Writing about dead relatives: turning family history into story

Since the beginning of April, I've been teaching a class through Literary Cleveland called Writing About Dead Relatives: Turning Family History into Story. 

In prepping for my class this week, I wanted to do some research that would show my students how they could access information about people, places, homes, and neighborhoods from the past. 

So, I reached out to Olivia Hoge from Cleveland Public Library about finding a historic photo of my great-grandfather's house at 2229 E. 80th St., which he built and lived in from 1910-1918. It fell into foreclosure and was torn down about 10 years ago, and though I visited it, I don't have a photo of it. She told me to email [email protected] for help, and within a few hours, Mark Tidrick had hooked me up with a photo. 

I've pasted it above. It's from 1961. I learned a lot from seeing this, since the only time I viewed the house was in the early 2000s when it was covered in vinyl siding. This photo gave me a sense of what the historic home looked like. It was built as a single, so I'm also fascinated by the fact that there are two front doors. I think maybe it was turned into a double or a triple sometime after my great-grandfather sold it and moved to Cleveland Heights, which wasn't uncommon at the time. 

The students in my class have some fascinating family stories, and I love learning about them and helping them do research, come up with ideas, and write their stories. 

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