Cincinnati's Connection With The Underground Railroad

Founded in 1788 by John Cleves Symmes and Col. Robert Paterson, Cincinnati sits on the banks of the Ohio River, the official boundary between the Northern and Southern States during America's Civil War. With its close proximity to both the North and the South, during this time the city was torn between two worlds; the latter trying to embrace the ways of the past and the former trying to forge ahead. Incorporated in these two pedagogies was the issue of slavery. Since then, though in turmoil with racial tension and social/political setbacks, Cincinnati has embraced its historic past and is making strides towards the future.

Until the end of slavery, this institution was challenged on many levels, large and small; one of the most notable was exemplified in the legal court case of Margaret Garner. Garner escaped slavery from her Northern Kentucky plantation in 1856 to Cincinnati, located in the free state of Ohio, with her children. At this time...

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The "Beloved" Margaret Garner is Back In Action

“Beloved”, written by Toni Morrison and published in 1987, won the Pulitzer Prize and loosely follows the story of escaped slave Margaret Garner. Garner’s Medea-like heroics when she was captured in her attempt to escape from slavery threw the city of Cincinnati, OH to the forefront of the Nation’s attention.

Garner made the ultimate sacrifice and instead of seeing her child be taken back into slavery, decided to take the child’s life with her own two hands.

Morrison’s fictional reproduction of this real life drama was so popular; Oprah Winfrey redeveloped it into a screen play in addition to a Michigan Opera house creating a theatrical stage production of the novel in the form of an opera.

I became interested in the story for two reasons; (1) it was a true story and (2) the story occurred in the part of the country where I was from. In my infatuation with the story, I spent years researching all the nuances of the story to even traveling to the farm where Margaret Garner lived (yes it is still there). I even gave seminars on this topic, going over the similarities and differences in the real life story and fictional adaptations.

I have decided to reprise the seminar this upcoming Black History Month. There are few new developments that I have found, and I feel that it would be cool to remind people in this area of Southern Ohio that the Nobel Prize winning “Beloved” came from a story from this area.

From the Bottoms to The Banks

Being a fledgling history buff, I have viewed numerous renditions of what the Queen City looked like in the past, but for some reason, I have not run across many photos of the city between the years of 1950 and the beginning of the 20th century.

With the ground breaking of The Banks Project in just a on Wednesday, The Enquirer does a great job chronicling the history of the area that The Banks will occupy.

I know that most of you ready this have already took a look at the piece, and I would like to know what you think about it or if you have anything else to add...I am all ears!

Rothenbrg School: Please Show Your Support

In the name of saving money, Cincinnati Public Schools have been going back and forth weather to demolish the Rothenberg School building and build anew or to rehab and preserve the old building.

Neighborhood proponents have overwhelmingly expressed their interest of keeping the building and restoring it, but CPS still wants to get more community input.

If you are not doing anything around 5pm this evening and want to express your opinion of the situation, there will be a community engagement session held at the Peaslee Neighborhood Center, located at the corner of Sycamore and 14th Streets. The session usually lasts an hour or two, but its a great chance to get your voice heard.

You can read more about the history of this controversy here.

Covington's RiverFront View

Decades before Daniel Libeskind's Ascent dominated its skyline, RiverCenter was slated as one of Covington's saving grace.

Master planned as an urban redevelopment that encompassed all aspects of private and public cooperation, RiverCenter was officially proposed to the city of Covington in 1988.

Opening May 1990, RiverCenter composed of an eleven acre complex which included an eighteen story office building, a two-hundred and thirty roomed Embassy Suites hotel and Covington Landing which had two floating facilities that housed restaurants, shops, entertainment activities and riverboat excursions.

At the time, Covington Landing was deemed the largest floating entertainment facility on a US inland waterway. Corporex Companies Inc of Ft. Wright was commissioned to develop the on land portion of RiverCenter. BnW was commissioned to develop the floating portion.

North/south oriented, RiverCenter is bound by Court St., Second St., Madison St., and the Ohio River. Champion Ice Co. building, which was on the National Register of Historic Buildings, was demolished in to make way.

Cincinnati RagTime: A History

Ragtime (ca 1897-1920) an American musical genre, is a dance form written in 2/4 or 4/4 time, syncopated, with rhythmic accents on the weak beats. Largely popular for its lively and syncopated style, Ragtime gained momentum in St. Louis and New York, but Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky were also major hubs for this musical genre due to the migration of African Americans from southern states caused by the onset of WW I, Northern Kentucky’s close proximity to Cincinnati and its river city status.

Riverboats that tramped the Ohio River, The Island Queen steamboat in particular, were a popular venue for Ragtime music A notable Ragtime artists was Artie Matthews (A.K.A. Mr. 814). Popular tunes include, Zincinnati: German rag (Nancy Bierbaum) and Lassus Trombone (Henry J. Filmore).

Ragtime music in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky relied heavily on touring bands and musicians from the riverboat craze, but the onslaught of the railroad diminished its business and so went the popularity of Ragtime.Jazz and Blues then became popular and national stars like pianist Thomas “Fats” Waller New York born, “Your Feets Too Big” took up residence in Greater Cincinnati from 1932 to 1934 to perform on the WLW radio show bolstering his career to build its Jazz history. Jelly Roll Morton made also made many stops in Cincinnati with the Fate Marable Orchestra. Though national stars made the headlines, there were many local artists who flipped the bill.

Three of the most notable names in Cincinnati Jazz pianist Charles Alexander, tenor saxophonist Edgar “Spider” Courance, and Bill Coleman (Born 1904 in Paris, KY) who moved to Cincinnati in 1911 and played jazz trumpet with other local stars like Clarence Paige, Edgar Hayes and Zack Whyte. Nelson Burton (Covington, KY 1922) played in many jazz bands in the area. Roosevelt Sykes and Walter Davis recorded at Seton Hotel in 1930 and Baby Bonnie may have recorded here in 1924. Other names include: Stovepipe “Six Street Blues”, pianist Pigmeat Jarrett, Patfoot Charlie Collins, and Walter Coleman (“Mama Let Me Lay It on You”)

References

Burton, Nelson. My Life In Jazz. Cincinnati: Clifton Hills Press, 2000. pg 13-64Tracy, Steven . Going to Cincinnati. Urbana: University if Illinois Press, 1993. pg 1-7Kenny, William. Jazz on the River. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005. pg 1-11