Cleveland! And the end of the road…

3 min readMay 15, 2023

I lived in Cleveland twice — from 1980–1984, and from 1986–1988. Albert and I stayed this time around with my old friends Jeanne and Bill (same ones we met in Flagstaff for dinner in February), toured my old neighborhoods, and saw a few other old friends.

Jeanne is on the board of Restore Cleveland Hope with Joan Southgate, who I worked with years ago as a community organizer (and who is also mother of my friend Martha). Restore Cleveland Hope is dedicated to telling the story of the Underground Railroad in Cleveland. Here’s how Restore Cleveland Hope came about:

In 2001–2002, Joan became inspired to walk the Underground Railroad from the Ohio River to the Canadian border. As she says, she became intrigued with the question of what it was like for these brave people to escape slavery and flee into the unknown for freedom. She was 71 years old when she walked. She got press attention along the way, spoke to school groups, and ultimately wrote a book about her experience and the UGRR in Ohio:

When she returned she learned that a house once belonging to an important abolitionist in Cleveland was about to be torn down, and she decided to galvanize her friends and enlist local organizations to save the house, drawing on her organizing skills (She said, “We held signs in front of the house, and even demonstrated at the church of a business leader!). Not only did they save the house, they raised funds to turn it into an interpretive center on the Underground Railroad.

We visited the Cozad-Bates House where we captured these photos:

Joan telling the story of saving the house to a visitor

A map with a guide to local abolitionists

We learned about an escapee in nearby Oberlin who was lured out of town by slavecatchers so he could be captured by U.S. Marshalls without interference by local abolitionists; word got out and a crowd of 600 surrounded the hotel where he was being imprisoned. In the confusion, he escaped and made his way to Canada. Two of the abolitionists were charged under the Fugitive Slave Act, found guilty, and served time. The case inspired massive demonstrations in Cleveland and the two abolitionists were ultimately released.

We had dinner at Edwin’s, a high-end French restaurant that hires and trains people returning from prison. Edwin’s stands for Education Wins. Here’s the motto on the menu: