History Expert to Discuss Cuyahoga River’s Burning, Cleveland’s Rebirth
David Stradling, Ph.D., to Present Ohio Wesleyan’s 2015 Vogel Lecture on March 2
David Stradling, Ph.D.
DELAWARE, Ohio – When Cleveland’s Cuyahoga River caught fire in 1969, the city’s future also could have gone up in smoke, says David Stradling, Ph.D., professor of urban and environmental history at University of Cincinnati.
“In the 1960s, Cleveland suffered through racial violence, spiking crime rates, and a shrinking tax base, as the city lost jobs and population,” said Stradling, who will discuss Cleveland’s struggles and rebirth in a free, public presentation at Ohio Wesleyan University. Stradling will speak at 7:30 p.m. March 2 in the Benes Rooms of Hamilton-Williams Campus Center, 40 Rowland Ave., Delaware.
“When the Cuyahoga River caught fire in the summer of 1969, the city was at its nadir: polluted and impoverished, struggling to set a new course. The burning river became the emblem of all that was wrong with the urban environment in Cleveland and in all of industrial America,” said Stradling, co-author of the forthcoming book, “Where the River Burned: Carl Stokes and the Struggle to Save Cleveland.”
“Carl Stokes, the first African American mayor of a major U.S. city, had come into office in Cleveland a year earlier with energy and ideas,” Stradling continued. “He surrounded himself with a talented staff, and his administration set new policies to combat pollution, improve housing, provide recreational opportunities, and spark downtown development. [Their efforts] would transform Cleveland from polluted industrial city to viable service city.”
At the University of Cincinnati, Stradling focuses on urban environmental history, particularly air quality, making this chapter of Cleveland history the subject of the upcoming book “Where the River Burned: Carl Stokes and the Struggle to Save Cleveland.” He is writing the book with his brother, journalist Richard Stradling. David Stradling also has brought the environment and urban history together in books about New York City and New York State.
Stradling’s presentation is Ohio Wesleyan’s 2015 Joseph and Edith Vogel Lecture. The annual event is made possible by a generous gift from their son, Ezra F. Vogel, Ph.D., a 1950 Ohio Wesleyan graduate, native of Delaware, and retired professor of East Asian Studies at Harvard University. Ezra Vogel also is the author of the critically acclaimed book, “Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China.”
Founded in 1842, Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation’s premier liberal arts universities. Located in Delaware, Ohio, the private university offers 86 undergraduate majors and competes in 23 NCAA Division III varsity sports. Ohio Wesleyan combines a challenging, internationally focused curriculum with off-campus learning and leadership opportunities to connect classroom theory with real-world experience. OWU’s 1,750 students represent 46 U.S. states and territories and 43 countries. Ohio Wesleyan is featured in the book “Colleges That Change Lives,” listed on the latest President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction, and included in the U.S. News & World Report and Princeton Review “best colleges” lists. Learn more at www.owu.edu.