PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN

June 19, 2024; African American Art History Walk, Western Reserve Historical Society Cleveland History Center, E. 108^th Street between East Boulevard and Magnolia Drive: Mural art portrait of Dr. Harrison Leslie Adams Jr. by artist Jerome T. White.

PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN

June 19, 2024; African American Art History Walk, Western Reserve Historical Society Cleveland History Center, E. 108^th Street between East Boulevard and Magnolia Drive: Mural art portrait of Dolores White by artist Jerome T. White.

PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN

Wednesday, June 19, 2024; African American Art History Walk, Western Reserve Historical Society Cleveland History Center, E. 108^th Street between East Boulevard and Magnolia Drive: Mural art portrait of Zelma Watson George by artist Jerome T. White.

(Plain Press July 2024) On June 6, 2024, the Cleveland History Center at the Western Reserve Historical Society unveiled a mural on the side of its building on E. 108^th between East Boulevard and Magnolia Drive. The mural, created by Cleveland based artist Jerome T. White, depicts portraits of seven individuals who have made significant contributions to African American history and culture, national African American oral history projects, and library archives.

     The unveiling of the mural, the first iteration of an African American Art History Walk, was held during Parade the Circle and featured a live jazz performance by the J.T. Lynch Ensemble. The outdoor mural is available for viewing by the public 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The mural was made possible with support from the Western Reserve Historical Society, The HistoryMakers, #VoicesOfCLE Public Art Project, and Cleveland City Council.

     A portrait of Cleveland pianist/educator/composer/music minister Dr. H. Leslie Adams Jr., who died on May 24, 2024, at the age of 91, is among the portraits in the mural. Works she composed were performed by the Cleveland Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony, and National Symphony in Iceland. Dr. Adams was a graduate of Glenville High School and Oberlin College and a proud longtime resident of Cleveland’s Glenville neighborhood.

     Also featured in the mural are portraits of:  A. Grace Lee Mims, a soprano singer, radio personality and educator, who for 43 years served as radio host and producer on WCLV, Cleveland’s classical radio station; Julian M. Earls, a physicist, administrator and executive at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Glenn Research Center; Cleveland architect, entrepreneur, and U.S. Army veteran Robert T. Madison whose work included contributions to  the creation of the Rock-N-Roll Hall of Fame and the downtown Cleveland Public Library; Zelma Watson George, an actor, administrator and activist who performed at Karamu House and off Broadway and who as an activist directed government organizations and served as an alternate delegate to the United Nations; Donald White, a cellist, educator, and U.S. Navy veteran who in 1957 became the first African American member of the Cleveland orchestra where he played his instrument in performances for 38 years; and Dolores White, a pianist, composer and educator whose compositions were performed by notable symphonies including the Cleveland Orchestra and who as an educator promoted Afro-Cuban music and dance and African American art.

     Jerome T. White, the artist who painted the mural, is a graduate of a masters’ degree program in art at Case Western Reserve University, painter, illustrator, and educator who teaches at Cleveland Heights/University Heights High School.