Want to know if your great grandparents were married? Want to know if great-aunt Sally murdered great-uncle John back in 1898? Want to find out if your house is haunted? You can find all these things and more with a visit to the Cuyahoga County Archives, newly relocated to 3951 Perkins Avenue — just a block north of Euclid Avenue, in the old Halle’s Warehouse Building.
Opened in 1975, the Cuyahoga County Archives keeps the records of our county government in accordance with modern records retentions laws, so that the historical and cultural heritage of the county can be kept for future generations. The Archives was formerly located in the Rhodes House on Franklin Avenue in Ohio City, in a converted century house that was not always user-friendly. The once-stately dwelling had previously served as a private home, a juvenile detention facility, a nursing home and welfare office.
The new home of the archives is a light and airy space where records are easily accessible to the staff and the public. State-of-the-art microfilm readers allow researchers to easily access documents and even bring their own flash drive to download records for future reading and research — a real boon to those of us who used to have to pay for each copy of century old records or copy them in long hand.
Display cases are located thoughout the public areas, displaying items of historical interest that connect the past to the present. One current display contains memorabilia of the administration of Carl B. Stokes. The items connect the past with a newly published book, Ballots and Bullets: Black Power Politics and Urban Guerrilla Warfare in 1968 Cleveland, by Cleveland lawyer and historian James Robenalt.
The facility is open to the public on Monday and Wednesday-Friday @ 8:30am-3:00pm. It’s closed to the public on Tuesday, but the staff accepts phone calls to provide information. There are some reserved parking spots, but off-street parking is available, and it is a short walk from the Euclid Avenue Health Line. Volunteers and staff are available to assist you with your research.
As the repository of county records, the archives is a virtual treasure trove for those seeking genealogical information. It holds the county’s birth, death, marriage and naturalization records for much of the 20th century. It has the records from the coroner’s office from 1837- 1900, so can look at things like the cause of death for an individual or the gory details of long- closed murder case.
In graduate school I did a research project on the history and evolution of black-owned funeral homes in Cleveland. Basically, I was looking to find out what funeral homes buried black people before the first black-owned funeral home opened in Cleveland the turn of the 20th century. A registry of deaths available at the archives provided a wealth of information. Records disclosed that one local funeral home was a year older than the current generation thought.
A recent researcher was seeking the necessary documentation to obtain dual citizenship for his mother. He needed one final document to complete the process. Fortunately, the record was located through the diligent work of the staff, and the gentleman’s 96-year-old mother was able to obtain the dual citizenship.
One of the most bizarre use of the records are people who want to determine whether their house is haunted — yes, you read it right. They want to determine if their house is haunted. By tracing the chain of title of their property, concerned homeowners can find out who lived in their house and if they died in a manner that might make you think that their spirit wants to linger or return on Halloween. You might also find that a Cleveland Lizzie Borden wielded an axe in your upstairs bedroom.
If you are interest in tracing political elections, the archives maintains the abstracts from voters from 1893-1974. Real estate records are one of the archives’ most valuable records. They have the maps for all the township and ward maps from 1860-1900 and the real estate appraisal cards from 1935-1970.
Looking for the homeland of your forebears? The records of naturalization in the archives can help you discover your family’s place of origin and other information about your immigrant ancestors. Did grandpa spend time in the slammer? Perhaps you will find clues in the Common Pleas Criminal Court Records. Answers to these and other intriguing questions may be found in the County Archives.
Archivist Judy Cetina, who has been with the county since 1977, keeps a close and guarded eye on records while also often going above and beyond the call of duty to help people find what they are looking for. The members of the archives staff and volunteers are equally eager to help researchers in their search for information.
Preserving our past is an important and sometimes overlooked part of government. While preserving records is mandated by law, it is not always a high priority for government. Current technology makes the preserving of records much easier. Keeping century-old records is a much greater challenge but also equally important. We as a society do not want to lose our history.
Let us save what remains: not by vaults and locks which fence them from the public eye and use in cosigning them to the waste of time, but by such multiplication of copies, as shall place them beyond the reach of accident. — Thomas Jefferson
C. Ellen Connally is a retired judge of the Cleveland Municipal Court. From 2010 to 2014 she served as the President of the Cuyahoga County Council. An avid reader and student of American history, she serves on the Board of the Ohio History Connection, is currently vice president of the Cuyahoga County Soldiers and Sailors Monument Commission and treasurer of the Cleveland Civil War Round Table. She holds degrees from BGSU, CSU and is all but dissertation for a PhD from the University of Akron.
Cleveland, OH 44114
2 Responses to “Preserving Our Past: The Cuyahoga County Archives by C. Ellen Connally”
valerie
wondering if a home on perkiins avenue was ever a funeral home before 1950? Looking for answers for family members that were told grandma’s house was a funeral home before they bought it. Not sure of address….sorry don’t know how to get this information.
Steve Hasty
I cleaned the Guardians if Transportation in the early 80s . The photographer for the county would take pictures of our progress and we actually duplicated the original pose if standing on it shoulders. He made an envelope of photographs for me . I never followed up on picking them up . My question is is there anything I can look thru to find them . Thank you