Two-Bit Duck Pond
The 1963 year-end report by the Cherry Tree Committee casually mentions Cuyahoga County Engineer Albert Porter proposing a freeway through the park. The proposed plan would have destroyed numerous homes and large portions of the Shaker Parklands, which Porter described as undeveloped and “a two-bit duck pond.” As word spread, residents became concerned and confused. Many of the garden clubs in the region had been planting in this area for years, and in 1965, the Village Garden Club joined forces with 34 other garden clubs, civic groups, and like-minded individuals to form the Park Conservation Committee to fight the construction of the Clark-Lee Freeway.
Mr. Porter underestimated the “little ladies in tennis shoes” who informed, educated, and persuaded the community and governmental agencies during a 6-year battle that ended with the creation of the Shaker Lakes Regional Nature Center, now known as the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes.
"In the fall, the County Engineer Albert Porter proposed an East-West Freeway running through the park area, and a North-South freeway interchange just west of Lee Road."
This last line referencing the Clark-Lee Freeway is casually mentioned in the 1963 report by Mary Elizabeth Croxton. Only a couple years later, Croxton would serve as the chairman of the Park Conservation Committee of Greater Cleveland to fight the freeway. The committee, established in July of 1965, was comprised of 35 clubs and organizations.
"We recognize that we have a duty and responsibility to preserve and protect our heritage of lakes and woods." - Park Conservation Committee letter, 1965
Members of local garden clubs and organizations participated in letter-writing campaigns (left) and encouraged citizens to join in by sending letters to local and state legislators. One of the more unique letters is from R. Mildred Barker to Shaker Heights Mayor Paul K. Jones. Barker was a Shaker from the Sabbathday Lake community in Maine who felt compelled to write to stop the destruction of the North Union Shaker Community's legacy.
"Is all to be sacrificed to the new American god, not the God of our fathers but Materialism, the Cult of the Supreme Freeway? Its doctrine is Expediency. Its priesthood political engineers. Root it out, Mr. Governor, before it engulfs us." - Cleveland Audubon Society letter, 1965
There were many historic sites in the path of the proposed freeway route, but few stirred up as much controversy as the Jacob Russell grave. Russell was a Revolutionary War soldier whose son Ralph started the North Union Shaker Community in the area. Direct descendant C. D. Russell stated he would go to court to stop the freeway builders from disturbing his ancestor's remains. // From the archives of the Shaker Historical Society.
The Shaker Historical Society was heavily involved in the fight against the Clark-Lee Freeway and actively hosted meetings, collected petition signatures, wrote to legislators, and educated the public about the impact the freeways would have on historic sites in Shaker Heights.
The Society created several portable easel stands with information about the freeway (below left) that could be displayed at their Moreland School site and taken around the city when collecting signatures. SHS also developed a bus tour (below right) that visited historic Shaker sites along the proposed route of the Clark Freeway. George E. Budinger, who lived with the Shakers in the late years of the colony, joined the trip to share his knowledge of the sites.
Elizabeth Nord was the secretary of the Shaker Historical Society and curator of the Shaker Historical Museum, both located at Moreland School in the 1960s. Nord fought tirelessly against the Clark Freeway and was often found collecting signatures in the community. She included information about working against the freeway in the May 1964 issue of The Alumnae Folio, an alumni magazine from Flora Stone Mather College at Western Reserve University.
"I shall stay home — just to make sure that [Cuyahoga County Engineer] Bert Porter doesn't show up some dark night with pick axe and shovel and start clearing a path for the Clark Freeway."
"If this Freeway project can be defeated, it will be the women who do so."
The above quote from a March 17, 1964 letter to Elizabeth Nord from Douglas Wick, chairman of the Citizens Freeway Committee, proved to be true. During this time, women could not get credit cards in their own names and could not serve on juries throughout most of the United States. Well-defined traditional gender roles were still in place and reinforced through TV shows like The Donna Reed Show.
Despite this, the freeway-fighting women worked fearlessly and exhaustively to protect their homes, community, and history through petitions, letter-writing campaigns, environmental surveys, and community advocacy. They not only defeated the Clark-Lee Freeway but also founded the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes, which was designated a National Environmental Education Landmark by the National Park Service in 1971. Today the Nature Center serves more than 40,000 visitors each year and has become a cornerstone of Shaker Heights and the surrounding communities.
