Green Book Cleveland is a restorative history project of the Center for Public History + Digital Humanities at Cleveland State University and Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Our main collaborators are ThirdSpace Action Lab, Cleveland Metroparks, Summit Metro Parks, Ohio & Erie Canalway National Heritage Area, Trust for Public Land, Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park, University of Akron, and Akron Zoo. With help from community members, we are preserving stories of Black leisure and entertainment in Northeast Ohio.
Project Team
Hazim Abdullah-Smith, Mellon Humanities Postdoctoral Fellow
Erin J. Bell, Cleveland State University (Web Developer)
Arrye Rosser, Cuyahoga Valley National Park (Oral History Subcommittee)
Erich Schnack, Cuyahoga Valley National Park (Oral History Subcommittee)
J. Mark Souther, Cleveland State University (Founding Director/Oral History Subcommittee)
Jennifer Vasarhelyi, Cuyahoga Valley National Park (Chair, Steering Committee)
Steering Committee
Jennifer Vasarhelyi, Cuyahoga Valley National Park (Chair)
Mera Cardenas, Ohio & Erie Canalway National Heritage Area
Donté Gibbs, Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Charlotte Gintert, Summit Metro Parks
Judith MacKeigan, Cleveland Metroparks
Arrye Rosser, Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Megan Shaffer, Summit Metro Parks
J. Mark Souther, Cleveland State University
Sean Terry, The Trust for Public Land
Student Researchers
The following students researched and wrote location narratives in Dr. Mark Souther’s Introduction to Public History course at Cleveland State University in fall 2021 and fall 2023, or as graduate research assistants in summer 2022 and spring 2024: Abby Bennington, Tara Bostater, Susan Clerkin, Marc Demitrus, Michael Dudzik, Cheyenne Florence, Jacob Gales, Riley Habyl, Aislinn Hall, Maya Hixon, Joey Hooks, Mariam Kuku, Cameron Maffei, Sierra Malnar, Courtney Martin, Emma Norton, Emily Penner, Erich Schnack, Elena Solá, Matthew Steenbergh, Milan Urbancic, Duncan Virostko, Bali White, Sarah G. White, Jasmine M. Wilson, Andrew Zelina
The following students researched and wrote location narratives in Dr. Gregory S. Wilson’s Public History Seminar at the University of Akron in fall 2023: Stephanie Godsey, Emily Hill, Caitlynn Jackson, Hannah Kemp-Severence, Sarah Meade, Melanie Mohler, Russell Pier, Dillon Piorkowski, Rose Vance-Grom
Community Contributors and Researchers
Randy Bergdorf, Lisa Ford, Becky MacKay, Aundra Willis-Carrasco