RAWSON, LOUISE R. BARRON (31 Jan. 1843-24 June 1920) spurred the kindergarten movement in Cleveland as the third president of the CLEVELAND DAY NURSERY AND FREE KINDERGARTEN ASSOCIATION (1885-1908).
REAL ESTATE. The history of real estate development in Cleveland is the story of property owners who speculated on the economic future of the city and anticipated the effect of growth upon property values in different locations.
The REAL PROPERTY INVENTORY OF METROPOLITAN CLEVELAND (RPI) collected detailed statistics and issued reports about population trends, housing, manufacturing, retail business, and other aspects of life in the Cleveland area.
REASON, PATRICK HENRY (1816-12 Aug. 1898), an African-American engraver and lithographer, was born in New York City to Michel and Elizabeth Melville Rison and was baptized Patrice Rison. He was educated at the New York African Free School, where he made an engraving of the school that was used as the frontispiece of Chas. C. Andrew's History of the New York African Free Schools (1830).
REAVIS, JOHN WALLACE "JACK" (13 Nov. 1899-27 July 1984) was a preeminent business lawyer, tax specialist, and managing partner of the law firm of JONES, DAY, REAVIS & POGUE from 1948-1975. Active in civil rights, Reavis used his influence to help promote better race relations.
The RECALL ELECTION of 1978 was held to determine whether or not Mayor Dennis Kucinich would be removed from office. The impetus for recall was sparked by the mayor's public firing of Police Chief Richard Hongisto in March 1978. Using the media, Hongisto charged that Kucinich interfered with the operation of the police department, and the mayor in turn accused Hongisto of insubordination.
RECREATION AND LEISURE. Leisure being a relative luxury in a pioneer community such as early Cleveland, recreation was largely an impromptu, catch-as-catch-can activity. The average national workday of 11 hours no doubt was even higher for many in the frontier milieu of the WESTERN RESERVE.
The RECREATION LEAGUE OF CLEVELAND, a private, invitational organization representing many of Cleveland's "founding families," was formed in 1927 by a group of parents who wanted "to provide supervised recreation and wholesome entertainment" for their sons and daughters. A constitution was adopted, and FRANCES P. BOLTON (Mrs. Chester C.) was elected as first president.
RED JACKET'S SPEECH took place in Buffalo, NY, on 23 June 1796 during a 3-day council with MOSES CLEAVELAND to negotiate a formal settlement of Indian claims to the WESTERN RESERVE. In a treaty signed at Ft. Stanwix in 1784, the Six Nations (Iroquois) had yielded to the U.S.
REDINGER, RUBY VIRGINIA (3 April 1915-9 Feb. 1981) was a Cleveland novelist and college educator whose most famous works were The Golden Net (1948) and George Eliot: The Emergent Self (1975) each of which received critical praise and established Redinger's reputation as an author.
REED, J. ELMER (6 May 1903-27 Dec. 1983) instrumental in integrating the sport of BOWLING on the local and national level, was born in Cleveland, the son of James E. and Harriet Brown Reed. He went to work for the U.S. Postal Service in 1922 and remained there for 36 years, retiring in 1958.
REED, JACOB E. (1852-9 Oct. 1935), called by one historian "the black version of the Horatio Alger myth," coming to Cleveland with very little but becoming a wealthy businessman, was born in Harrisburg, Pa., son of Adam and Mary (Evans) Reed.
REED, VIVIAN BROWN (1942 - 20 Aug. 1998) was a track and field star who competed in the 1964 Olympic games and later became a successful high school coach. She was born in Detroit to Lois and Cornelius Brown. Her family moved to Cleveland when she was young.
REEDUS, MAURICE JR. "SAX MAN" (19 January 1953 – 16 April 2018), was a successful saxophone player whose popular performances enabled legislation permitting busking on the streets of Cleveland.
REGIONAL GOVERNMENT. The regional government movement was an effort by civic reformers to solve by means of a broader-based government metropolitan problems arising from the dispersion of urban populations from central cities to adjacent suburbs. When suburban growth accelerated after WORLD WAR II, reform coalitions proposed various governing options, with mixed results.
REGIONAL TRANSIT AUTHORITY. See GREATER CLEVELAND REGIONAL TRANSIT AUTHORITY.
REGNATZ, CAROLINA/CAROLINE OBELZ (1879-19 Jan. 1936) was one of Cleveland's best known caterers and restaurant proprietors.
Born Carolina Obelz in Belli-Kikinda, Austria-Hungary, she was the daughter of French parents, Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Obelz. Receiving no formal education, Carolina applied herself in the catering business. She married Anton Regnatz in 1901 and they came to America in 1906.
REID, JAMES SIMS (22 Nov. 1894-29 Nov. 1981), inventor, manufacturer, and physician, was born in Yazoo County, Mississippi. He received an M.D. degree from the University of Louisville in 1916 and then served as a medical captain in Europe during WORLD WAR I.
REILLY, RAYMOND J. (October 22, 1935 - February 20, 2003) was the “guiding force” of Cleveland’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade for decades. The grandson of Irish immigrants, Raymond Reilly was born in Cleveland to John and Mary (Gibbons) Reilly. He was given the nickname “Rip” by his sister due to his unruly behavior as a child; the name stuck for the rest of his life.
The REINBERGER FOUNDATION was established in 1968 by CLARENCE T. REINBERGER (1894-1968). The purposes of the foundation are general and non-restrictive and include education, the arts, social welfare, Protestant church support, hospitals and medical research.
REINBERGER, CLARENCE THOMPSON (29 Nov. 1894-2 Dec. 1968) was a prominent businessman and philanthropist who chaired the board of directors of Genuine Parts Co., parent organization of NAPA auto parts stores. In 1968 he established the REINBERGER FOUNDATION to fund and support Cleveland and Columbus area hospitals, colleges, schools, museums, and the arts.
REINERT, FREDERICK "RICK" (14 Sep. 1925 – 5 Nov. 2018) was one of the most talented and imaginative artists/animators of his time. Born Frederick George Reinert, Jr. in Parma, he was one of three sons of Fred and Anita Reinert.
REINTHAL, DAVID F. (28 April 1915-17 Nov. 1992) businessman and educator, was born in Cleveland, the son of Manuel and Cora Fuld Reinthal. He graduated from UNIVERSITY SCHOOL in 1932 and attended Yale University, receiving his BA degree four years later.
The RELIANCE ELECTRIC CO., a leading manufacturer of electrical products for industry, was founded in 1905 by Cleveland industrialist Peter M. Hitchcock and his cousin, inventor John C. Lincoln. Originally founded as the Lincoln Electric Manufacturing Co., with offices in the CAXTON BUILDING, the company was incorporated in 1907 as the Lincoln Motor Works Co.
RELIGION. Only a few other northern industrial cities match the variety that marks Cleveland's religious life. What began as a religiously homogeneous settlement dominated by white Protestants from New England in the early 19th century fragmented beginning in the 1840s, when Catholics and Jews arrived to create a pluralistic town.
REMENYI, JOSEPH (1 Dec. 1892-25 Sept. 1956) was a widely recognized Hungarian-American writer who served as professor of comparative literature at Western Reserve Univ. (see CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY) for a quarter-century. Born in Pozsony, Hungary, he was educated at Francis Joseph Royal Univ.
RENAISSANCE CLEVELAND HOTEL (formerly Cleveland Hotel, Hotel Cleveland, Stouffer's Inn on the Square, and Stouffer Renaissance Cleveland Hotel) is the most recent hotel to occupy the historic PUBLIC SQUARE site at the intersection of Superior Ave. at the Square.
The RENNER FOUNDATION, incorporated in 1947 in Ohio as the Renner Clinic Foundation, was founded by R. Richard Renner, M.D. (d. 1979), founder of HILLCREST HOSPITAL.
The REPUBLIC STEEL CORP., headquartered in Cleveland, was the 5th-largest steel producer in the U.S. at the time of its merger into LTV Steel in 1984. Republic was established on 8 Apr. 1930 by CYRUS EATON and WM. G. MATHER through an amalgamation of several steel companies.
The REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION OF 1924 (10-13 June 1924) was called to select the party's nominees for the presidential election—the first national political convention held in Cleveland and the first ever to be broadcast on RADIO. At the behest of Congressman THEODORE BURTON, Cleveland civic leaders offered the Republican Natl.
The REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION OF 1936 was held 9-12 June to nominate Republican party presidential and vice-presidential candidates for the 1936 election. Cleveland was chosen by the Republican Natl. Committee when Congressman CHESTER CASTLE BOLTON persuaded Cleveland civic organizations and businessmen to raise $150,000 to underwrite convention expenses.
REPUBLICAN PARTY. See CUYAHOGA COUNTY REPUBLICAN PARTY.
RESTAURANTS. Since Cleveland's earliest days, restaurants, taverns, and saloons have generally served as social centers for communities or neighborhoods. The isolation Cleveland's first settlers felt would have been lessened at LORENZO CARTER's tavern on Superior St. (ca.
The RETAIL MERCHANTS BOARD, INC., organized to promote sales and influence buying patterns, began in 1898 as a committee of the Chamber of Commerce and was formally organized in 1900. The board, made up of downtown merchants, met weekly to discuss the state of retail trade in Cleveland.
REVCO CLEVELAND MARATHON AND 10K. See RITE AID CLEVELAND MARATHON AND 10K.
REVCO D.S., INC., one of the largest drugstore chains in the area and a pioneer in the discount drug field, was founded in 1956 by Detroit drugstore operator Bernard Shulman. Shulman, who saw an opportunity to apply high-volume, low-margin merchandising to the drug business, had a chain of 4 stores in 1957, which he named Regal D.S., Inc. The company was an instant success, with $300,000 in annual sales.
REVELT, RICHARD D. (27 Apr. 1932-7 Nov. 1992), though a photographer by trade, was better known as "The Deaf Advocate" because of his lifelong commitment to the hearing impaired.
Born and raised in Cleveland, Revelt contracted spinal meningitis when he was three, and the disease left him deaf. He attended Alexander Graham Bell School in Cleveland, and then St. Mary's School for the Deaf in Buffalo, NY.
REVOLUTION BOOKS was founded by the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP) and other local supporters to provide an outlet for communist literature as well as a meeting space for events and groups organizing for revolutionary change. Cleveland's chapter of the RCP was one of the founding chapters when the party was formed in 1975.
REYNOLDS, JAMES A. (6, Dec. 1871-15 April 1951), was a lifelong member of the INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS AND AEROSPACE WORKERS and a Progressive era politician. Reynolds was born in Wiltshire, England. He quit school at age nine to work in the coal mines of South Wales.
RHODES, DANIEL POMEROY (22 Nov. 1813-5 Aug. 1875) was a pioneer in the Cleveland coal mining business, contributed to the development of RAILROADS in northern Ohio, and heavily promoted the development of Cleveland's west side.
RHODES, JAMES FORD (1 May 1848-22 Jan. 1927), historian and businessman, was born in Cleveland to DANIEL POMEROY and Sophia Lord Russell Rhodes. He attended the University of the City of New York (1865-66) and University of Chicago (1866-67), but never graduated.
RICE, HARVEY (11 June 1800-7 Nov. 1891), reorganizer of Ohio schools, was born in Conway, Mass., to Stephen and Lucy (Baker) Rice. He graduated from Williams College (1824) and came to Cleveland as a teacher. In 1826 he studied law, and eventually entered into partnership with REUBEN WOOD.
RICE, WALTER PERCIVAL (2 Sept. 1855-21 Aug. 1941) exerted a formative influence on Cleveland's water, harbor, and sewage systems during his career as a civil engineer. A native Clevelander, he was the son of Percival and Mary Cutter Rice and the grandson of educator HARVEY RICE.
RICHARDSON, JOHN NEWTON (Feb. 1837-5 May 1902) was an architect and engineer who, with FRANK (FRANZ) E. CUDELL, formed Cudell & Richardson, one of the most important and innovative architectural firms in Cleveland during the 1870s and 1880s.
RICHARDSON, LYON NORMAN (20 July 1898-16 Aug. 1980) found time to run the university libraries while serving as a distinguished professor of American literature at CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIV. Born in Andover, O., he returned following his graduation from Western Reserve Univ.
RICHARDSON, WILLIAM R. (1840-24 Oct. 1873) Congressional Medal of Honor recipient for service during the CIVIL WAR, was born in Cleveland. However, he enlisted in the 2nd Ohio Volunteer Cavalry at Akron, Ohio on 16, Aug. 1861. The company was mustered on 27 Aug. 1861 at Camp Wade on University Heights (the Tremont area) just south of the Cleveland boundary at that time.
The RICHFIELD COLISEUM located at 2923 Streetsboro Road in Richfield Township Ohio, was built in 1974 for 36 million dollars in order to replace the CLEVELAND ARENA.
The RICHMAN BROTHERS CO. manufactured and sold men's suits, furnishings, and hats, supplying a national network of stores from its 23-acre tailoring plant and offices at 1600 E. 55th St. The firm began in 1879 when Henry Richman moved his manufacturing and wholesale clothing business to Cleveland from Portsmouth, OH.
RICHMAN, SAMUEL (ca. 1845- ) Congressional Medal of Honor recipient for service during the Indian Wars, was a native of Cleveland, enlisting in the U.S. Army 24 Oct. 1866 at age 21. Assigned to the 8th U.S. Cavalry, Private Richman served in the Arizona Territory on patrols and scouts from Camp Whipple (near Prescott) which extended during 1868 into the Juniper Mountains to the northwest.
RICHMOND HEIGHTS was the last portion of Euclid Twp. to be incorporated as a village in 1917. Originally called Claribel, it became Richmond Hts. in 1918 and incorporated as a city in 1960. The city of 4.7 sq. mi.