The Michael Schwartz Library at CSU
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Special Collections

Our Collections

History class in Special Collections

Our collections cover many topics within the field of Cleveland history, with special concentrations on the history of the industrial history of Northeast Ohio, Cleveland journalism, and the city's infrastructure. We are also home to the Library's collections of rare materials, as well as publications from the University Archives about CSU and its predecessor, Fenn College.

  • The Akron Railroad Club Archives
    The archives consist of minutes of the club, 1943-1981 & 1992-1999, audio tapes of meetings & programs and a binder of membership registration forms.
  • Arthur & Edith Neiger Memorial Collection
    A collection of books, mainly first editions of English literature dating from the 19th century, donated by Michael A. Paller in memory of his grandparents, Arthur and Edith Neiger.
  • Bain Murray Music Collection
    Includes textual and musical works of and relating to composer, critic and teacher, Bain Murray dating approximately from 1939-1992.
  • Bill Roberts Editorial Cartoon Collection
  • CTS/APTATransit Data Summaries Group
    Summaries of the Transit Data Summaries Group, of the American Public Transit Association, including labor arbitration hearings and comparative operating statistics from U.S. cities, 1943-1979.
  • The City Club Forum Tape Collection
    The collection consists of over 800 tapes recorded from 1963 to about 1980 at the weekly forums held by one of Cleveland's most venerable institutions.
  • Clay Herrick Slide Collection
    Donated by Clay Herrick, author of Cleveland Landmarks, this collection consists of some 100 pamphlets, brochures, books, and photographs. The most important element is some 6,000 slides; one-of-a-kind shots of various buildings in Cleveland.
  • Cleveland Local Business Collection
    Twenty vertical file drawers of an alphabetical reference file of greater Cleveland industries and services collected by the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce from about 1940 to 1970 and donated by the Cleveland Public Library.
  • Cleveland Performance Art Festival Collection
    A major collection of material pertaining to the Cleveland Performance Art Festival.
  • Cleveland Press Collection
    Hundreds of thousands of clippings and photographs from the "morgue" of the Cleveland Press, the last of Cleveland's daily afternoon newspapers. The Cleveland Press was published from 1878 until 1982.
  • Cleveland State University Music Department Performance Tapes
    A collection 368 of audio tapes of programs sponsored by the Music Department of Cleveland State University. Performances by faculty, students and performing ensembles, 1965-1980.
  • Cleveland Union Terminal Collection
    The archives of the company that built the Cleveland Union Terminal and the Terminal Tower, the largest construction project of the 1920s in the city of Cleveland.
  • Contemporary Poetry Collection
    Includes poetry books and periodicals published in English since the Second World War. The collection is founded on gifts from the Cleveland poet Hazel Collister Hutchinson and from the CSU Poetry Center. Holdings are listed in SCHOLAR.
  • Euclid Avenue Baptist Church Collection
  • Faragher Collection
    Approximately 1,000 glass plate negatives and prints from the Faragher Construction Company and the Fairmount Nurseries, two companies in Cleveland in the early part of the 20th century.
  • Gerald Adams Railroad Photography Collection
  • Great Lakes Industrial History Center
    Personal and company records, diaries and other keepsakes of the visionaries and leaders who took enormous risks to create industrial development in the Great Lakes region.
  • Greater Cleveland Ethnographic Museum Collection
    Digital records of several of the museums projects created from the personal collection of Annette B. Fromm, the personal collection of Carole Kantor, the Cleveland Press Collection housed by Cleveland State University Special Collections, and other holdings housed by Cleveland State University.
  • Herbert Elwell Archive
    Scores, discs, reel-to-reel tapes, manuscripts, articles, program annotations for the Cleveland Orchestra, and assorted letters and memorabilia belonging to Herbert Elwell (May 10, 1898 - April 17, 1974), a composer, critic, teacher, and important figure in Cleveland's music scene, and donated by Joan Hofer, Elwell's niece.
  • James J. Nance Papers
    Personal and professional papers of James J. Nance, local businessman and former chairman of the CSU Board of Trustees.
  • The Lewis Turco Collection
    Donated to Michael Schwartz Library by poet, English instructor and CSU Poetry Center founder Lewis Turco, the majority of the collection constitutes letters written between 1962 and 2004 to Lewis Turco by poets and writers associated with the Cleveland Poetry Center as well as many of his replies.
  • The Marquis de Lafayette Collection
    A partnership between Cleveland State University and the Maison Française de Cleveland.
  • Montage Film Collection
    A filmed history of the 60's and 70's with a Cleveland perspective.
  • Mystery Photo Album
    A collection of 49 images from an early private photo album, showing scenes along the Cuyahoga River and Ohio Canal.
  • Naef & Joslin Photography Collection
    A series of photographs of the of the bulk material handling equipment and other features at the port of Conneaut in 1900.
  • Newburgh & South Shore Railroad Collection
    Includes hundreds of rolled drawings showing track plans, valuation maps and facilities drawings.
  • Nickel Plate Railroad Collections
    Special Collections holds several collection about the Nickel Plate Railroad, consisting of files, drawings and images of the railroad, especially as it passes through Cleveland.
    *Nickel Plate Road is a registered trademark of the Nickel Plate Road Historical & Technical Society, Inc.
  • Ray Osrin's Editorial Cartoons
    Hundreds of editorial cartoons, some dating back to 1964, penned by Plain Dealer editorial cartoonist, Ray Osrin.
  • Richard Bracy Hicks Memorial Collection
    Books donated by Michael A. Paller in memory Richard Bracy Hicks, a native Clevelander, though unable to hold a steady job due to a chronic illness, showed sensitivity to others as expressed in his day-to-day dealings and in his poetry and prose writings.
  • Sacred Landmarks Initiative Archives
  • Steamer William G. Mather Collection
    Operational documents from 1925 to 1984, with over 400 photographs and slides.
  • Thomas L. Lewis Photographic Collection
  • Wilbur & Sara Ruth Watson Bridge Book Collection
    Over one hundred and seventy-five rare books, some dating from the eighteenth century, and fifteen albums of photographs on historic bridges. The collection is considered one of the best of its kind in the country.
  • Wheeling & Lake Erie Collection
  • Dr. William O. & Naomi E. Walker Collection
    More than four hundred books are included in this collection of Afro-American literature.
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2121 Euclid Avenue, RT 320
Cleveland, OH 44115-2214
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2121 Euclid Avenue
Phone: 216.687.2449
Fax: 216.687.9328


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