Preface

Anniversaries are occasions not only for celebration but also for assessment of the past in order to better plan for the future. In this respect, Cleveland's bicentennial anniversary is doubly important-Clevelanders will not only be celebrating a landmark birthday but will be examining their past and its legacy. Indeed, Cleveland's history is its true bicentennial legacy. To understand that legacy is to understand how the future needs to be shaped. We hope that with this second edition of the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History we have created the best available tool which Clevelanders can use to explore the richness of their history and the diversity of their community.

When the first edition of the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History appeared in 1987, it was nationally acclaimed as the best single source of information about any aspect of Cleveland's past. More importantly, its appearance sparked a great deal of interest in local history and helped to bring to the editors' attention a wealth of new information about the city. The accumulation of new information contained in the numerous books and articles published and new collections of papers gathered during the past nine years made it clear that there was a need for a new edition, and the bicentennial anniversary seemed the appropriate occasion and helps to explain why this edition is so different from the first. In many respects it is entirely new. In the first place, it appears in two distinct volumes. The first is the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History which covers the history of business, industry, government, social agencies, events, and general topics. The second volume, the Dictionary of Cleveland Biography, contains only biographical entries, including over 900 original biographical articles found in the First edition as well as 772 new entries, representing a broad spectrum of Clevelanders engaged in a wide variety of endeavors.

The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History contains all of the original articles from the first edition, revised and updated. In addition, there are nearly 400 entirely new articles and 28 new interpretive essays. Photographs, carefully selected from the rich photographic archives of the Cleveland Public Library, the Cleveland Press Collection at Cleveland State University, the Plain Dealer, and the enormous collection of the Western Reserve Historical Society, have been added to this edition. Each of the photographs has been chosen to enhance the reader's understanding of the particular article which it illustrates. The maps from the original edition have been carefully redrawn and corrected, and new maps have been added. The tables have also been updated and several new tables added.

We hope that as Clevelanders move into the twenty-first century they will find this bicentennial edition of the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History a rich educational resource, a useful reference tool, and a source of entertainment and remembrance.

David D. Van Tassel
Editor
Case Western Reserve University

John J. Grabowski
Managing Editor
Western Reserve Historical Society