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POTOCSNY, JULIUS (8 Jun. 1929 - 7 Oct. 2002).

POTTER & MELLEN, INC., one of Cleveland's prominent jewelry stores, was founded in 1900 (sometimes given as 1899) by Horace Potter, a noted jeweler, teacher, designer, and master craftsman.

PREDICASTS, INC., a company that specializes in providing computerized data for businesses and industries, was established by Samuel A. Wolpert in 1960. Wolpert, a native of Baltimore, came to Cleveland in 1954. Predicasts began as a publisher of economic indexes and surveys and was originally located at 10609 Euclid Ave. in the UNIV. CIRCLE area.

The PREFORMED LINE PRODUCTS CO., a manufacturer of hardware and accessories for electrical and telephone transmission cables, was organized in 1947 by inventor Thomas F. Peterson to produce his preformed spiral armor rod for reinforcing or splicing overhead high-tension cables. The company, located at 1051 Power Ave., had sales of $250,000 after its first year and grew rapidly, purchasing new facilities at 5349 St. Clair Ave.

PREHISTORIC INHABITANTS. Following the melting of the last glacial advances, ca. 15,000 years ago, northeast Ohio was an area of slow, gravel-choked rivers, high bogs, and ice-ponded lakes. Vegetation was a mixture of near-Arctic tundra, roamed by herd of caribou, as well as mastodon, giant beaver, moose, lynx, and wolves. There is no convincing evidence of the presence of Paleo-Indians in Ohio at this early date.

The PREMIER FARNELL PLC, was created from the 1996 merger of the Premier Industrial Corp. and the British electronics part distributor Farnell Electronics PLC. The Premier Industrial Corp. was a multimillion-dollar distribution company based in Cleveland, which grew out of the purchase of Premier Automotive Supply by Joseph C., Jack N., and Morton L. Mandel in 1940, with an initial investment of $900.

The PREMIER INDUSTRIAL CORP., see PREMIER FARNELL PLC

PRENTISS FOUNDATION. See ELISABETH SEVERANCE PRENTISS FOUNDATION.

PRENTISS, JENNIE WARREN (17 October 1870-5 April 1946) was a women’s educator who was a founder of the predecessor to LAUREL SCHOOL.  She was born in Cuyahoga County, Cleveland, Ohio to parents Chauncey Prentiss and Emily Hanks.

The PRESBYTERIAN UNION (1870-1949), originally named the Cleveland Presbyterian Church Union, formed in 1870 and was incorporated on 24 Apr. 1891.

PRESBYTERIAN WOMEN is descended from a number of Presbyterian organizations, including the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Presbyterian Church of Cleveland organized on 12 June 1872 at Second Presbyterian Church. That group had grown out of the Parlor Missionary Society, organized in 1833 at FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (OLD STONE).

PRESBYTERIANS. The Presbyterian Church established itself in the Cleveland area in 1807, among the earliest Protestant denominations, and developed rapidly. Presbyterianism originated in the 16th-century Protestant Reformation and the teachings of John Calvin of Switzerland and John Knox of Scotland.

PRESCOTT HUNTER/JUMPER CLASSIC. See MERRILL LYNCH HUNTER JUMPER CLASSIC.

PRESCOTT, BALL AND TURBEN, INC., one of the largest regionally based investment firms between New York and Chicago, was the product of several mergers. In 1924 Charles B. Merrill and Claude F. Turben organized Merrill, Turben & Co. and in 1934, Edward P. Prescott and Morton J. Stone formed Prescott & Co., located in the National City Bank Bldg. at E. 6th St. and Euclid Ave.

The second PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE OF 1980 between Democratic Pres. Jimmy Carter and Republican presidential candidate Ronald Reagan was held in Cleveland on 28 Oct. 1980, sponsored by the LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS. Second Presidential Debate of 1980 The Cleveland Chapter of the league, led by Pres.

The PRESS CLUB OF CLEVELAND was originally organized on 1 Feb. 1887 as the Cleveland Press Club. Presided over by JOHN C. COVERT, editor of the CLEVELAND LEADER, the group apparently faded from view within a year.

PRETERM, INC., established on 15 Mar. 1974, is a nonprofit medical clinic run by WOMEN for women to provide abortion counseling, abortions, contraceptives, education and outreach, with care and sensitivity. Founded following the 1973 legalization of abortion, by 1975 Preterm offices were open 3 days a week and offered abortion counseling, abortions, breast examinations, and Pap smears.

PRICE, CONSTANCE MATHER (21 July 1918 - 25 May 1997) was active in civic affairs, sports, and theater throughout her life. She was born in Boston to Madeleine Almy and Philip Richard Mather, an industrialist and philanthropist who was on the board of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.

PRICE, JOHN L., Jr., (29 May 1920 - 20 June 2012) was one of Cleveland's preeminent theatrical showmen in the decades following World War II.

PRIDE IN CLEVELAND has been celebrated by the city’s LGBTQ community since the early 1970s. The gay community in Cleveland in the 1970s was connected to the larger gay liberation movement growing in the United States, which was propelled by the Stonewall Riot in New York City in 1969. Pride celebrations began to occur annually in cities across the U.S.

PRIMO VINO, which opened on April 15, 1982, was a restaurant that both epitomized and catalyzed Little Italy’s growth as a major dining and entertainment district in Greater Cleveland during the last quarter of the twentieth century.

PRINDLE KARL E. (10 Dec. 1902 - 13 Oct.1998) was twenty-four when he developed moisture-proof cellophane for DuPont in the mid-1920s. He was born in Charlotte, Vermont, to Carrie and Edwin H. Prindle, a lumberman at a sawmill. In 1925, Prindle graduated from Oberlin College. Prindle worked for DuPont after college until he began working for Dobeckmun Co. of Cleveland, now Dow Chemical, in 1932.

The PRINT CLUB OF CLEVELAND is an organization of connoisseurs of prints and printmaking. Membership is by application and is limited to 250, with all members living in the Western Reserve. The club was founded by Ralph R. King (1855-1926), print enthusiast and benefactor, and incorporated as the Print Club on 20 Dec. 1919.

PRINT JOURNALISM. Like many of civilization's amenities, journalism came late to the Cleveland area. The settlement waited more than 20 years for its first newspaper, Andrew Logan's CLEAVELAND GAZETTE & COMMERCIAL REGISTER, founded on 31 July 1818.

PRINTING AND PUBLISHING IN CLEVELAND developed slowly and modestly, and it was not until the 1940s and the flowering of the WORLD PUBLISHING CO. that Cleveland could boast a first-class trade publisher. Although Cleveland was discovered and settled in 1796, as late as 1820 there were only 606 people.

PRINTZ-BIEDERMAN CO., one of the oldest American manufacturers of women's apparel, was organized in Dec. 1893 by master tailor Moritz Printz. A native of Austria, Printz came to Cleveland in 1872 to work for his brother-in-law, cloak manufacturer David Black. The head designer for D. Black & Co., Printz stayed in Cleveland when Black moved his company to New York in 1894.

PRITCHARD, D. JAMES (12 Apr. 1908-20 Aug. 1998) was a bank executive and public relations director who was heavily involved in promoting education in the community. He was born in Lisbon, Ohio, to Floy (McCausland) and David R. Pritchard, an accountant. He came to Cleveland as a child and lived in the Glenville area before moving to EAST CLEVELAND.

PRIVATE SCHOOLS. The public-school movement in the U.S. did not really begin until the 1830s and 1840s. Consequently, schools established in the early 19th century were, of necessity, private schools. The line between public and private, however, was not as rigid as it is today. The people believed that education benefited the community at large and that the costs should be borne by all.

PRO FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES have been played in Cleveland 9 times, 6 times for the Natl. Football League crown (1945, 1950, 1952, 1954, 1964, and 1968), and 3 times for the All-America Football Conference championship (1946, 1948, and 1949). Of the 9 title games Cleveland has hosted, the Cleveland team has triumphed in 7: 1945, 1946, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1954, and 1964.

The PROFESSIONAL MEN'S CLUB OF CLEVELAND, an invitational organization for men, was preceded by the Cleveland Chapter of the Intl. Assn. of Torch Clubs, Inc.

The PROGRESSIVE CORP., a Cleveland-based insurance holding company specializing in non-standard, high-risk automobile insurance, began in 1937 when attorneys Joseph M. Lewis and J. H. Green formed the Progressive Mutual Insurance Co. with $10,000 in capital.

PROGRESSIVE FIELD, previously named Jacobs Field at 2401 Ontario Street, was opened in 1994 as part of the new Gateway Sports and Entertainment Complex intended to revitalize downtown Cleveland.

The PROGRESSIVE PARTY IN OHIO was organized 19 June 1948 in Cleveland to support the candidacy of former Vice President Henry Wallace for president. Wallace believed world peace was imperative in order to use America's abundance at home to banish poverty, bigotry, and discrimination. He branded the Truman Doctrine, which aimed to contain COMMUNISM, as warlike and reactionary. Dr.

PROGRESSIVE SLOVENE WOMEN OF AMERICA (Progresivne Slovenke Amerike), was formed in 1934 to assist Cleveland Slovenian families afflicted by the Depression. Early activities included hosting speakers from welfare agencies and home-nursing classes by the AMERICAN RED CROSS.

The PROHIBITION AMENDMENT, outlawing the manufacture, transport, and sale of alcoholic beverages, was enforced in Ohio 27 May 1919-23 Dec. 1933—nearly 8 months longer than the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and its enforcing Volstead Act. When state prohibition began in 1919, most Cleveland liquor dealers either sold or stored their stocks and closed, or sold nonalcoholic drinks. About 50 of 1,028 bars stayed open.

The PROHIBITION PARTY in Cleveland was organized in 1869 when local TEMPERANCE Republicans led by Geo. P. Burwell nominated a slate of candidates for the Mar. 1869 municipal elections, including Grove Abbey. Abbey received 1,049 votes, approximately 9% of the total votes cast for mayor.

PROJECT EVE (Education, Volunteerism, & Employment), founded in 1976, was a pioneer effort to bring women into the workforce.

PROJECT FRIENDSHIP. See BIG BROTHER/BIG SISTER MOVEMENT.

PROSPECT CLUB. See WOMEN'S PROTECTIVE ASSN.