2016 marks the 50th anniversary of the Hough riots, also known as the Hough rebellion, or the Hough uprising. The unrest began on the night of July 18, 1966 on the corner Hough Avenue and East 79th Street, and lasted about a week.
While the unrest of '66 may first come to mind when thinking of Hough, few Northeast Ohioans know the rich history of the Hough neighborhood. Millionaires inhabited Hough before WWI, middle, workingclass immigrant residents populated Hough in the 1930s and 1940s and by 1960, the populace was predominantly African American. Additionally, not many people know the stories behind the local and national policies that led to the unrest of 1966, the fires that burned through the 70s, or the neighborhood Hough became from the 80s through today.
On Thursday, July 7th, 2016 ideastream® held an illuminating and wide ranging panel discussion on the history on Cleveland’s Hough neighborhood at The Happy Dog at The Euclid Tavern, moderated by ideastream reporter/producer Nick Castele. The nearly hour long Q&A session that followed was equally illuminating.
Audio from that discussion is now available above. The video is below.
Our panelists:
Carolyn Watts Allen, former Saftey Director for the city of Cleveland. Allen and her husband recruited around 20 families to build and live in Hough's Renaisance Village development.
James L. Hardiman, First Vice President of the Cleveland Chapter NAACP, civil rights attorney, educator. Hardiman grew up in Hough.
Dr. Mark Souther, Associate Professor of History and Director of the Center for Public History + Digital Humanities at Cleveland State University.
William Tell, retired Cleveland Police Department Captain. One of the first to build a home in Hough in the late 80s.
ideastream reporter/producer Nick Castele moderated the conversation.