 |
| Cleveland Heights OH Youth Theater TV show |
In his younger days, my husband was "on the air," performing in weekly radio and television shows produced by Children's Theater on the Heights in Cleveland, Ohio. The director was Jerry Leonard.
Not long ago, I did an online search and found a brief piece about Jerry Leonard in Case Western Reserve University's online Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. The entry had no illustrations. And that's where Wood family history comes in.
Safely stored in my archival boxes are a few black-and-white photos of dress rehearsals from local TV shows in which my husband appeared. He loved to act, and his talented sister painted the scenery. Their classmate Larry Gorjup took the photos during dress rehearsals.
At top, Larry's photo of "The Emperor's New Clothes," which aired live on Cleveland TV station WEWS in February, 1955. My hubby played the part of a tailor selling new clothes to the emperor.
I contacted the Encyclopedia editors and offered to scan and send the photos, along with informative captions, to flesh out the Jerry Leonard entry. They immediately accepted.
Now a small part of my husband's family history is part of Cleveland's history as presented in the online Encyclopedia. (The Encyclopedia is looking for new contributors to get involved in writing the entries, by the way!)
If you have photos or stories with a connection to history, please consider sharing with a museum, historical society, university, or other repository. You'll be adding a human dimension to history while keeping your family's history alive for new generations.
Thanks to Amy Johnson Crow for this week's #52Ancestors prompt of "air."
