Historical society plans changes

Historical society

plans changes

The society has a handwritten copy of a speech by the city’s founding father, Moses Cleaveland.

CLEVELAND (AP) — The Western Reserve Historical Society, home to exhibits of automobiles, costumes and rare government documents, is trying to create a new identity to attract more visitors.

The society, a collection of seven historical properties, has struggled for many years with debt and a reputation for focusing on Cleveland’s wealthy.

By broadening its appeal, the society hopes to regain the public’s attention.

“My top thing is visibility,” President Gainor Davis said. The society recently moved a statue of the Big Boy restaurant mascot — a chubby boy in red and white suspenders — to a more prominent spot in its library, a move designed to catch the public’s eye with a recognizable piece of Americana.

New touring exhibits are also part of the plan. Some of the earliest known depictions of Jesus are among the items in a collection of Vatican art and artifacts that will be on view beginning in May. About 70,000 visitors came last year to see a special exhibit of dresses and gowns worn by Diana, Princess of Wales.

The changes are helping the society move away from its old reputation.

“It’s been a pretty insular organization,” said Kathleen Cerveny, who makes cultural grants for the Cleveland Foundation.

Last fall the society, whose holdings include a handwritten copy of a speech by the city’s founding father, Moses Cleaveland, and the world’s only clear photo of Abraham Lincoln at his second inauguration, earned the lowest possible rating to qualify for funds from Cuyahoga County’s new arts and culture tax.

Davis, who joined the society a year ago, said she’s not done remaking the institution. The process hasn’t been easy, either. She’s slashed the annual budget in half to about $4.8 million, cut programs at the society’s smaller sites and turned over operations of President James Garfield’s estate in nearby Mentor to the National Park Service.

Previous leaders have tried to remake the society but alienated the public in the process, especially when the society sold off beloved holdings, such as the only surviving “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” car of novel and movie fame.

Davis said she wants to strengthen the society’s most popular sites: its sprawling headquarters in University Circle and its Hale Farm and Village, an outdoor living history museum in Bath.

“The missions are being much more clarified,” said Robert Jackson, a society trustee.

Others are taking notice of Davis’ efforts, too.

“It seems like she has a sense of the big picture,” said Cathy Boyle, who administers funds from the arts tax.