CJH - Virtual History of Cleveland Cultural Organizations

Virtual History of Cleveland Cultural Organizations

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After finding that the websites of Cleveland's Jewish organizations offered little or no content on their history (click here) the question arose "Do the websites of Cleveland's major cultural organizations do a better job in this regard?"

A few do share their long and distinguished histories on the web, but most say little. These examples are listed in the order of the age of the institution:

Western Reserve Historical Society (founded 1867)
The WRHS is Northeast Ohio's oldest major cultural institution. Their website was redesigned in April 2008, still with no history. Then late in June 2008 it added a long, informative, well written page on its history with a timeline and lists of buildings acquired and past lay and professional leaders. Kudos to WRHS! When it acquires some images and is made more easily found. the WRHS History web page will be the best one around.

Cleveland Institute of Art (founded 1882)
The CIA''s website offers no history except to say "The Cleveland Institute of Art was established in 1882."

Cleveland Museum of Art (founded 1913)
The Museum's website offers no history.

Cleveland Play House (founded 1915)
The Play House website offers no history.

Cleveland Orchestra (founded 1918)
The Cleveland Orchestra is proud of its history. Many pictures from its past hang in the Green Room and in the nearby halls of Severance Hall. Concert program booklets show photos of past conductors and list the names of past presidents of the Musical Arts Association. But their website shares the past only with a brief history; no past presidents and no past conductors.

Cleveland Museum of Natural History (founded 1920)
Their website's History page devotes five lines to the past, then proceeds to describe the museum's current features.

Cleveland Institute of Music (founded 1920)
The CIM has perhaps the best virtual history of a Cleveland cultural organization. Click here. Written for their newsletter during their 75th anniversary year (1995-96), it is an example of how materials first written for print can be effectively re-used on the web. The page has been updated since that time.