Conflict
The social history of urban development is defined by conflict.
Individuals and groups with competing interests commonly vied with each other to create a world that best reflected their beliefs and desires.
These competing interests, often a reflection of the inequalities between disparate groups, found expression through public discourse, various forms of protest, and occasional eruptions of violence.
Cleveland was no exception. Since the late 19th century, the city's densely populated landscape was socially stratified and racially segregated.
Within these tight quarters, inhabitants of the urban center were confronted with opposing worldviews and unfamiliar cultures.
One need only look at a newspaper from any moment in Cleveland's history to find examples of conflict arising between ethnic groups, political parties, or social classes.
These conflicts were often critical in creating public awareness of dissenting opinions, helping to change popular perceptions on social or political issues, and shedding light on inequalities.
Examining conflict provides an opportunity to gain a fuller understanding of Cleveland's past.
It allows us to trace the transformation of Cleveland society as its residents renegotiated the status quo, pointing to opposing viewpoints that might have otherwise disappeared from the historical record.
May Day Riot
In 1919, the United States was experiencing its first "Red Scare." Following the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in 1917, public sentiment against Socialists - who maintained a strong presence in Cleveland during this era - was high. Many viewed the Socialists and their sympathizers as a…
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The McCart Street Gang
aka The Gang from Cheyenne
Many Cleveland moviegoers have seen Martin Scorsese's 2002 film "Gangs of New York," a story about the vicious street gangs that populated New York's notorious Five Points District around the time of the U.S. Civil War. Few Clevelanders, however, know that from about 1888 to…
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Short Vincent
A Walk on Cleveland's Historic Wild Side
Vincent Avenue, known in its heyday as "Short Vincent," spans only a single city block between East 6th and East 9th streets, but it was a hub of Cleveland nightlife in the early to mid-twentieth century. Located behind the lavish Hollenden Hotel near the city's center, Short…
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The Hough Uprisings of 1966
On July 5, 1966, Mayor Ralph S. Locher unveiled an eight-point peace program meant to alleviate racial tensions in Cleveland. Prepared by Locher’s administration, businessmen, politicians, community activists, and religious leaders, the pact forged a symbolic peace between the city government and…
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The Shaker Lakes Freeway Fight
The Shaker Lakes are man-made bodies of water created by the North Union Shaker Community in the mid-nineteenth century to power a series of mills. When the Shakers left and their lands became part of the suburb of Shaker Heights, the lakes remained, becoming the focal point of a series of parks.…
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Euclid Beach Park
Amusements, Rides, and Restrictions
In 1901, Dudley S. Humphrey became the owner of Euclid Beach amusement park, vowing to make the park a respectable, family friendly place for recreation. He had previously run a popcorn stand at the park, though the prevalence of alcohol, freak shows, and gambling under the old ownership did not…
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Columbus Street Bridge
Anyone who has lived in Cleveland for a while knows that a certain rivalry exists between its east and west sides, separated as they are by the Cuyahoga River. What most people don't realize is just how far back in history the rivalry goes, or that in the 1830s the building of a new bridge over the…
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"Black Jack" McGinty
From the Old Angle to the Desert Inn
Like world champ Johnny Kilbane, Thomas McGinty saw boxing as a way out of the poverty that was endemic among Irish immigrants in early twentieth century Cleveland.
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Mounds Club
The story in the Cleveland Plain Dealer read like a script from one of Bruce Willis' Die Hard movies. In the early morning hours of September 29, 1947, a dozen masked commandos armed with submachine guns and referring to each other by numbers attacked the Mounds Club, one of the Cleveland…
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The Battle at Saint Ladislas
Hungarians and Slovaks Vie for Control of First Church
On Sunday, August 2, 1891, the congregation of Hungarian (Magyar) and Slovak parishioners gathered in St. Ladislas Roman Catholic Church on the southeast side of Cleveland for mass. Father John Martvon, the church's Slovak pastor, began the mass in Latin, but when the time arrived for him to give…
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