Ohio History Journal
IMMIGRANT COLONIES IN CLEVELAND
By WELLINGTON G. FORDYCE
In any discussion of the social,
political, religious, and eco-
nomic problems of the United States as
related to its immigrant
population, the cities of New York,
Chicago, and Detroit are
usually the principal cities mentioned.
"Little Italy," "The
Ghetto," or "Chinatown"
are more apt to provoke visions of the
settlements in New York and Chicago than
those of any other
city. The foreign districts of New York
are generally familiar
through the medium of the movies and our
current literature.
Surprisingly little consideration is
given the city of Cleveland in
the literature of the subject, although
its population is very
cosmopolitan. Cleveland might wear the
title "The Foreign
City" as well as that of "The
Forest City" which it proudly ad-
vertises.
New York receives its foreign born as
the terminus of steam-
ship lines and retains them on account
of its advantages as the
largest city in the country. Cleveland
has obtained and retained
its foreign born because it has been a
growing center of industry.
Certain geographic factors have combined
to make it a great in-
dustrial center. It is close to the coal
fields, and affords a con-
venient meeting point for the iron from
the head of the Lakes and
the coal of southern Ohio and western
Pennsylvania. Early in
the present century, Andrew Carnegie
pointed out that the south-
ern shore of Lake Erie was the place for
the cheapest iron and
steel production in the United States,
if not in the world. A
center of industry with cheap raw
materials was the attraction
for a large number of immigrants who
furnished the cheap labor
for its plants and factories.1
The importance of the foreign element in
Cleveland's popu-
lation will be shown by an examination
of Table I. The per-
1 Frederick C. Howe, "A City
Finding Itself," in World's Work (New York,
1900-), VI (1908), 3988.
(320)
IMMIGRANT COLONIES IN
CLEVELAND 321
centage of those born
abroad did not fall below thirty per cent.
of the total
population of the city, between 1890 and 1920. In
1930 the Census
showed only 25.4% of the population to be
foreign born. This
decline was due to the stoppage of immi-
gration. When the
number of persons of mixed parentage is
considered, the
figures demonstrate conclusively the importance
of the foreign
element in Cleveland's population. In 1890, 74.9%
was of mixed
parentage, and in 1930 this figure remained at
64.8%.
TABLE I
Analysis of
Foreign Population, Cleveland, Ohio
(Compiled from the Census
Reports 1890-1930)
1890 1900
1910 1920 1930
Total Population
............. 61,353 381,768 560,663
796,841 900,429
Population of Mixed
Parentage 195,736 288,491 419,611 549,779 584,258
Foreign Born
Population..... 97,095
124,475 195,703 239,538 229,487
Percentage of Foreign
Born.. 33.3 32.6
34.9 30.0 25.4
Percentage Foreign
Born and
Mixed
Parentage......... 74.9 75.5
74.8 68.9 64.8
The cosmopolitan
nature of this element in the population
is also unusual.
Cleveland is not a German city, an Italian city,
or a Hungarian city.
Representatives of almost every race upon
the globe can be
found in the population. The only ones not
represented are
Australian Bushmen, Hottentots, and Eskimos.
Arabs, Hindus,
Chinese, and even a lone representative of Siam
have been residents
of the city. Another curious feature is that
while there have been
large colonies of Germans, Hungarians,
Poles and Jugoslavs,
no single group has ever completely dom-
inated the city. In
certain fields of activity, one group may be
dominant for a short
time, but the changing character of the popu-
lation and the shift
in location of their colonies has prevented this
domination from being
of a lasting nature. In 1917, over one half
of the children in
the public schools spoke a language other than
English.2 In
1923, only 35.4% of the children in the public
schools were of
unmixed, white American parentage.3 In 1924
Cleveland had 100,000
unnaturalized aliens which represented
fifty per cent. of
the foreign born residents of voting age.4 In
2 David E. Green The
City and Its People (Cleveland, 1917), 5.
3 The Cleveland Year Book, 1923, p. 84.
4 Ibid., 1924, p. 8.
322 OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND
HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
1923
Cleveland had the eighth largest Jewish
population of any
city in the world, and stood fourth in
the United States.5 A re-
search student of a great Hungarian
university gave Cleveland
the second largest Hungarian population
of any city in the
United States.6 These rather unrelated
statements are cited to
show the polyglot nature of the
population of Cleveland.
Statistics dealing with the numbers of
separate racial groups
in Cleveland give a wide variety of
figures. Most of the diffi-
culty arises from the fact that prior to
the 1920 Census, prac-
tically all groups were listed by the
country of their origin rather
than
racially. Czechs, Slovaks, Hungarians, Croats, Greeks,
Rumanians, and a number of others were
listed as Magyars.
Since the dissolution of the Austrian
Empire, these peoples have
been listed as separate races, although
there is still doubt as to the
accuracy of the classification.7 Poles
were listed as Germans,
Austrians, and Russians. Lithuanians
were listed as Russians,
and Italians as Austrians. There was
also a confusion arising
from names. Slovaks were mixed with
Russians, Rumanians
with Ruthenians, and Moravians with
Germans. The Police Cen-
sus of Cleveland in 1904 announced the
arrival of 7,000 immi-
grants, but there was no mention of
Czechs, Slovenes, or Germans
among them.8 The city of
Cleveland had a large Czech popula-
tion, and the second largest Slovene
colony in the United States.
It seems strange, that among 7,000
immigrants received during
the year 1904, there should
be no representative of these races.9
The difficulty still exists in any
analysis of racial figures
based on the 1930 Census. The
Czechs and Slovaks are listed to-
gether under the country of origin, and
the Serbs, Croats, and
Slovenes are grouped together as
Jugoslavs. The figures for
Austrians, Germans, and Russians have
become smaller, while
those of Italians, Poles, and Rumanians
have grown. The per-
centage of foreign born in Cleveland had
actually decreased in
1930, so that the difference in the
numbers of each race is due to
5 Cleveland Plain Dealer, September
8, 1923.
6 Ida de Bobula, University of Budapest,
in an interview, Cleveland Plain
Dealer, June 26, 1926.
7 The writer has talked with Hungarians
from Czechoslovakia, who insist the
Census labeled them as being of that
race.
8 Maynard Shipley, "Effects of
Immigration on Homicide in American Cities,"
in Popular Science Monthly (New
York, 1872.), LXIX (1924), 170.
9 John Prucha, "Among the Slavic
Peoples in Cleveland," in Missionary Re-
view of the World (Princeton, N. J., 1878-), XLVII (1926), 600.
IMMIGRANT COLONIES IN CLEVELAND 323
a change in classification of the country of origin. An
examina-
tion of Table II will show this shift in racial
statistics. The
sharp drop in the figures for Swiss, French, Dutch, and
Finns
seems to be due to naturalization and emigration.
Another fac-
tor which the writer has noticed is that some of the
foreign born
have classifications all their own. This was especially
noticeable
among the Russians. The use of classifications such as
Rusin,
Great Russian, White Russian, Little Russian,
Carpatho-Russian,
Galician, are confusing, and must have aroused despair
in the
hearts of the census takers. Because of this situation,
it is an al-
most inevitable conclusion that any population figures
of racial
groups in Cleveland can be considered only as
estimates, and not
as conclusive statements.
TABLE II
Population of Certain Racial Groups in Cleveland
(Based on the Census Reports 1920-1930)
1920 1930
Austria ......................
................. 124,900 6,774
Hungary ...................................... 75,666 19,073
Yugoslavia .................................... 4,112 18,326
Russia ......................................... 76,866 15,193
Italy .......................................... 35,687 23,524
Germany ...................................... 102,441 22,532
Rumania ..................................... 4,112 6,672
Greece .........
............................ 1,896 2,261
Spain ......................................... 215 343
Finland ....................................... 1,675 964
Switzerland .................................... 3,380 972
France
..................................... 2,048 846
Holland ....................................... 2,778 800
Syria .........................................
(Not listed) 1,180
Poland ....................................... (Not
listed) 32,668
Czech-Slovak .................................. (Not
listed) 34,695
A study of immigrant groups and their contributions to
American life must be based upon a background of the
conditions
in the country from which they came, the motives of the
im-
migrants, their permanency, as well as a consideration
of the cul-
ture they brought with them. In 1832 there were ten
persons in
Cleveland of German extraction, and by 1896 it was
estimated
that there were one hundred thousand of them. A great
many of
these people became dwellers in Cleveland by accident,
the city
being along the route of a part of the German
nineteenth century
324
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
migration into the Northwest. Many
others were attracted from
previous settlements in Pennsylvania by
the economic opportu-
nities offered by the new and growing
center of the iron and steel
industry.10 They were still
of sufficient numerical strength to
cause some anxiety among hysterical
Americans during the
World War.11 One of the older
immigrant groups, they still are
very influential in the city's affairs,
and have retained longer than
other groups, their love for things of
the homeland. There are
estimated to be 250,000 persons of the
first and second generation
in Cleveland today.12
The Lithuanians come from the region on
the east of the
Baltic Sea. It is the belief of some
anthropologists that they have
occupied this area since the German
invasions of the fifth cen-
tury. In the fourteenth century
Lithuania was merged with
Poland under a single dynasty, and in
the last of the eighteenth
century with Russia. In 1864 a policy of
Russification was begun
which led to wholesale migrations of the
Lithuanians. The intro-
duction of Russian laws, language,
script, and the suppression of
the Lett press, language, and schools
was resented. The limita-
tion of landholding to 160 acres, and
the unfortunate attitude of
their own nobility in supporting the
Russian policy to save vested
interests, were important causes of the
migration.13 In 1868 they
had begun to appear in the anthracite
fields of Pennsylvania, and
from this district many worked their way
into the vicinity of
Cleveland. It is only since 1900 that
they have been listed as a
separate people. Most of them came to
America to stay, and out
of 252,594 who came between 1899-1903,
only about 20,000 re-
turned. In 1900 about one
thousand moved to Cleveland from
Pennsylvania, and at various times
between I904 and 1920, large
numbers of them came to northern Ohio.14
The first and second
generations numbered between 10,000 and
15,000 in
1920.15
10 E. A. Roberts (ed.), Official
Report of the Centennial Celebration of the
Founding of the City of Cleveland and
the Settlement of the Western Reserve
(Cleveland, 1896), 204.
11 Proceedings
of the Mayor's Advisory War Board, City of Cleveland, 1917, 16.
12 Charles J. Wolfram, The Germans in
the Making of Cleveland, MS. (in Cleve-
land Public Library), p. 10.
13 C. W. Coulter, The Lithuanians in
Cleveland (Cleveland, 1920), 6.
14 Ibid., 8.
15 Katherine Vassault, et al., "Cooperative
Recreation among the Foreign Born,"
in Cleveland Recreation Survey, The
Sphere of Private Agencies (Cleveland, 1920), 156.
IMMIGRANT COLONIES IN CLEVELAND 325
The Hungarians in Cleveland are
represented by three dis-
tinct classes of people. The earlier
Hungarians appeared in Cleve-
land between 1848 and 1852. They were of a higher social class
than the peasants, and came to America
as political exiles. Many
of them had considerable wealth and were
trained in business
and the professions. They became leaders
of importance in the
business and politics of the community,
and several were na-
tional figures. This group included a
number of Hungarian Jews.
The Black family, Hungarian Jews, were
prominent in this early
migration. They founded the Bailey
Company, one of Cleveland's
largest department stores, financed the Szabadsag,
the Hungarian
daily, and were influential in
establishing the textile industry in
Cleveland. Joseph Black, a member of
this family, served as
American consul general at Budapest.16
The major Hungarian migration began
about 1885, and the
principal motive was an economic one.
These immigrants were of
the peasant class and furnished a labor
supply for Cleveland's
thriving industries. The Hungarian
peasant enjoyed an advantage
over other groups of the new immigration
due to the pres-
ence in Cleveland of leaders in the
community life who were
members of his own race and who were
interested in his problems.
The third group of Hungarians is
represented by those who have
come to Cleveland since 1920. Most of them
came from regions
no longer a part of Hungary, and their
motive was racial and
economic. In this last group is found an
outstanding colony of
artists, writers, and intellectuals,
many of whom were of noble
birth. They have not lost their identity
as a separate class among
the Hungarians, and have maintained
closer contacts with Europe
although most of them are naturalized.
This group is furnishing
a new leadership for the Hungarians in
Cleveland.
The Hungarian population of Cleveland by
the Census of
1920 was
75,666.17 On the basis of this figure, one writer gives
Cleveland the second largest Hungarian
colony in the United
States, being exceeded only by that of
New York.18 The previous
discussion of the census figures as
applied to immigrant groups,
16 Hannah F. Cook, The Magyars of Cleveland (Cleveland, 1919), 9.
17 Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920, II, 935.
18 Cook, op. cit., 8.
326 OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND
HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
has shown the untrustworthy nature of
such claims. The number
of Hungarians in Cleveland by the 1930
Census was 19,073, which
is 56,593 less than in 1920.19 However,
the claim that Cleveland
has the second largest Hungarian colony
in the United States is
still made. It is estimated that there
are between 50,000 and
60,000 Hungarians of the first and
second generations in Cleveland
today.
The Polish immigration to the United
States attained impor-
tance in the two decades following 1880.
They came principally
from German and Austrian Poland where
they had been em-
ployed in mining and associated
industries. The Poles were
brought over by the shipload, and
immediately gravitated to the
coal and iron fields of America. The
beginnings of the Cleveland
Polish colony date from 1882, when they
were imported in large
numbers to labor in the steel mills of
the city during a strike.20
By the 1930 Census the Poles form the
second largest immigrant
group in Cleveland. The numbers of
Polish-born in Cleveland
rose from 532 in 1880 to 35,024 in
1920.21 In a survey conducted
by the Monitor Polish Daily, a
number of interesting statistics
were collected. The investigators report
35,163 families of Poles
in greater Cleveland and its suburbs,
and that in 1920, 14.7% of
the foreign born in Cleveland were
Poles.22 It is estimated that
there are 150,000 Poles of the first and
second generations in
Cleveland at the present time, and
another 150,000 within a radius
of fifty miles, the latter being found
in Lorain, Elyria, and Akron.
The Polish immigrants are practically
all of the peasant class,
and have a very humble beginning in the
life of the city.
The Italian immigration to America was
caused by economic
conditions in Italy. Eighty per cent. of
this group was from the
south of Italy. They were generally
illiterate and had a very low
standard of living. They came from a
region where they were
tenant farmers, were heavily taxed, and
where conditions of labor
were harsh. Between 1880-1900 the stream
of immigration to
19 Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930, III, part II, 503.
20 Magdelena Kucera, "The Slavic Races in Cleveland," Charities
(New York,
1897-), XIII (1905), 378.
21 Cleveland Plain Dealer April
17, 1932.
22 W.
J. Nowak (ed.), Survey and Maps of Polish Cleveland (Cleveland, 1930),
9. The method of obtaining these figures
was approved by Howard W. Green, secre-
tary of the Cleveland Health Council, a
local statistician whose work is highly
regarded.
IMMIGRANT COLONIES IN CLEVELAND 327
the United States was about 5,000 a
year, but in the decade 1906-
1916, at least 2,000,000 came, of
whom 1,700,000 remained in
America. Cleveland received a large
share of this immigration.23
One half of the Italians in Ohio are
found in Cleveland and they
are the third largest immigrant group in
the city. The Census of
1930 gives 23,524 Italians to
Cleveland.24 It is estimated that
Italians of the first and second
generations would reach the figure
of 85,000 for the city and its suburbs.
There is a considerable group of Slovaks
in Cleveland. This
people exhibits the fortitude of the
early American pioneer. They
came from the northern slopes of the
Carpathians, where for a
thousand years they have been under the
rule of other races.
They lived under conditions which were
general in Europe in the
ninth and tenth centuries. Their country
is mountainous, living
conditions harsh, and the political
system was feudal, with a very
burdensome absentee landlord system. As
the Slovaks made fer-
vent efforts to preserve their national
language, the education of-
fered by a niggardly government was of
little advantage to them.25
The courage of these people in venturing
into the modern indus-
trial world from a feudal backwater of
central Europe excites
one's imagination. Some knowledge of
their history should mean
a more sympathetic treatment on the part
of Americanization ex-
ponents. Prior to 1930 they were classed
as Hungarians, and in
the 1930 Census they are grouped with
the Czechs. Based upon
the congregations of ten Cleveland
churches it is estimated that
there were 35,000 Slovaks in Cleveland
in 1918, which is not ex-
cessive if the second generation is
included.26
Another important group is the Jugoslav.
It is composed of
four subdivisions, Serbs, Croats,
Slovenes, and Montenegrins.
Racially a single group, divisions
appear among them because of
occupation, religion, and language.
Their historical importance in
Europe has been as a barrier to the
Turks. The Serbs and Mon-
tenegrins in southern Jugoslavia were
under Byzantine influence
and use the Cyrillic alphabet. This
means a different script al-
though the spoken language is the same.
The Croats and
23 C. W. Coulter, The Italians in
Cleveland (Cleveland, 1919), 7ff.
24 Fifteenth Census, III, part II, 503.
25 Eleanor E. Ledbetter, The Slovaks in Cleveland (Cleveland,
1918), 5.
26 Ibid., 26.
328
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Slovenes in the north were under Italian
influence and their script
was Latin. A similar difference appears
in religion, the Serbs
and Montenegrins being largely Greek
Orthodox, the Croats and
Slovenes Roman Catholics.27 The
largest of these groups is the
Slovene, of which there is a large
number in Cleveland. The
Croats are fewer in number than the
Slovenes and are widely
scattered over the city. In 1917 the
Serbs in Cleveland were al-
most entirely men without families. They
maintained a single
church and one Sokol. The latter
organization was disrupted
through the enlistment of most of its
members.28 The number of
Slovenes in Cleveland of the first and
second generations is
estimated to be between 45,000 and
50,000.
The conditions surrounding the Czech
immigration were dif-
ferent from those of all other groups,
except the early German
and Hungarian migrations. The Czechs had
won a measure of
freedom from their Austrian rulers, and
in the homeland had been
permitted to have better schools, the
use of their own language,
and an easier economic life. They were
attracted to America by
the larger economic opportunities and
began to arrive in this
country in 1870. The Czechs were
accompanied by their families
and came to stay. They also possessed
more material wealth than
most immigrants. There were among them
many skilled crafts-
men and professionally trained men. This
meant that they would
not be very long in the ranks of common
labor. The first to come
to Cleveland had merely made it a
stopping place on their way to
the free lands in the West. Many went no
further, and thus was
formed the nucleus for the large Czech
colony in Cleveland.29
The Russians form another large element
in Cleveland's
foreign population. Figures as to their
numbers present the same
difficulties as those of the peoples who
came from the old Austrian
Empire. The earlier Russian immigrants
came from parts of
Austria Hungary. One group came from the
region close to the
Polish border, another from Bukovina,
and a third from northern
Hungary. The first to arrive in
Cleveland came in 1892. Their
motive was mainly, economic and
political, although a few came
27 M. S. Stanoyevich, The Jugoslavs in the United States of America (New
York,
1921), 18.
28 Eleanor E. Ledbetter, The Jugoslavs in Cleveland
(Cleveland, 1918), 27.
29 Eleanor E. Ledbetter, The Czechs
in Cleveland (Cleveland, 1919), 8.
IMMIGRANT COLONIES IN CLEVELAND 329
for religious reasons.30 There
are five distinct groups represented
among the Russians in Cleveland: 1. A
few refugees of the Rev-
olution of 1917. 2. Great Russians from central Russia. 3. Ga-
lician Russians who hate Russia and wish
for independence. This
group traces its origin to Mazeppa, an
officer of Peter the Great.
By them he is regarded as a patriot, by
other Russians as a traitor.
These people are sometimes called
Ukranians. 4. Ukranians
proper, who are the descendants of the
Cossack peoples who
settled in the Dnieper Valley. The word
Ukraine means literally
"edges." A free interpretation
gives "the People of the 'edges' or
banks of the rivers." For centuries
they have formed the bulwark
of Europe's defense against the Tartars
and other Oriental in-
vaders. This people is in sympathy with
Russia, and is culturally
and racially interested in Pan-Slavism.
5. Carpatho-Russians
who occupied a province of that name in
what is now Czecho-
slovakia. These groups are represented
in almost the same pro-
portions in Cleveland's population as
they are in Europe.
An analysis of the Russian population of
Cleveland on the
basis of the classification just given
is practically impossible. The
Russians themselves cannot agree and the
Census is of little help.
Some of the older Russian residents
estimated that there are
5,000 Great Russians in the city. One
writer challenges this and
believes that there are only a few
hundred, and that they are prin-
cipally refugees of the Revolution. The
reason given for the be-
lief that there are only a few of them
is that if they were so
numerous they would have been more
influential in community
affairs.31
Cleveland has a refugee colony of
Russians, numbering per-
haps 300. They are widely scattered over
the city and hold them-
selves aloof from others of their race.
The numbers of Ukra-
nians, Carpatho-Russians, and Galicians
are unknown. A further
complication is the question of the
Russian Jew. The groups men-
tioned will not recognize him as a
Russian, and the anti-Semitic
feeling of old Russia is strong in
Cleveland. The 1920 Census
gives 76,866 as the Russian population
of Cleveland, and the 1930
30 Ina Telberg, Russians in Cleveland, MS. (Master's thesis in Western
Reserve
University Library), 9ff.
31 Ibid., 32. Miss Telberg is a member of the nobility, and her
statements must
be considered with this background in mind.
330 OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND
HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Census 15,193. It is doubtful whether
either is correct, due to
the great confusion in racial and
political origins just discussed.
In general, a figure of 35,000 is agreed
upon by priests and writers
among them.
An attempted classification of the Jews
in Cleveland brings
one face to face with two problems. One
is the tendency to in-
clude them with other peoples, and to
call them Germans, Rus-
sians, or Hungarians, rather than Jews.
The second problem is
the attitude of the Jews themselves. The
age old dispute which
existed among them as to whether the
word "Jew" indicated a
race of people or a religion adds to the
confusion. For the pur-
poses of this study they were considered
as a separate race where
identification was possible.
The first Jewish settler in Cleveland
was Simson Thorman, a
Bavarian Jew. He arrived in Cleveland in
1837, set up a business
for himself, served as a member of the
City Council, and helped
to organize the first Synagogue in
Cleveland. Among his other
"firsts," he found time to be
the first Jewish bridegroom in the
city. Others soon followed this man,
most of them being from
Bavaria.32 The Revolution of
1848 in Germany resulted in a fur-
ther increase in Jewish arrivals in
Cleveland. This group brought
religious differences which caused
numerous schisms in the Cleve-
land colony.33 The period
1840-1870 was marked by a Jewish
immigration from Germany and Bohemia.
From 1860-1890 the
Jewish immigration was from the
Austro-Hungarian Empire, and
since 1890 it has been from Russia. The
estimated Jewish popu-
lation of Cleveland at present is
125,000.
Among the smaller groups, the Danes,
Norwegians, Swedes,
Finns, Dutch, Rumanians, Bulgars, Swiss,
Greeks, French,
Syrians, and Chinese number less than
5,000 each. Although small
in numbers, their contribution in
Cleveland has in some cases been
important. The number of Danes in
Cleveland was estimated as
1,500 in 1906, and the Swedes as 5,000 in the same
year. They
are not clannish and are widely
scattered over the city.34 The
estimated figure for the Finns was 3,000
in 1927. This included
32 The
Cleveland Jewish Society Book (Cleveland),
II (1917), 7.
33 Ibid., 8.
34
David E. Green, The Invasion
of Cleveland by Europeans (Cleveland, 1906), 10.
IMMIGRANT COLONIES IN CLEVELAND 331
those of Finnish extraction.35 The 1930
Census lists 964 Finns
in Cleveland. This group has been of
sufficient strength, however,
to stand out among the northern European
immigrants as a group,
and has maintained its identity.
The Swiss are one of the older groups.
They began to arrive
in Cleveland in noticeable numbers in
1880, and in the following
decade ten or twelve a week settled in
Cleveland. Many did not
remain long but moved on to other cities.
The motives behind
their migration were varied. Some came
because of "Wander-
lust." Others came with a vision of
"Streets of Gold." In the
homeland oppressive taxation for the
church, as well as for the
state, compulsory military service or
alternative taxes, and small
economic opportunity were the dominant
factors. The matter of
taxation seems to have been the most
important factor. At a time
when Americans bewailed high taxes, the
Swiss immigrant still
thought they were higher in his
homeland. Few of them intended
to return home. The similarity of
institutions has made them feel
at home and they represented a permanent
immigration. It is
estimated that there are 2,500 of Swiss
extraction in Cleveland,
most of whom are identified with the
Swiss group activities in
the city.
The Dutch in Cleveland began to arrive
as early as 1840.
They came from two sources. The earlier
arrivals were seceders
from the Dutch religious settlements in
Michigan, and the later
arrivals came at the invitation of their
countrymen. The eco-
nomic opportunities offered by Cleveland
seem to have been the
principal motive of the later
immigrants. It is estimated that there
are 3,000 Hollanders in Cleveland and
its suburbs, all widely
scattered.
Rumanians began arriving in Cleveland in
1895. The motives
behind their migration were political,
economic, religious, and in
some cases the desire for an education
for their children was im-
portant. The Rumanians are of peasant
stock entirely, and while
attracted to Cleveland by its factories,
have never been entirely
satisfied in urban surroundings. Most of
them came from
regions under the rule of other nations,
and less than 1% from
35 Cleveland Plain Dealer, March
28, 1927.
332
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Rumania proper. Transylvania, Bukovina,
and Bessarabia were
the provinces whose people are most
numerous in Cleveland. The
Cleveland Rumanian colony is one of the
oldest in the United
States. While no longer the largest,
Detroit having displaced it
in numbers, it retains its traditional
leadership among the
Rumanians in the United States. During
the war the Rumanians
in Cleveland numbered nearly 18,000, but
since then the number
dropped to 7,000. They have not returned
to Rumania, but have
moved on to other industrial centers.
Of the other Balkan peoples, the Greeks
were the only
group to settle in Cleveland in any
numbers. Their arrival
began about 1900. In 1904 there were 150
of them in Cleveland,
and between 1905-1910 came the major part of this immigration.
The economic motive predominated. A
characteristic of the
Greek immigrants in Cleveland is that
they were permanent set-
tlers, and that the number of Greeks in
Cleveland has steadily
increased in spite of the stoppage of
immigration. The number
of the first and second generation was
estimated at 4,000. A pos-
sible reason for the continued increase
in the Greek population
of Cleveland may lie in the existence of
a number of very suc-
cessful Greek commercial enterprises.
Another minor group whose influence has
been felt in the
city is the Syrian. They are a remnant
of the ancient Phoeni-
cian-Canaanite tribes with a later mixture
of Aramean and Arab
blood. Their country was composed of
alternate strips of plains,
mountains, and valleys, and they have
retained old racial differ-
ences and prejudices as a result.36
In 1924 Cleveland stood sixth
among American cities as to Syrian
population, 1,440 being set-
tled there.37 The motives of
the Syrians were political, religious,
and economic. They were resentful of an
oppressive Turkish
rule, the religious persecution of the
Christians, and the inequal-
ity of Christians in the Turkish courts.
These factors seem to
have been the most important in the
pre-war migration which
began about 1900. Those who have come
since the war were
motivated largely by enonomic reasons.
The estimate of 5,000
Syrians of the first and second
generations varies frequently due
36 Philip K. Hitti, The
Syrians in America (New York, 1924), 21.
37 Ibid., 67.
IMMIGRANT COLONIES IN CLEVELAND 333
to movements of the Syrian population
from one city to another.
There were a few Druses and Mohammedans
among them, but
neither group maintains a church.
The districts occupied by the early
immigrants in Cleveland
were much like those of other cities.
They were the poorer
sections of the city. The houses were
tumble down affairs, and
the foreign districts contained the
worst slums in the city. There
were numerous shacks erected in alleys
and vacant lots, which
were purely "squatter"
dwellings. One early writer even men-
tioned the shacks on a vacant lot next
to a large bank in the
business district. In the early 1900's
Cleveland had districts with
names not entirely forgotten today.
There was a "Shanty Town,"
extending along West 12th Street to the
lake and bordering the
river. "Whiskey Island" in the
river still bears the name. When
a call for the patrol wagon was received
in the station on the
"Flats" (the valley cut out by
the Cuyahoga River), an unknown
writer recorded "the horses headed
that way unless otherwise
directed."38 "The
Triangle" was "a jungle with its gangsters,"
and was also in the "Flats."
All three of these were Irish dis-
tricts. "Vinegar Hill," a
small knoll, took its name from the
source of its whiskey. Its inhabitants
were foreign born. "The
Haymarket" was the worst of the
early districts. It was located
on the lip of the valley just south of
the Public Square. Here
a heterogeneous group of Jews, Italians,
and Negroes had their
domiciles.
The "Cabbage Patch" was the
name applied to the downtown
Bohemian district. "Little
Cuba" was another of the Bohemian
tenement districts. "The
Ghetto," occupied by Russian Jews,
was on the east side of the river. This
was a district of street
markets, unsanitary tenements, and food
shops. "Little Poland"
was a tenement district in the vicinity
of East 34th Street and
was noted for its beautiful churches.
"Goosetown," on the west
side of the "Flats," was a
mixed foreign settlement where "they
raised about as many children as
geese" and both paddled in
the mud and filth of the unpaved
streets. "Dutch Hill," on the
38 The Foreign Population in the City of
Cleveland and Where They Live, MS.
(in the files of the Cleveland Public
Library) 7ff. The author of this paper is un-
known. Conditions described seem to be
in 1904-1905.
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334 OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY |
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IMMIGRANT COLONIES IN CLEVELAND 335 |
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336
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
western side of the valley, was occupied
by a mixture of Ger-
mans and Hollanders. Colorful peasant
dress and wooden shoes
were familiar sights in this settlement.
"Dopetown" was the
title of the Chinese district on Ontario
Street. The Chinese super-
stition that dirty windows would keep
out evil spirits, added to
the sinister atmosphere of this colony.39
Riots frequently occurred
in these districts, and police patrolled
the streets in pairs. The
presence of numerous saloons and dance
halls did not contribute
to public peace and order. One of these
dens bore the significant
title among the police of "The
Slaughter House."40
The growth of industry drove these
settlements out of the
"Flats," and the spread of
business houses forced them away
from the downtown district of the city.
Some moved west and
south, but most of them went further
east, or scattered to other
sections of the city. An examination of
Map I41 will show that
the German immigrants settled
principally on the west side
where they had two large settlements.
Two smaller German
colonies existed on the east side at the
same time. This map
was compiled in 1915. Map II,42 compiled
in 1930, showed no
German colony. The regions which they
once held exclusively
have been broken into by others, and
while remnants can be
found, the colony itself has
disappeared.
One section of Cleveland has been held
by some particular
group ever since immigrants began to
arrive in the city. This
area, bounded by Woodland, Broadway,
East 30th and East 79th
Streets, has been occupied successively
by the native New Eng-
land stock before 1848, by Germans and
Bohemians from 1848-
1880, by Russian Jews and Italians
during the years 1880-1917,
and from 1917 by the Negroes who came
north during the war
years.43 Many of the houses
still standing were owned by suc-
cessive members of each of these groups.
An examination of
Map I will show that in 1915 the Negro
migration was in full
39 Ibid.
40 Cleveland Leader, November 28, 1904.
41 This map is adapted by Harry Littke
from one compiled by the City Immigra-
tion Bureau of Cleveland.
42 This map is also an adaptation by
Harry Littke. The original was compiled by
the Cleveland Plain Dealer, and
its reproduction is by courtesy of the Plain Dealer
Company.
43 Cleveland Plain Dealer, April
17, 1932.
IMMIGRANT COLONIES IN CLEVELAND 337
swing, and that the Russian Jews and
Italians were being crowded
out. The same district in 1930 was
entirely negro, the older
occupants having moved to other centers
or scattered over the
city.
The Dutch immigrants had a settlement on
the west side.
It was located on Lorain Avenue and was
confined to West
56th, West 57th, and West 58th Streets.
The individualism
which is a characteristic of the
Hollander, and the absence of the
clannishness which is a characteristic
of other immigrant groups
was the reason for its early
disappearance. Calvary Reformed
Church founded by this Dutch group
remained in this neighbor-
hood. Since 1900 there has been a small
colony of Finns on the
west side. They were found on Lorain
Avenue between West
25th and West 45th Streets. As the
colony has rarely numbered
over 2,000, its importance has been small.44
There were three centers of Rumanians in
Cleveland. The
largest was on the west side, clinging
to Detroit Avenue between
West 52nd and West 65th Streets. The
others were on the east
side, one in the vicinity of St. Clair
and East 60th Street, the
other on East 95th Street
between Broadway and Buckeye Road.
The west side colony is still the largest
of the three, those on the
east side having disintegrated rapidly.
The Hungarians in Cleveland are more
homogeneous than
the other groups. Of peasant stock and
coming from the same
regions in Hungary, they have been more
compact in their settle-
ment, and slower to scatter. There were
six Hungarian settle-
ments in Cleveland in 1917, but by 1930
it was reduced to two
large ones. One is on the west side,
being scattered along West
25th Street. The east side colony, which
was the largest, ex-
tended along Buckeye Road between East
72nd and East 125th
Streets. Another factor in this division
is occupational, those
on the west side being skilled workers
and intellectuals, while
most of those on the east side are
common laborers. A small
group of German Hungarians, descendants
of those Germans who
immigrated to Hungary in the seventeenth
century, had a small
44 Ibid., March 28, 1927.
338
OHIO ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
center in the vicinity of East 55th
Street and St. Clair Avenue.
This colony has disappeared.45
The first Polish colony was located in
Berea in 1872. They
had been brought there to work in the
stone quarries. This is
the third oldest Polish colony in the
United States. From here
they moved into the Newburg steel
district, and the largest colony
grew up in the vicinity of East 71st
Street and Broadway. The
oldest Italian colonies were in downtown
Cleveland. Ninth
Street and Central Avenue were early
centers, and St. Clair
Avenue east of 14th Street was another.
Both of these have
disappeared. "Little Italy,"
on Mayfield Road, was settled by
people from Campobasso, but the earliest
settlers have scattered,
and its present inhabitants are
Sicilians. A large settlement also
existed in the region south of Lakeview
Cemetery. One of the
newer settlements was founded in
Wickliffe, an eastern suburb.
The Jugoslav colonies were located
between East 30th and
East 72nd Streets and north of Superior
Avenue, a second on
Union Avenue between East 81st Street
and Broadway, and the
newest center in the Collinwood
district. The largest element
was Slovene. The Serbs were scattered,
and the Croats were
centered in the first district mentioned
above. The Greeks were
found in the vicinity of West 14th
Street and Fairfield Road,
and on Bolivar Road. In comparison with
others the Greek
colony did not remain compact for many
years.
The largest Russian colony was on the
south side in the
vicinity of Starkweather Avenue and West
14th Street. This
is a heterogeneous section with Poles,
Slovaks, Greeks, and Syri-
ans settled there. This colony centered
around St. Theodosius
Russian Orthodox Church. Many from this
district moved into
Lakewood, the migration beginning in
1906. The Lakewood
group was Ukranian. A smaller group
settled in Brooklyn. The
third settlement was in Newburg on the
edge of the Hungarian
district. They were employed in the
steel mills of this area,
and have continued to move eastward,
following the Hungarians
and mixing with them.46 The
Jews, most of them Russian,
began to leave the East 55th-Woodland
district during the war,
45 David F. Green, The City
and Its People, 12.
46 Telberg, op. cit., 12.
IMMIGRANT COLONIES IN CLEVELAND 339
and have settled on East 105th Street
north of Euclid Avenue.
This center grew up around the new
Jewish Center on East
105th Street.47
The earliest Lithuanian colony was in
the neighborhood of
East 21st Street and Oregon Avenue. With
the erection of a
new church, they moved to the region
north of Superior Avenue
upon East 65th Street. Three other
regions have Lithuanian
settlements, Collinwood, Newburg, and
Nottingham.48 The first
Chinese colonies were on Ontario Street
north of Public Square,
and on East 55th Street between Carnegie
and Euclid Avenues.
The Ontario Street settlement was under
the influence of the
On Leong Tong, and the east side
settlement was dominated by
the Hip Sing Tong. The downtown
settlement was forced to
move because of the development of the
Mall. When this move
became necessary, the Chinese
accomplished what no other im-
migrant group has. They picked the site
of the new center,
and erected suitable buildings for their
people. This new settle-
ment is on Rockwell Avenue. The Hip
Sing, not to be outdone,
made a similar move to the old
Lithuanian section at Oregon
Avenue and East 21st Street. A central
building, housing tong
headquarters, and containing space for
shops, lodge rooms, and
apartments, formed the center of these
new colonies.49 The other
racial groups in Cleveland are largely
scattered. The Norse and
Swedes are scattered over the city, most
of them being on the
west side of the river. Newburg was once
the site of a Welsh
colony, but it has largely
disintegrated. The Swiss and Danes
have no large settlements. Most of them
lived on the west side
of the city.
The general trend since 1920 has been towards a gradual
disintegration of these foreign
settlements. This has been at-
tributed by leaders of all groups to the
cessation of immigration,
improved economic status, and, most
important of all, to the
demands of the younger generation for
better homes. The effect
of the depression on the change in the
immigrant colonies cannot
as yet be measured. The increase in
unemployment has undoubt-
47 Cleveland Plain Dealer, April
17, 1932.
48 Ibid., March 24, 1927.
49 Louis S. Quiano, "Our
Chinatown," in The Clevelander (Cleveland), III (De-
cember, 1928), 13.
340 OHIO
ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
edly prevented many from moving into new
and better homes.
In spite of this obstacle to migration
from the old districts, there
is an increasing number of foreign born
to be found in Cleveland
suburbs. Certain districts of the city
can still be distinguished
as the residence of immigrant groups,
but the edges of these areas
are showing increasing evidence of
disintegration, and the dis-
tricts themselves have become racial
mixtures.