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Many African Americans and their allies tried to create a safe space for themselves in Lorain. Some hosts who offered their homes to Black travelers and their families when "traveling while Black" might expose them to various dangers and exclusions from basic accommodations during the pre-Civil Rights movement period. Victor Hugo Green's The Negro Motorist Green Book throughout its several editions from 1940 to 1966 lists these hosts in Lorain, Ohio. Who were they? What were their lives like? What motivated them to serve Black travelers?
Cover of the 1940 Edition. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library. "Green Book: 1962" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1962.
The Negro Motorist Green Book or The Negro Travelers' Green Book (simply, the Green Book) was an annual guidebook for African American travelers. Black New Yorker postal employee and travel writer, Victor Hugo Green, published from 1936 to 1966. The information about the Lorain guest homes began to appear in the 1940 edition. Before the 1960s Civil Rights Movement and following reforms, open and often legally prescribed discrimination against African Americans and other people of color was rampant throughout the United States. Ohio was not an exception. Like many Americans, Green witnessed the rising of the Black middle class and their car ownership that enabled African Americans to travel more easily than before. But, at the same time, he was aware that choices of lodging, restaurants, and gas stations were limited for them. Any "crossing the line" could cause white violence or even the deaths of Black travelers.
Green's career as a postal employee helped him compile data on accommodations in New York City area that welcomed Black travelers, which resulted in his first guidebook in 1936. Because of its popularity, he expanded its coverage gradually and at last founded his own travel agency in 1947.
As you can see images below, a group of people hosted Black travelers in Lorain. The hosts, addresses, or the guest house were B. H. Tapsico (115 W. 17th St.), Mrs. Alex Cooley (114 W. 26th St.), Smith's Manor (on Erie Beach), Camp Merriman (110 W. Erie Ave.), Mrs. W. H. Redmond (201 E. 22nd St.), Mrs. Elishe Worthington (209 W. 16th St.), Porter Wood (1759 Broadway), and H. P. Jackson (2383 Apple Ave.)
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library. "The Negro Motorist Green-Book: 1940" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1940.
"Lorain" section from the 1940 edition (above), 1962 and 1963 editions (below)
"Lorain" section from the 1940 edition (above), 1962 and 1963 editions (below)
Alex and Matilda (Jean) Cooley, 114 W. 26th St.
Alex and Matilda (Jean) Cooley, 114 W. 26th St.
According to his obituary published in the Morning Journal on September 11, 1950, Alex Cooley worked as a custodian at the City Hall for 35 years until his retirement in 1946. Another article, "He Took 30 Years Ago to 'Try Out'," in Morning Journal, published on December 17, 1945, illustrates Cooley's reputation as a hard and skilled worker.
He was a resident of Lorain for 79 years, a member of the 7th St. A. M. E. church (the same church whose members challenged the manager of Isaly's in 1942 for its violation of the Ohio Civil Rights Codes. See "Price for Ice Cream."), and also a member of Lake Erie Lodge 362. He attended the old Washington-ave school. He was survived by his wife, Jean (Matilda must have gone with this name, as their names and locations match), eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. His first wife, Winnie, and two sons proceeded him in death.
Morning Journal (then, The Lorain Journal and The Lorain Times-Herald), November 2, 1950. The article notices that Alex Cooley's second wife, Matilda Redman Cooley took over his estate including the house that had served Black travelers.
Morning Journal, September 11, 1950. Alex Cooley's obituary.
The Cooleys' family life was dramatic. In 1937, 74-year-old Cooley remarried Matilda Redman who, 51-year-old, was a licensed beautician. Matilda Redman's record indicates that she was white. The couple not only opened their house located at 114 W. 26th St., but also used it as a gathering place for African American neighbors. Their hospitality and influence on the Black community were remarkable enough to appear often in the "Lorain News" section of Call and Post. The person who operated the tourist house was Matilda Cooley even after her husband's death in 1950. No obituary of her has been found.
Despite his personal success as a civic employee and community leader, Alex Cooley had to painfully witness that his two sons as well as his first wife, Winnie, died young. According to Call and Post on August 2, 1947, his first son, Jeff C. Cooley died in Cleveland, after having a thriving business. And, two years later, the second son, Charles Cooley died at age 57 in his father's house on September 13, 1949. He was employed at the National Tube Co. in Lorain. Both of them completed degrees at Oberlin College, hinting at their parents' aspirations for education. This information is reported in Call and Post.
B. H. Tapsico, 115 W. 17th St.
B. H. Tapsico, 115 W. 17th St.
Benjamin Harry (most likely, he went with "Harry" according to Ancestry.com) Tapsico was one of the first hosts who made their houses available for Black travelers. However, locating him with the given address and name is challenging. First of all, B. H. Tapsico did not appear in Lorain in the 1940 U.S. Census when the Green Book listed his house under his name. Second, the address (115 W. 17th St.) shows another resident at that time with no apparent connection to Tapsico, although he lived there at least by 1931.
The Lorain County Directory (1926-27) shows that Benjamin H. Tapsico was a barber in Lorain. His wife was Callie Tapsico. The 1929 Directory also indicates his career as a barber.
Call and Post on August 12, 1937, reports on Benjamin H. Tapsico's death.
In 1937 Call and Post briefly reports on Benjamin H. Tapsico's death. By the time of his death, his family had moved to Paulding, Ohio. As it introduces, he was a long-time resident of Lorain and a well-known barber. With Callie (or Calley according to the U.S. Census) Tapsico, he had three daughters and one son. We wonder if one of his married daughters operated the guest house in 1940 under his name, or if the new owner of the house kept his name for travelers because of his local fame. Whatever happened to the family, his name appears only once in the Green Book.
H. P. Jackson, 2383 Apple Ave.
H. P. Jackson, 2383 Apple Ave.
Harold P. Jackson and his wife were the primary hosts of the H. P. Jackson Tourist Home, which lasted as long as the Green Book was issued for more than two decades. However, as Jackson was busy managing various businesses, his wife must have operated the Home most of the time. According to the "Lorain" report in Call and Post, on August 19, 1937, Jackson opened a new dancing and music parlor, Commodore Club in Canton in the summer of 1937. The reporter, Sarah Calloway, describes her first visit to the place complimentarily without hiding her good wish for Jackson's new business venue.
"Have you ever been completely and delightfully surprised? Then just imagine how I felt when after being seated at a ringside table at the lovely Commodore Club in Canton last Sunday night, the 'Scat Man' and leader of the band suddenly announced that the next number would be dedicated to Miss Sara Calloway of Lorain, O. The music by the 'Scat Man' (Mr. Sam Croathers) and his band is just too marvelous for words, and the floor show also deserves mentioning, especially a number called 'Where is the Sun' and well done by Miss Juanita Brown. . . . The place, incidentally, managed by Mr. Harold Jackson, formerly of Just A Mere Inn in Lorain and the Harlem Ritz in Akron, and we wish him all the success in the world."
"Scatman" Crothers in 1960. Wikipedia. By the 1930s, he performed and lived in Akron. According to the Call and Post, he also performed at Jackson's Commodore Club in Canton.
This article suggests that Harold Jackson was a well-trained man in the hospitality business. Before the grand opening of the Commodore Club in Canton, he managed or at least worked at Just A Mere Inn in Lorain and the Harlem Ritz in Akron. Whereas we cannot trace the presence of Just A Mere Inn in Lorain, he seemed to have involved the prosperous Black culture in Akron that gained its nickname, "Harlem." Most likely, the Harlem Ritz might become the Ritz Theater on Howard Street in Akron, where grew many Black businesses including grocery, clothing stores, a bowling alley, pawn shops, and entertainment venues like the Cosmopolitan, 41 Club, Tropicana, and High Hat, as Yanick Rice Lamb's article, "Hair and History in 'Akron's Harlem'," in Belt Magazine, on October 22, 2021, illustrates.
We can imagine that Harold Jackson first-hand experienced the rich legacy and development of Black culture through his work at Akron's "Harlem." As a result, he must have ambitiously opened the Commodore Club as a similar cultural and entertainment venue, inviting his contemporary star musician, "Scatman" Crothers, to the grand-opening event.
2383 Apple Ave. Lorain, where Harold P. Jackson received Black travelers. Google image, taken in 2013.
We cannot but wonder why he or his family member(s) operated the guest house at their own Lorain home for Black travelers while managing a large-scale hospitality business in a different city. Who was the actual person who took care of the house? Was it his residence or a mere "guest house" for profit? What happened to his Commodore Club in Canton? How did the family keep operating the tourist home for the long period of time?
Their daughters continued the family tradition of hospitality. Lorain City news, by a Black woman reporter, Daisy Sinclair, in Call and Post reports on December 3, 1949: "Visitors for the holiday were Miss Bertha Jackson and company at the home of Miss Jackson's mother, Mrs. H. P. Jackson and sister, Mrs. R. Jackson." It did not mention Harold Jackson, but he might have passed away by that time because the newspaper briefly mentioned his illness on January 9, 1943. We could not find his obituary or death certificate.
Mrs. W. H. Redmond, 201 E. 22nd St.
Mrs. W. H. Redmond, 201 E. 22nd St.
"Prayer Answered as Lorain Pastor Dies on Sabbath," Morning Journal (then, The Lorain Journal), April 23, 1928, page 2.
William Henry Redmond was born in Hardy, West Virginia, in 1866. He or his family moved to Lorain, Ohio, sometime before 1901, probably during the first Great Migration at the time of the flourishing steel industry in Northeast Ohio. He married Bertha Ford in 1901. They had one son, Theodore Redmond. According to his obituary, published in the Morning Journal (then, Lorain Journal) on April 23, 1928, he served as a pastor and died at his home, 201 E. 22nd St. We assume that his wife, Bertha Redmond, managed the home for Black travelers, as it was listed as "Mrs. W. H. Redmond" in the 1940 edition of Green Book. However, for the 74-year-old host, operating the tourist home must be challenging if there was no extra help.
7th St. A.M.E. Church (now, Wesley United Methodist Church.) Photograph from Lorain County Sacred Landmarks Initiative's Facebook page.
Interestingly, the 7th St. African Methodist Episcopal Church appears in many biographies of African Americans in Lorain. William Henry Redmond was an associate pastor of the church. According to Lorain County Sacred Landmarks Initiative, the church was initially called Second Methodist Church, founded in 1893, and in the following year moved to 7th St. in Lorain. Upon completion of the brick building in 1927, the church's name was changed to Seventh Street Methodist Church. The church became the first African American church in the city. In 1978 when the church joined the East Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church, the name became changed again to Wesley United Methodist Church.
We assume that the church functioned not only as a spiritual place but also as a political place where African Americans educated themselves and organized to take political action for racial justice. As the Willies' case against Isaly's Food Store [see "Price for Ice Cream (1942)"] suggests, the members of this church were keenly aware of their civil rights and the importance of collective actions. Reverend Redmond's leadership at the church indicates that his family's operation of the tourist home might be part of activism for African Americans.
This page is possible because of the archival research by Cheri Campbell at Lorain Public Library. Thank you!
Cite this page (Chicago): Woo, Jewon. "Lorain Homes for Black Tourists, 1940s–1960s." LCCC African American History Project. Accessed December 13, 2024. https://sites.google.com/view/lccc-aa-project/lorain-homes-for-black-tourists-1940s-1960s?authuser=0.
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