In honor of Black History Month, WKYC Traffic Reporter Danielle Wiggins is visiting four sites that embody Black history right here in Northeast Ohio.
The first stop on this month-long tour is the Karamu House in Cleveland's historic Fairfax neighborhood.
The arts education and performance center is celebrating 100 years of service this year.
It all began in 1915 with Russell and Rowena Jelliffe, newlyweds who graduated from Oberlin College, and moved to Cleveland to plant the seeds of community change.
The Jelliffes opened a settlement house at a time when Black migration from the south was in full swing. They offered classes to help new arrivals adjust to life in the north. Class offerings soon expanded into the arts. The settlement house became the Playhouse Settlement and was renamed Karamu in 1941. Karamu is a Swahili word meaning "Place of enjoyment in the Center of the Community."
The Jelliffes informally adopted a young man named Langston Hughes, a graduate of nearby Central High School. They encouraged Hughes to continue to develop his writing talent. Hughes went on to become a famous poet, writer and instructor at Karamu House.
The notoriety doesn't end with Hughes. Ron O'Neal from Superfly, Robert Guillaume of Benson and the late Ruby Dee have also graced the Karamu stage. A larger than life image of Ruby Dee is immortalized on the side of the theater.
Karamu House also has a room dedicated to Carl Stokes, Cleveland's first black mayor.
One of the hidden gems of the center is a guest book that holds the signature of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
Karamu House: 2015 Performances
Karamu House is running the play Joe Turner's Come And Gone through February 15 as part of their centennial lineup.
