African-American pipefitter, to remedy the historical underrepresentation of minorities and women in the various building trades. As a nonprofit agency chartered by the state of Ohio in 1992, the Black Trades Council was financially supported by a consortium of minority contractors and tradesmen and was partially staffed by volunteer instructors.
The BLACK WOMEN'S POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (BWPAC) was organized in the fall of 1983 at the urging of Barbara Boyd, manager of Una H. R. Keenon's unsuccessful campaign for CUYAHOGA COUNTY JUVENILE COURT judge.
BLACK, COL. LOUIS (24 Dec. 1844-12 Jan. 1919) was a civic and business leader best known as president of the BAILEY COMPANY. A native of Hungary, he was the son of Morris and Rose Black, reputed to be Cleveland's first Hungarian family when they immigrated to the city in 1854.
BLACK, HILBERT NORMAN (3 Oct. 1929-25 Nov. 1981) earned a reputation as one of the top police reporters in the city's history during his 29-year career with the CLEVELAND PRESS. He was a native of St. Louis, Mo., the son of Robert and Mary Black. After service with the U.S. Army, he earned a journalism degree from Bowling Green State University in 1952.
BLACK, MORRIS ALFRED (31 May 1868-23 Apr. 1938), was an influential businessman and civic leader. Born in Toledo, Ohio, to Hungarian Jewish immigrants Herman and Eva Judd Black, in 1892 the Blacks moved to Cleveland, where Herman's uncle and aunt were the pioneer Hungarian family. Black graduated from Harvard University with an A.B. in 1890 and became a designer in the H.
BLANCHARD, FERDINAND Q. (23 July 1876-4 Mar. 1968), a clergyman, poet, author, and civic leader, was born in Jersey City Hts., N.J., to Edward Richmond and Anna Winifred Quincy Blanchard. He received his A.B. from Amherst College (1898) and his B.D. from Yale Divinity School (1901). He was ordained in 1901, and pastored churches in Southington, Conn. (1901-04) and East Orange, N.J.
BLEE, ROBERT E. (31 Jan. 1839-26 Feb. 1898), a railroad superintendent, was mayor of Cleveland from 1893-95. Born in Glenville, Ohio, to Bridget and Hugh Blee who were early settlers of Cuyahoga County, Blee attended district schools and Shaw Academy at COLLAMER, and was inspired by a graduation speaker to pursue a career in railroading.
The BLINKY MORGAN CASE, one of Cleveland's more notorious crimes, began on the night of 26 January 1887, when a well-known gang headed by "Blinky Morgan" (Charles Conklin) robbed downtown's Benedict and Ruedy store of a large quantity of valuable furs. Several weeks later one of the gang members, Harry McMunn, was captured in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania.
BLISS, STOUGHTON (18 Feb. 1823-19 Sept. 1896), was a Cleveland businessman and Army officer during the CIVIL WAR. Son of William and Cynthia (Wolcott) Bliss, he was born in Cleveland and worked as a post office clerk until he went into the hat and fur business in 1846.
BLIZZARDS (snowstorms with constant winds over 35 mph) do not occur frequently in Cleveland, though heavy winter snowstorms are normal because of the proximity of Lake Erie and "lake effect" snows. In Cleveland, the worst blizzards listed in the National Weather Service records since 1871 occurred 9-11 Nov. 1913, 23-28 Nov. 1950, and 26-27 Jan. 1978.
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.
BLONDER CO., one of the largest dealers in wallpapers and paints, was established in 1918 as the Milner-Blonder Co. by Nathan Milner and Harry Blonder. Milner had been a cigarmaker and Blonder a paperhanger; both lived on E. 37th St. near Woodland.
The BLOSSOM HILL SCHOOL FOR GIRLS, founded in 1914 as the Cleveland Girls' Farm, was one of the first juvenile rehabilitation centers of its type in the United States. The girls' farm, privately run for forty-four years, emphasized a secure social setting, work away from home, and education as necessary to changing delinquent behavior.
BLOSSOM MUSIC CENTER is an outdoor amphitheater situated amidst 800 acres of park land in Cuyahoga Falls. It is the summer home of the CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA and a frequent warm-weather venue for popular musical acts.
BLOSSOM, DUDLEY S. (10 Mar. 1879-7 Oct. 1938), was a Cleveland businessman and philanthropist whose charitable activities eventually led him to civic office as city welfare director. Blossom, the son of Henry S. and Lela Stocking Blossom, after earning an A.B.
BLOSSOM, EMILY ELKINS (7 May 1913-21 Dec. 1991) was awarded the Medal of Merit from the Garden Club of America in 1973 for helping to create, beautify and sustain Blossom Music Center, the CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA's summer home. On 11 July 1992 the center dedicated the Emily Blossom Garden, established in 1990 in her honor.
BLOSSOM, HENRY C. (16 Nov. 1822-18 Aug. 1883) was a business leader and life member of the WESTERN RESERVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY and the Northern Ohio Historical Society. He was born in Chester, GA, to Orrin and Laura Fellows Blossom. Blossom came to the Cleveland area in the 1830s to work in a hardware store, first in Painesville.
BLOSSOM, VOYAGE OF THE See VOYAGE OF THE BLOSSOM.
BLUE CROSS & BLUE SHIELD OF OHIO is a not-for-profit mutual insurance company and an Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Assn. The state's oldest and largest health insurer, by 1995 it served more than 1.6 million Ohioans.
BLUE CROSS OF NORTHEAST OHIO united the CLEVELAND HOSPITAL SERVICE ASSN. (CHSA) and the Akron Hospital Service Assn. (est. 1936) medical insurance plans. At the merger in 1957, the Akron group had 225,000 subscribers, while Cleveland had 1.5 million. The Blue Cross name and emblem originated with a St. Paul, MN, hospitalization plan in 1933.
BLUE ROCK SPRING HOUSE was a regionally renowned water cure located in Cedar Glen (Cedar Road, south of UNIV. CIRCLE). Between 1880-1908 it operated as a sanitarium or hotel, offering a variety of mineral-bath treatments and bottled spring water.
BLUE, WELCOME T., SR. (1867-24 May 1930), one of Cleveland's pioneering AFRICAN AMERICAN realtors and prominent community leaders, was born in Stillwater, Ohio.
The BLUESTONE QUARRIES were situated in the small village of Bluestone near the intersection of Green and Bluestone roads in S. EUCLID. In its heyday, Bluestone was home to about 400 people and contained a general store and post office, 2 saloons, a temperance hall, a church, and boarding houses.
BLYTHIN, EDWARD (10 Oct. 1884-14 Feb. 1958), was Cleveland law director, mayor, and judge. Born in Newmarket, Wales, to Peter and Elizabeth Roberts Blythin, he worked 2 years as a bookkeeper for an English coal firm before coming to Cleveland in 1906, where he worked as bookkeeper for the Walton Realty Co. for 10 years while studying law nights at Cleveland Law School. After receiving his LL.D.
BOARD OF TRADE. See GREATER CLEVELAND GROWTH ASSN.
BOARDMAN, WILLIAM JARVIS (15 Apr. 1832-2 Aug. 1915), was a lawyer active in Cleveland business, civic, and political affairs before moving to Washington, D.C., in the late 1880s. Son of Henry Mason and Sarah Hall Benham Boardman and born in Boardman, Ohio, William Boardman spent 3 years at Kenyon College before transferring to Trinity College in Hartford, Conn. where he graduated in 1854.
BOATING (RECREATIONAL). Recreational boating, more specifically yachting, became an organized sport in Cleveland in 1878 when GEO. GARDNER founded the Cleveland Yachting Assn., subsequently known as the CLEVELAND YACHT CLUB.
BOBBIE BROOKS, INC., a leader in the production of women's apparel, was established by MAURICE SALTZMAN and Max Reiter as Ritmore Sportswear, Inc. in a loft in the Bradley Bldg. on W. 6th St. in 1939.