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216-991-2030

16500 Van Aken Blvd
Shaker Heights, OH 44120

Bertram Woods Branch

216-991-2421

20600 Fayette Road
Shaker Heights, OH 44122
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Online Resources

Shaker Heights Stories, Tours, Maps, Articles, and other online resources

Multimedia

Shaker Heights Cable Access Television Programming

“Shaker Life” was a half-hour program aired on local cable access in the 1970s-1990s which profiled the events, people, and issues of the community of Shaker Heights, Ohio. It was produced by the City of Shaker Heights, with producer/director Douglas Drake and, after Drake’s death in 1983, Cynthia Merrick. These programs were donated to the Shaker Library Local History Collection by Doug Drake’s widow, Nola Drake, and their digitization from U-Matic format was made possible by generous support from Shaker Heights residents Sara and Brian Sullivan from Second Story Productions, the William J. and Dorothy K. O’Neill Foundation, and the Northeast Ohio Broadcast Archives at John Carroll University. The collection also contains several episodes of the Shaker Cable Access Television program “The Library Comes to You,” conceived and produced by Shaker Heights Public Librarian Kathy Englehart in 1983, and funded by a federal Library Services and Construction Act grant.

Presentations, Videos, Websites and other Multi-Media

Martin Luther King, Jr. Speaks at Heights Christian Church in Shaker Heights in 1965. A WEWS NewsChannel 5 video vault find by Tom Livingston includes an extended clip of Martin Luther King, Jr. speaking on the steps of Heights Christian Church in July 1965, and scenes of the audience and picketers. Runs from 2:12 to 4:34 (with clips of other appearances). The linked page shares three video compilations; King’s appearance at Heights is part of the third video. The specific video is also linked directly below:

 
 
  • “Meeting at the Gate,” a documentary about the North Union Colony of Shakers produced by the Shaker Historical Society, part 1 and part 2.
  • Poetry Jam: The Sequel. An afternoon of poetic performances hosted by Moreland Community Theatre & Film, bringing together student talent and community artistry. Directed by Monica Boone. Held at the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Community Building, Shaker Heights, Ohio, April 27, 2025.
  • Project Discovery: A Demonstration in Education, 1965. Produced by Irving Rusinow, a 30-minute film on Encyclopedia Britannica’s experiment in filmstrip-based curricula at Mercer Elementary School in Shaker Heights. Principal Alice Van Deusen, teacher Mimi Weber, and several students are featured.
  • Shaker Historical Society Oral History Forum, November 5-7, 2013. A series of interviews of Shaker residents, exploring their diverse experiences of living in Shaker Heights and the meaning of utopia. The conversations were held at the Shaker Historical Society in front of audiences during three consecutive evenings. November 5: Boulevard, Fernway, Lomond; November 6: Ludlow, Malvern, Mercer; November 7: Moreland, Onaway, Sussex.
  • “Shaker in Sound, 1959-1960,” side 1 and side 2, from the 45 rpm vinyl included with the 1960 Shaker Heights High School Gristmill yearbook “Sounds of Shaker,” featuring Paul Newman (SHHS 1943), Don Stern (SHHS 1960), the Student Body, and others. Technician: James Weidner.
  • “The Shakers in Ohio & North Union.“ Shaker Historical Society Director Brianna Treleven, a presentation to the Zoar Historic Village, October 2, 2021. [Note: viewers need to be logged into Facebook to watch this presentation.]
  • “‘Tis the gift to be simple: Aaron Copland Meets the Shakers in Shaker Heights.” Program cosponsored by the Shaker Historical Society and the Shaker Heights Public Library, with music preservationist Roger Lee Hall, November 7, 2024.
  • “The Vans Remake the Face of Cleveland, 1905-1936.” Joseph G. Blake, a presentation at Shaker Heights Public Library, August 3, 2019. See also accompanying PowerPoint presentation.

“What started in living rooms decades ago has left a lasting legacy in Shaker Heights.” Amanda Merrell, with Shelley Stokes-Hammond. News5Cleveland.com, February 21, 2020.

 

Personal Stories

Growing Up in Shaker Heights

Cleveland Regional Oral History Collection

Cleveland State University’s Center for Public History + Digital Humanities conducted interviews with Shaker Heights residents for several different projects:

See also their more user-friendly Cleveland Voices platform containing the same interviews.

 

Witness to History

“Witness to History with Donna M. Whyte”: Interviews of Moreland neighborhood residents.

Usually recorded on the 2nd Sunday of each month at 6pm. Contact Neighborhood & Housing Specialist Theo Darden IV at 216-491-1333 or theodore.darden@shakerheightsoh.gov to verify timing and receive the Zoom link.

 

Maps

Walking Tours

From 1982 to 2005 the Landmark Commission of the City of Shaker Heights produced self-guided walking and driving architectural tours of Shaker Heights, organized around the work of a prominent architect or a particular architectural style. Each included background information on the architect or style, and a map of the city showing the location of relevant homes.

Beginning with the city’s 2012 Centennial, the City of Shaker Heights’ Landmark Commission and the Shaker Library’s Local History Collection have co-hosted an occasional series of Architectural Walking Tours:

The City of Shaker Heights has also gathered these and other self-guided tours here.

Cleveland Historic Maps

Shaker Heights and Cleveland change over time on this interactive site of historic maps. Created with information from the Digital Gallery at the Cleveland Public Library and the Cleveland transportation history maps resource Rails and Trails.

Cleveland Historical

Map-based, multimedia presentations and curated historical tours of Shaker Heights and Northeast Ohio, developed with Cleveland State University’s Center for Public History + Digital Humanities. Cleveland Historical and the Shaker Buildings Database together formed the grant-funded “Historic Shaker” project, created to commemorate Shaker Heights’ 2012 Centennial.

 

Published articles and essays