Thu 3/20 @ 7PM
The current wave of demonizing immigrants — far from the first in a country that’s had xenophobic eras before — is discouraging, especially when viewed through the lens of local history. Without Slovenians, Cleveland wouldn’t have been the polka capital of North America. Italian stonecutters and bricklayers created Lake View Cemetery and many other local monuments and supercharged the city’s produce business. More recently, Ukrainians put down roots in Parma, where they built several dazzling Ukrainian churches. And at one point in the late 1870s, 10% of the population was Irish. These immigrants worked in steel mills, established service businesses, opened stores, paved the streets and fought fires. And yes, they were looked down on as bringing crime, disease and social dysfunction.
Somehow, we survived.
Dr John Grabowski, recently retired from the Western Reserve Historic Society and the Case Western Reserve University Department of History, founded the Cleveland Stories programs at the Music Box Super Club. A lot of them focus on light, popular topics such as crime, disasters, sports and “Haunted Cleveland.” But tonight Grabowski himself will be center stage talking about “The Immigrant Groups That Built Cleveland,” his own research specialty. The description of the program says he’ll talk about “the Slovenians, Polish, African Americans, Germans, Italians, Puerto Ricans, Irish and many others who arrived in different waves… when they came to Cleveland, and what their major contributions were to this magnificent city.” So how many hours long is this going to be??? That history is encyclopedic.
Doors open at 5 for dinner; storytelling begins at 7. The program is free, but you’ll want to make a reservation here.