The Vietnamese Cultural Garden in Cleveland features a 12-foot-tall marble statue of a woman standing atop a square pedestal. The statue wears traditional Vietnamese garments, including the nón dang conical hat and the áo dài dress, which hold significant historical and cultural meaning and are still worn in the community today. The statue of the woman remains composed despite the weather or season, with her hair and dress gently swaying as if moved by the wind.

The Garden, located at the northern end of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Rockefeller Park, was sponsored by the Friendship Foundation and dedicated in 2020. The Garden was designed by Char Crowley, who also participated in the renovation of the Irish Cultural Garden in 2009. The most direct footpath to the Vietnamese Cultural Garden's entrance is along the Harrison Dillard Bikeway.

As the Vietnam War came to a close, many refugees sought new homes abroad. By November 1975, over 500 refugees had made their way to the Greater Cleveland area in search of freedom. The Vietnamese Cultural Garden stands as a testament to their bravery and the vibrant culture they brought with them. After the fall of Saigon, various religious and social groups formed to prepare aid and shelter for the newcomers seeking sanctuary.

A formal group was established in December 1975 to assist refugee community organization. Until 1995, the primary organization in the area was the Cong-Dong Viet-Nam Tai Vietnamese Community in Greater Cleveland. Since then, additional organizations have emerged to sponsor friends and families seeking opportunities away from Vietnam. Through local and international programs, these organizations help those adjust by encouraging socio-economic independence, providing housing opportunities, and promoting autonomy within the community.

American veterans were among those interested in volunteering or creating affiliated organizations. After serving with the Special Forces during the Vietnam War, U.S. Army Captain, historian, and attorney Joseph Meissner dedicated his time to the resettlement effort in Cleveland. Along with his many lifetime accomplishments and endeavors, Meissner helped establish the Friendship Foundation, serving as its vice president.

The Friendship Foundation is an American-Vietnamese non-profit organization founded in 1993 by Vietnamese-American immigrant Luong Thi Gia Hoa Ryan. Discouraged by the inability to visit home to her native country due to the aftermath of the war, Ryan and other community members joined efforts to establish the Foundation, fostering peace, respect, and harmony. The Foundation's website offers a descriptive history of the project and how the history of the Vietnam War influenced the culture of the community they aim to serve and other humanitarian activities they continue to sponsor.

After multiple delays, the Vietnamese Cultural Garden finally installed the 12-foot-tall marble statue on November 15, 2023, three years after the Garden's dedication. The sculpture has repeatedly been recognized as the Vietnamese Mother, exhibiting features in line with the Foundation's objectives. The Cleveland Vietnamese Cultural Garden serves as a symbol of courage and resilience for all community members, whether they are veterans, immigrants, or just passing by.

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Locally known as Belgian Village, Fairhill Road Village was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. Originally called Fairmount Place before the change of the development’s frontage road's name from Fairmount Road to Fairhill Road, the single-family homes combine detached and semi-detached dwellings. Today, thirteen homes comprise the Fairhill Road Village Historic District; five two-family semi-detached units built over the winter between 1929 and 1930 and three detached homes built intermittently in 1930, 1933, and 1971. Fairhill recalls other planned communities built around the same time, notably Mayfair Lane in Buffalo, Sessions Village in Columbus, and the French Village in Philadelphia. All share the use of uniform architecture in a historic-revival style and semi-detached layout. Fairhill’s use of an unusually natural setting so close to an urban center allows it to be an exemplary model of this mode of building.

Standing on the abandoned debris created in the 1915 construction of the Fairmount Reservoir, Fairhill literally straddles the divide between urban and suburban by being built over the municipal boundary between Cleveland and Cleveland Heights. Architecturally Fairhill blends into its neighboring communities through historical revival architecture that evokes a common European heritage, a facet of suburban living. The development utilizes a style reflective of the Cotswold Hills District of England. The homes favor white varied stone and stucco with multiple gables and various recesses in the façade, creating the overall effect of an English hamlet appearing out of the forest.

The combination of shared and private space is central to Fairhill’s makeup. Originally planned as seventeen semi-detached homes by architect Antonio DiNardo, the eleven houses share a single drive with the dwellings facing a private park directly off Fairhill Road for shared use of the residents. The semi-detached units connect via their respective garages while service rooms above allow a more insular living space that looks onto private terraced gardens built at the edge of a ravine running through Ambler Park.

Landscape architect A. Donald Gray drove Fairhill’s development from conception to completion. Before moving to Cleveland, in 1920, Gray worked for The Olmsted Brothers landscape architecture firm under Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. Gray’s profession and his connections to the lauded firm show throughout Fairhill’s design.

The use of gardening to accentuate a site’s beauty and create natural boundaries was a key principle in Olmsted’s work and reflects in Fairhill’s balanced relationship between architecture and landscape. Each private terrace uses flower beds sparingly in order not to distract attention from the natural landscape. Decorative pools mirror the Doan Brook at the bottom of the ravine while simultaneously attracting birds into the garden. The additional planting of trees and shrubs at the front of the development creates a natural boundary between the homes and the roadway leading to the city.

The construction of Fairhill Road Village coincided with a culmination of development in suburban Cleveland before the Great Depression. By the end of the 1920s, Cleveland’s population had reached 900,000. The completion of the Union Terminal complex would mark Cleveland as a great American industrial center, with one of the tallest buildings in the country serving as a grand focal point for commuters going to and from their rapidly expanding suburban neighborhoods. Between 1919 and 1929 an average of 300 new homes were built annually in Shaker Heights. Literature and pamphlets were used like propaganda championing the single-family house on a large site and demonizing living close to vestiges of the city like factories, apartments, and minorities.

Nearby, John D. Rockefeller Jr. was developing the site of his family’s former country estate, Forest Hill, into another residential community. To promote his development, he mounted a large-scale advertising campaign in local papers that played on his bucolic childhood and promised to “revolutionize American standards of home construction” and ensure that “your neighbors are inevitably people of tastes in common with yours.”

In contrast to these commercial enterprises, Fairhill Road Village echoes the communal aspects of the Garden City Movement. Spearheaded by urban theorist Ebenezer Howard’s Garden Cities of To-Morrow, the Garden City attempted to alleviate the congestion of urban life by creating small, self-contained, and interconnected communities that would give residents access to the benefits of both urban and rural living while also making them stakeholders through communal ownership. Unlike Shaker Heights and Forest Hill, profit was not Fairhill’s concern. It started as a collaboration between creative professionals living on Hessler Road who wanted to move away from the frenzy of Cleveland towards the tranquility of Cleveland Heights while maintaining the cultural sophistication of urban life. Fairhill incorporated many of the ideas championed by the Garden City Movement through shared ownership, green space, and limited size.

The Fairmount Development Group, comprised of future residents of Fairhill, was formed to purchase and subdivide the property into individual lots. The company’s mission statement clearly outlined its objective “to get a group of interesting people to build semi-detached houses in the same style of architecture, to build these houses on small areas of land…” Through a co-op model, the residents of Fairhill pooled resources to procure the land on which to build their homes. This communal approach was unusual as shown by A. Donald Gray’s letter to architect H. O. Fullerton that showed the committee in charge of securing the loan at Cleveland Trust for the development of Fairhill was “skeptical” because the proposition “was a new idea to them.”

Inadequate finances and a lack of interested parties created an obstacle to the construction of Fairhill. To fill the appropriate number of building plots, the Fairmount Development Group members were enlisted to find interested people within their network. One Fairhill planner, J. T. Seavers, told Gray, “I’m putting it up to every family to get one more pronto, and we will not only be done but have a waiting list.”

A sense of urgency pervaded the building of Fairhill that correlated with the beginning of the Great Depression. Cleveland Plain Dealer business columnist, and original resident, John W. Love wrote on October 24, 1929, about his unease in Cleveland’s labor conditions amid a large building project. Love cited labor’s stable relationship with “the Vans” (Van Sweringen brothers) during the five-year construction of the Terminal complex as long as they didn’t “rock the canoe,” but that those agreements would end in the spring, and he urged the building to be completed before March 31 to avoid a potential strike. A week later, on Black Tuesday, he used the urgency of the telegram to communicate what must have been a growing sense of dread, writing, “Financial conditions [are] so extremely ominous that I doubt we ought to proceed with construction except with best possible guarantees of money and stability of contractor.” By April 1930, ten of the seventeen planned homes were completed in the spirit of DiNardo’s original plans if not in size.

The Great Depression crippled neighboring developments like Shaker Heights and Forest Hill. Donald Gray saw Fairhill’s innovative collaboration amongst its residents as a potential benefit in residential development during the Depression. In a letter to The Ladies Home Journal, Gray wrote of how the residents were able to lower the cost of building by sharing building materials because of Fairhill’s uniform style as well as sharing the expense of an architect. In a letter to House Beautiful Magazine, Gray stressed Fairhill’s merits, writing, “It seems to me that in these days of economy that the scheme has a great deal of interest to the general reader.” The letters show Gray’s belief in Fairhill’s social and economic benefits while demonstrating its adaptability to changing times.

The planned community allowed refuge for Cleveland’s white population to create enclaves amongst themselves. Fairhill’s co-op model and design reflected the intention to innovate in habitation, but not immune to the self-selective nativist sentiments prevalent in the 1920s. Fairhill’s formation of The Fairmount Road Association allowed members of the community to retain the social control that The Architectural Exhibitor alluded to in writing, “In every community, there are certain sections and sometimes individual streets to which people of kindred tastes and habits naturally gravitate.” To live, build, or sell in the development required the approval of three-fourths of the Association's trustees—a trustee was either the owner of a home or their spouse—allowing the residents to foster a social homogeneity in line with its times. Fairhill never fulfilled its objective as outlined in The Architectural Exhibitor of moving the original group of Hessler Road residents into a community of their design. Nevertheless, Fairhill proved to be the cross-section of creative, cultured, and professional people reflective of its origination on Hessler Road including Russell and Rowena Jelliffe, founders of Karamu House, retired movie star May Alison, and aforementioned John Love and A. Donald Gray.

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The Ethiopian community in Cleveland is small but through the Menelik Hall Foundation it was able to establish a cultural garden. Ethiopia is the first country from Africa to be represented in Cleveland’s Cultural Gardens. Despite this achievement, many Clevelanders are unfamiliar with the Menelik Hall Foundation and the cultural garden. They are more likely to know the Empress Taytu.

The Empress Taytu is an Ethiopian restaurant that Carl and Senait Robinson founded in the St. Clair-Superior neighborhood in the mid-1990s. Carl Robinson is a doctor in Cleveland. Senait Robinson is a native Ethiopian nurse who moved to Cleveland after part of the Ethiopian army deposed Haile Selassie and set up a provisional military government in 1974.There were famines and political unrest, she sought refuge with friends in Cleveland. The Robinsons began by sponsoring Ethiopian students in Cleveland in the 1980s. The Robinsons and the students would often cook meals to thank those in the community that helped sponsor them. The community then in turn encouraged them to open a restaurant so more people could enjoy their food. While the Robinsons were originally opposed, Senait’s brother Mike agreed it was a good idea. Mike managed the restaurant, and it became a family business with their sons and daughters helping along the way.

Before opening the restaurant, the Robinsons had founded the Menelik Hall Foundation in 1987 to help Ethiopians in Ohio and abroad by providing support to students and refugees, sending health and medical supplies abroad, and promoting education and cultural understanding. The foundation also established a Sister City relationship between Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, and Cleveland in 2004. It hosts a variety of events throughout the year but the project that currently holds most of its attention is the creation of the Ethiopian cultural garden.

Menelik Hall completed the first of three phases in the Ethiopian Cultural Garden and hosted its dedication ceremony on August 24, 2019. It became the thirty-seventh cultural garden. The first phase included a twelve-foot-high wall with a five-panel ceramic mural on the front and a painting on the back. The five panel mosaic travels through different periods over Ethiopia’s 5,000-year history. The first panel begins with Lucy, one of the earliest human ancestors. The second panel represents the diversity of Ethiopia’s ethnicities. The third panel represents early civilization, the fourth represents the period of emperors, and the fifth and final panel represents the modern era of globalization.

On the back of the five panels is a reproduction of a painting by Yetmgeta, “When the Sun Gets the Moon.” Yetmgeta’s idea behind the painting is to bring attention to human impact on the environment. The plaque below the painting reads, “Despite modern technology, the Earth is being devastated.”

The garden’s second and third phases will involve the installation of two massive stone pieces. The first will be a silhouette of the Axum Stele, planned to be the centerpiece of the garden. The second will be a replica of a doorway from the Churches of Lalibela. Both the Axum Stele and the Churches of Lalibela are UNESCO World Heritage sites today.

Stelae are similar to obelisks but with rounded rather than pointed tops. Stelae were burial monuments built between the 3rd and 4th century C.E. by the Akumites. They were carved out of solid stone with ornate details to replicate the Aksumite buildings they were created in the image of. The sides of the stelae have carved windows and at the very bottom there are two false doors with carved handles and locks. While Aksumite buildings were only a few stories at most, the Axum Stele depicts thirteen floors and is the largest standing stelae in Ethiopia today.

The churches of Lalibela were constructed in the 12th century and attributed to the King Lalibela who wanted to create a “New Jerusalem” in Ethiopia due to Islamic control of the Holy Land. He hoped they would serve as an alternative pilgrimage site while the fighting continued between Christians and Muslims. There are eleven churches, each is carved out of a single block of stone. Each church is different from the next but many share design aspects. The replica doorway chosen for the Ethiopian cultural garden is one of these aspects.

Some Clevelanders’ only connection to Ethiopia is through Ethiopian restaurants like the Empress Taytu. The addition of the Ethiopian Cultural Garden not only reflects the widening scope of the Gardens’ original concept but the growing acknowledgement of diversity in Cleveland. The garden is one new place for Clevelanders to make connections to Ethiopia and the area’s local Ethiopian community members.

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The dedication of the Syrian Cultural Garden on May 29, 2011, marked the first Arab American presence in the Cultural Gardens. This garden had been more than eighty years in the making from the original award for the land for a Syrian garden in 1929 to its dedication. Despite being an early recipient of a garden plot, it is unknown why the garden was never built. However, there was a growing Syrian population in Cleveland around the time that the gardens were being created.

The first wave of Syrian immigrants that would make up the Syrian community in Cleveland arrived in the 1890s and peaked by the 1910s. Many Syrian American immigrants came from agricultural villages and towns that surrounded Beirut and Damascus. The majority came from the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon, also known in antiquity as Coele-Syria. Most came from the towns of Zahle and Aiteneet, while others came from Aramoon and Kuba in northern Lebanon. Many of the early immigrants during the late nineteenth century into the early twentieth century were Christians.

The first Syrian immigrant believed to have arrived in Cleveland was named Salim Farres. He was a peddler who eventually purchased a storefront on Woodland Avenue that sold threads, needles, and other assorted items to small dealers and other Syrian peddlers in northern Ohio. Syrian immigrants often began in unskilled labor as peddlers, factory workers, and in construction. Over time, they established their own small businesses, including retail shops, grocery stores, produce stands, restaurants, and contracting firms. Most of the early settlers lived just south of downtown in the Haymarket district, notably on Carnegie, Orange, Webster, and Woodland Avenues. They also established significant populations on Bolivar Road, areas between East 9th and East 22nd Streets, and on the near west side in old Ohio City and across the Central Viaduct in Tremont.

The Caraboolads and Ottos were two pioneering Syrian families to immigrate to Cleveland. Salim Caraboolad moved to Cleveland in 1892 and married Najeebie Otto in 1893. In 1898, he organized and became the first president of the St. George Society, a fraternal organization that helped new immigrants settle in Cleveland. With help from the St. George Society, Mr. Caraboolad eventually founded the first Syrian American church in Cleveland in 1905, St. Elias Church. In the early twentieth century, many of the Syrian immigrants in Cleveland were Catholics of the Melkite Rite, an eastern rite of Catholicism. Originally known as the “Church of the Syrian Catholics,” the parish at St. Elias first located on Webster Avenue. As the congregation grew, the parish moved to Scranton Road after purchasing the South Presbyterian Church in 1937. It moved again to Memphis Avenue in Brooklyn in 1965 where the church still exists today. St. Elias Church was the first Melkite parish within a 500-mile radius of Cleveland, the first outside of New York, and the third in the United States.

The first World War sparked another wave of immigration to Cleveland, but the Quota Acts of 1921 and 1924 restricted immigration of many nationalities into the country. Many Syrian Americans in Cleveland moved outwards to the suburbs and surrounding neighborhoods during this time as well. By the 1930s, shortly after the garden plot was awarded, there were more than one thousand Syrian immigrants living in Cleveland proper. During this time, the Syrian community in Cleveland held fundraisers and made attempts to establish their garden plot. By 1934, more than fifteen organizations joined together to form the Syrian Cultural Garden Association. These fundraising events included a benefit gala at the Statler Hotel and the annual dance for Syrians held by the Syrian American Club. Efforts persisted into the 1940s, but despite these early fundraising attempts, the garden remained undeveloped.

However, in 2004, the Arab American Community Center for Economic and Social Services (AACCESS) rediscovered the plot. They cleaned up the site and worked to garner support from the Syrian American community in Cleveland to begin construction. Located between MLK Jr. and East Boulevards, the garden sits between the American and Hebrew gardens. Designed by graduate students Raghda Helal and Nagham Nano from Damascus University, the garden features many Syrian-influenced design elements.

Entering the garden from East Boulevard, you will pass through Syrian-style arches. These arches were designed to replicate the Arch of Triumph in Palmyra, Syria. Now destroyed, the original arches in Palmyra were built in the late second century into the early third century. Once through the arches, it descends into a Roman-style amphitheater, designed to mimic the ancient amphitheater of Bosra. In the middle of the amphitheater sits an Arabic-style fountain, constructed with traditional Syrian stone colors. The fountain is surrounded by a sixteen-point star design that is a common design in Arabic architecture. Surrounding the amphitheater are six black granite columns or pedestals that detail Syrian history from antiquity to the present. These include achievements like the first alphabet, a history of Syrian immigration in the United States, and the poem “A Message to Young Americans of Syrian Origin” by Khalil Gibran, written in 1919.

The most recent addition to the garden is the bust of Nizar Qabbani. Nizar Qabbani (1923-1998) was a Syrian poet during the mid-to-late twentieth century who tackled themes of romance and politics throughout his work. Formally dedicated to the garden on September 12, 2015, the bust was created by local Syrian American artist Leila Khoury. In addition to the many architectural features, the garden is landscaped with Damascene roses and cedars of Lebanon. These design elements contribute to a beautifully unique scene that captures many elements of Syrian cultural heritage.

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The Albanian Cultural Garden at the Cleveland Cultural Gardens in Rockefeller Park is the first garden to be located on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard’s east side. Previously, all gardens to the east of the boulevard faced East Boulevard. The Albanian Cultural Garden was planted to celebrate the Albanian community that has been flourishing in Cleveland since the 1890s.

Many early Albanian immigrants who left for the United States in the 1890s first left Italy along with Italian immigrants. Many Albanians had previously fled the Ottoman invasion of their homeland in the Middle Ages, settling in southern Italy. Their descendants were called Arbëreshë, meaning Albanians of Italy. In addition to the Arbëreshë immigrants, other Albanians came from southern Albania’s Korçë to Cleveland seeking job opportunities. Many immigrants from the late 1800s to early 1900s lacked formal education and were predominantly men who hoped to make some money and then return home. However, many decided to stay and bring their families to the United States. By 1914, a little under 2,000 Albanian immigrants resided in Ohio. Early Albanian immigrants usually settled on the Near West Side of Cleveland especially on Detroit Avenue from West 54th to West 58th Streets, as well as in Linndale.

The population of Albanians rose before World War II and by 1940, there were about 1,000 Albanian immigrants in Cleveland. After the war, Cleveland received many more Albanians who had been displaced to refugee camps in Austria, Italy, and Germany, as well as those from Kosovo, Yugoslavia. Early Albanian immigrants who arrived before the end of World War II helped those who were able to make their way to Cleveland before immigration stopped. In 1946, Enver Hoxha came to power and no Albanians could leave.

Immigration resumed after the fall of communism in their homeland in 1992. Many left the city of Fier in Albania and other parts of southeastern Europe for the U.S. In addition, foreign exchange programs from Kosovo to the United States increased immigration. In 1999, President Bill Clinton decided to select Cleveland as one of five cities that would house resettled refugees from the war in Kosovo. Albanian immigrants have been coming to Cleveland for more than a century, and Albanians are one of Cleveland’s most prominent immigrant groups. There are about 20,000 Albanians in Greater Cleveland, many of whom live in western suburbs such as Lakewood, Fairview Park, and Rocky River.

The Albanian Cultural Garden was created with Albanian history and traditions in mind. The Albanian American Association of Cleveland was founded in 1998 and one of its cofounders was Cleveland city councilwoman Dona Brady. This association helped raise funds for a future Albanian cultural garden. In 2007, the opportunity for an Albanian cultural garden presented itself when the city of Cleveland set aside ten additional garden spaces within the Cleveland Cultural Gardens. Brady was instrumental to the creation of the Albanian cultural gardens because she sponsored legislation that would ensure that one of the ten spaces was for an Albanian cultural garden. In addition, Brady also worked side by side with Albanians in Cleveland, as well as with Cleveland’s sister city of Fier in Albania. Once the garden was officially approved, the landscape architect for the garden was chosen and James McKnight and Associates got to work on the garden.

During the first stage of the garden’s development, a seven-foot-tall bronze statue of Mother Teresa was installed in the Albanian Cultural Garden. Mother Teresa is important to many Albanians because she was a famous Catholic nun of Albanian decent who helped countless people in her life. The Asian-Indian community decided to help raise money for the Albanian Cultural Garden’s Mother Teresa statue because of her well-known work in Calcutta. With funding from the Sisters of Charity Health System, Albanian sculptor Kreshnik Xhiku created the bronze Mother Teresa statue, the centerpiece of the first phase of the garden. The statue sits atop a six-foot-tall pedestal bearing the inscription “Mother Teresa Agnes Gonxhe Bojaxhiu 1910-1997.” Next to the statue are benches for prayer and reflection.

With the completion of its first phase, the Albanian Cultural Garden officially became the twenty-ninth garden to be added to the Cleveland Cultural Gardens since 1918. On September 22, 2012, the dedication ceremony for phase one commemorated the 100th anniversary of Albanian independence. News of the garden made its way to Albania, and the Albanian President Bujar Nishani, as well as the Albanian Ambassador to the U.S., Gilbert Galanxhi, attended the dedication ceremony. Also in attendance were three musicians who were adopted from orphanages run by Mother Teresa.

The Mother Teresa statue continues to draw people to the Albanian Cultural Garden. Due to Mother Teresa’s work with the poor and the miracles she performed that healed two individuals of tumors on two separate occasions, Pope Francis believed she was worthy to be canonized and become a saint. The Albanian Cultural Garden held a canonization ceremony on September 4, 2016, the day that she was recognized as a saint. People who attended were asked to bring flowers to lay at the feet of the statue and to stay and learn about the process to become a saint. She was canonized the day before the 19th anniversary of her death.

During phase two of the garden project, an upper level with a fountain was added. This particular fountain, originally built in the 1920s was in Willard Park until it was removed to make way for the installation of the Free Stamp in 1991. The location of the fountain remained a mystery for some years until Councilwoman Brady discovered the fountain dismantled in Harvard Yard’s parking lot. The City of Cleveland originally planned to discard the fountain, but Brady saved it and donated it to the Albanian Cultural Garden. A lighted walkway to the fountain was also added to the garden. Many hope the beautiful fountain will entice more people to visit the garden for weddings, parties, and picnics. On November 24, 2013, the fountain was dedicated. This ceremony also captured the attention of Albanian officials just as the first dedication had. The mayor of Fier, Baftjar Zeqaj, and an Albanian Prime Minister representative attended the second dedication ceremony. Each completed phase of the garden gave Albanians the opportunity to come together.

The Albanian Cultural Garden celebrates Albanian culture and connects Albanian immigrants and their descendants with a piece of their homeland. Through the garden’s design, the events held at the garden, and the people who visit the garden, a piece of Albania has truly been added to the Cleveland Cultural Gardens.

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The Croatian Cultural Garden is situated between the Hebrew and the Hungarian Gardens at the Cleveland Cultural Garden to pay homage to Cleveland’s Croatian community. Discussions concerning creating a new garden to showcase Croatian heritage began in early 2010 with a meeting between the Croatian Heritage Museum library staff and a special committee who initiated its construction. Our Croatia Inc. was the sponsoring organization for this garden. Construction on the Croatian Cultural Gardens started in April 2011 after some land from the British Cultural Garden was permitted to be used for the Croatian garden.

There was certainly a desire and need to reflect Croatia’s history in the Cleveland Cultural Gardens. The first wave of Croatian immigration to Cleveland occurred between the 1880s and World War I. It is estimated that there were around ten thousand Croatians in Cleveland by World War I. Croatians started coming to Cleveland from neighboring states because of construction and industry jobs being readily available in the area. Many Croatians left their homeland for Cleveland during this first wave due to financial constraints at home, as well as Austro-Hungarian rule. Prior to 1900, Croatian immigrants were predominately single men who moved to Cleveland. Many decided to settle along St. Clair Avenue from around East 24th Street to East 79th Street, as well as south to Superior and Payne Avenue. Moreover, many Croatians along with some Slovenians decided to settle in and around Nottingham, Euclid, Newburgh, Collinwood, and Maple Heights. Many were unskilled workers who worked for local companies: Van Dorn Iron Works, Patterson Sargent Paint Co, W.S. Tyler Plant, and Otis Steel. Many early Croatian immigrants were able to make a home and community for themselves in Cleveland.

Even more Croatian immigrants were inspired to move to Cleveland. There were a couple more waves of immigration with one large wave of immigration to the United States following World War II when many Croatians were fleeing a war-torn homeland and hoped for a better life in America. Another smaller wave of immigration to the United States in the mid-1960s to early 1970s occurred due to economic and political issues at home. According to the 1940 Census, there were an estimated 12,540 Croatians in Cleveland, and between 1967 and 1971, 8,000 Croatians immigrated to Cleveland. The Croatian population continued to grow in Cleveland and by 1985 the Croatian population grew to about 25,000. Due to the large population increase of Croatians, the cohesiveness of the Cleveland Croatians disintegrated into the broader Cleveland community. Despite this apparent fragmentation, Croatian immigrants and Croatian descendants still were and are connected through their churches and community organizations. There are currently 70,000 Croatian immigrants in Ohio, which demonstrates why a Croatian Cultural Garden was necessary and dedicated in 2012.

The design of this garden reflects Croatian history and culture. The lower plaza signifies Croatian folklore because it is formed like a licitar, a heart-shaped cake dating to the Middle Ages that is made from honey dough and wax. The licitar, a symbol of Croatia’s capital Zagreb, is made for special occasions. Many use licitars as ornaments on their Christmas trees and many will also give a licitar to someone on Valentine’s Day. The lower level also contains a 350-pound statue titled “Immigrant Mother.” Cleveland sculptor, Joseph Turkaly, was an immigrant from Croatia and wanted to create a statue that embodied the immigrant experience when he was an art teacher at Gilmour Academy, so he created this sculpture in 1985. The immigrant mother statue in the Croatian Cultural Gardens is not the only immigrant mother statue he has commissioned; there are immigrant statues he sculpted in Toronto, Canada; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Zagreb, Croatia; and in front of his Cleveland Heights home. There is text on the statue that is in Croatia’s original language Glagoltic and it states, “Dedicated to all the immigrant mothers who brought their families to America seeking freedom and a new life. Erected by the Croatian community of Greater Cleveland.” Furthermore, this statue contains a Croatian shield (Grb) and has a Croatian interlace pattern (Pletar) that represents the holy Trinity.

Moreover, there is an upper level to the garden that is conducive to gatherings due to its standard plaza shape. This level holds a baptismal font that illustrates when Croatia converted to Christianity and it replicates Prince Višeslav’s baptismal font. The American Croatian Women’s Club donated the six-sided font with the carved cross symbolizing the coming resurrection of Jesus. The font bears an inscription: “This font receives the weak to enlighten them. Here they are purged of their sins which they received from their first parents, to become Christians, salutary [sic] confessing the Eternal Trinity. This work was skillfully made by priest John at the time of Prince Višeslav, out of piety but to honor Saint John the Baptist, to mediate for him and his protégé.” This font was consecrated by Catholic priest Mirko Hladni of St. Paul’s Church on August 10, 2014, with Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson in front of a crowd who came to see the garden. To connect this garden with Croatia even further, six benches were installed that were forged from Croatian Brac stone. The waterfall that flows from the upper to the lower level is meant to reflect of Croatia’s numerous waterfalls, such as Krka Falls and Plitvice Lake.

The Croatian Cultural Garden is a perfect representation of Croatia’s distinct history and reflects the strength that many Croatian immigrants had when immigrating to America. Their unique heritage is celebrated in these gardens because Croatians have been in Cleveland for over a hundred years. Croatia may be thousands of miles away from the Croatian Cultural Gardens, but anyone who visits this site today will feel a connection to Croatia that is undeniable.

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A close friend and editor for the Plain Dealer likened Stinchcomb to Moses Cleaveland and Tom Johnson as a Cleveland icon. Upon Stinchcomb's retirement, the Cleveland Metroparks' chairman of the board stated, "I know of no man to whom the citizens of Cuyahoga County owe more than to William Stinchcomb." This is precisely why Stinchcomb, or "Mr. Metropolitan Park," has a monument erected in his name in the Rocky River Reservation of the Cleveland Metroparks which he founded, designed, and directed.

William Stinchcomb believed people to be at home in the outdoors, and that urbanites in particular needed access to wilderness and wildlife in order to maintain a healthy life. Stinchcomb stated that "[w]e must have these great outdoor rest places close to a great industrial city such as this is, and as working days grow shorter we must find healthful ways of filling leisure time." As the very first engineer of the Metropolitan Parks System, he was responsible for the ring-shaped design of the refuge that encircles the city of greater Cleveland.

Stinchcomb's idea and design of the Cleveland Metroparks may have been influenced by Boston's Emerald Necklace; a u-shaped system of parks that virtually surrounds the city. Stinchcomb alluded to such an influence by using the term Emerald Necklace as a nickname for the Cleveland Metroparks. The Emerald Necklace of Boston was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, a pioneer in landscape architecture, in 1880. Olmsted's sons John Charles and Frederick Law Jr. created the first ever landscape architectural firm, Olmsted Brothers, the same firm hired by Stinchcomb to help create Cleveland's Emerald Necklace in 1915.

In 1922, Stinchcomb undertook a massive reforestation project that consisted of the planting of over 2,500 trees in the Rocky River reservation. During the Great Depression, he employed government organizations including the PWA, WPA, and CCC to improve the parks system and connect the various reservations by making them more accessible to the public through the construction of roads, water mains, and various types of trails.

Stinchcomb retired in 1957 after 35 years as Director of the Cleveland Metroparks due to rapidly declining health. He died on January 17, 1959, shortly after he attended an informal unveiling of his own memorial in November 1958. The thirty-foot-tall monument, formally dedicated on October 17, 1959, was produced with a budget of $8,000. It was collaboratively designed by sculptor William McVey and architect Ernst Payer, and overlooks the first parcel of land that Stinchcomb purchased for Cleveland's metropolitan parks system in 1919. This overlook is just south of the Rockliffe Lane entrance to the Rocky River North Reservation. The monument itself is made of concrete with two speakers near the top for use with the amphitheater, an inlaid red granite bas-relief sculpture of Stinchcomb in profile, and a granite podium with an inscription detailing Stinchcomb's life.

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Located along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, and opposite the Greek Garden, the Ukrainian Garden was inaugurated in 1940. The garden is composed of a series of brick and stone courts connected by paved walks. The South Court of this formal place is accessed by a stone and iron gateway with two bronze plaques and portrait reliefs sculpted by Frank L. Jirouch. The portraits represent Bohdan Khmelnytsky, leader of a revolt against the Poles in 1614 (1593-1657), and Mykhailo Serhiyovych Hrushevsky, an historian, teacher and author (1866-1934). There is also a statue of poet Larysa Petrivna Kosach-Kvitka (Lesya Ukrainka) in the garden, as well as three bronze busts that celebrate significant nationalist leaders in Ukraine history: poet and writer Ivan Franko (1856-1916); Grand Prince of Kyiv Volodymyr the Great (c. 956-1015); and Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko, a poet, teacher and artist (1814-1861).

The three major busts were the work of Kyiv-born Alexander Archipenko who immigrated to the United States in the 1920s. Archipenko was a part of the cubist movement. His work departed from classical sculptural design, using negative space in creative ways. The busts disappeared from the garden In the 1970s, making many believe that they had been destroyed or stolen. It wasn't until the 1990s that the missing busts were found in a Cleveland municipal garage where they had been placed for safekeeping. Since then, fiberglass copies of the busts have been made for the Garden whereas the originals have found a new home in the Ukrainian Museum & Archives in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood.

The first Ukrainians arrived in the Cleveland area in the mid-1880s and settled in the Tremont area. Early numbers are difficult to determine because they were counted as being part of the ethnic groups that at one time or another occupied what is now Ukraine. A hundred years later, in 1986, the Ukrainian community of Greater Cleveland was centered in Parma and numbered over 35,000. A strong Ukrainian presence remains in the Parma area in 2012. Cultural education is still a focal point of community life with 'Saturday Schools' (Ridna Shkola) teaching language, history, geography and culture. This schooling is accredited by the Parma Board of Education.

Large Ukrainian collections exist in the local and university libraries through the contributions of Ukrainian professors. The Ukrainian Museum & Archive, Inc., located on Kenilworth Avenue in Tremont, was organized in 1952. It has attracted scholars from all over the world. Other organizations have been dedicated to preserving Ukrainian culture through summer camps, dance ensembles, choirs, percussion bands, mandolin ensembles, private orchestras, soccer teams, and skiing clubs.

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Dedicated on October 5, 2008, the Serbian Cultural Garden features a central plaza with a marble cube and circular concrete seating. The plaza also contatins the garden's message: "Only Unity Saves The Serbs." A pebble mosaic surrounds the cube. It is a reproduction of mosaics found at the Hilandar Monastery (Greece) and at the Patriarchate of Pec and Zica Monasteries (Serbia). A trail meanders southwards from the plaza. After a pleasant stroll parallel to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, the path ends at another plaza. This part of the garden is dedicated to inventor, engineer and genius Nikola Tesla (1856-1943).

The garden also holds a number of busts featuring other famous people. One of them is King Peter I, founding father of Yugoslavia (1844-1921). Another is poet Petar II Petrovic-Njegos, an Orthodox Prince-Bishop and ruler of Montenegro (1813-1851).

Originally, the republics of Serbia and Croatia were joined with Slovenia in the 1932 Yugoslav Garden. After the 1991 breakup of Yugoslavia, the Yugoslav Garden was re-dedicated to Slovenia. The bust of Njegos, which had been in the original garden, was consequently moved to the newly dedicated Serbian Garden.

Cleveland's first Serb is considered to be Lazar Krivokapic from Montenegro who settled here in 1893. Most Serbs did not immigrate to Cleveland until after the turn of the century though. The ones who came were part of the enormous migration from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The largest group of Serbs came from Lika (a mountainous region in what is now Croatia), while others came from Banija (currently Banovina in central Croatia), Kordun (north of Lika in what is now central Croatia), Backa (currently divided between Serbia and Hungary) and Banat (whose area currently lies in western Romania, northeastern Serbia and southeastern Hungary). There were also a significant number of Serbs from Dalmatia (a region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea which today lies mostly in Croatia but has smaller areas in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro) and Montenegro (before it became part of Yugoslavia).

Most Serbian immigrants to Cleveland lived in an area from East 20th Street to the E. 40s north of Superior Avenue. Hamilton and St. Clair Avenues were particularly dense Serbian neighborhoods. At the time of World War I it is estimated that 1,000 Serbs lived in Cleveland. Another 700 Serbs came to Cleveland between 1949 and 1952, with many settling in the East 55th–Broadway area. Today, a reduced settlement remains in that area. Most Serbs, however, have long since moved to the southwestern suburbs of Cleveland. Between the 1960s and the mid-1980s, a large number of Serbs emigrated from the former Yugoslavia. Although the Serbs make up a fairly small part of the area's population, the Serbian language is still widely spoken, and cultural organizations and lodges remain active.

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The plot of land that makes up the Rusin Cultural Garden is located along East Boulevard. It was dedicated in June, 1939.

Most Rusyns (also commonly spelled Rusins) immigrated to Cleveland in the period from 1880 to World War I. The Rusyns are an Eastern Slavic ethnic group who speak a dialect known as Rusyn or Lemko. Rusyns descend from Ruthenians but, unlike some of the groups related to them, did not adopt the term Ukrainian in the early twentieth century to describe their ethnicity. Cleveland's Rusyns trace their heritage to the Carpathian Mountains, which is the second longest (932 mi) mountain range in Europe. This chain of mountains stretches in an arc from the Czech Republic (3%) in the northwest across Slovakia (17%), through Hungary (4%) and Poland (10%) to the Ukraine (11%). It then runs south to Romania (53%) before arcing back east to the Iron Gates (gorge) on the Danube River between Romania and Serbia (2%).

One of the earliest (1890) Rusyn settlements in Cleveland was located within a Hungarian community along Orange and Woodland Avenues. As these groups grew they both moved eastward along the Union and Buckeye Avenues. A second Rusyn settlement also developed in Tremont and by 1906 Rusyns were settling as far west as Lakewood. By the 1930s, more than 30,000 Rusyns lived in the city. After World War II, however, Rusyns, like many others, moved to the suburbs in large numbers. In 1983, approximately 25,000 Rusyns still lived in the Greater Cleveland area, but most of the original Rusyn neighborhoods had long been abandoned. In 2009, the Carpatho-Rusyn Heritage Museum opened at the St. John the Baptist Cathedral in Parma to educate the public about the history and culture of Rusyns.

Pastor of Holy Ghost Greek Catholic Church, Reverent Jseph Hanulya, was also the head of the Rusin Cultural Garden Association. In May, 1952, Hanulya unveiled a bust of Alexander Duchnovich. A Greek Catholic priest, Alexander Duchnovich (1803-1865) wrote prose and poetry in the Rusyn language, and also wrote the Rusyn National Anthem. The bust has since been stolen and no longer stands in the garden.

The Cultural Gardens have often incorporated symbolism or design elements that subverted the message of unity and reflected ethnic tensions in Europe and Cleveland. Clever choices of sculptures and honorees by ethnic communities also brought the conflicts so evident in Europe and its history to the chain of gardens. An example of this sort of conflict can be found in the Rusin Garden's choice to honor Alexander Duchnovich; a champion of Rusyn language and identity who defended the Rusyn language from Hungarian rule in the nineteenth century. Both the Slovak and Czech gardens celebrated similar themes. It was no mistake that the Czech, Slovak, and Rusin gardens arrayed themselves across a boundary street from the contiguous German and Hungarian gardens. Location can sometimes suggest just how powerfully old cultural conflicts were felt.

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Not in the original chain of gardens, the Romanian Cultural Garden was inaugurated in 1967. This wide expanse of green space, surrounded by evergreens and maples, is home to a life-size bronze statue of twentieth century musician and composer George Enescu.

Romanians coming to Cleveland in the late 1800s and before World War I were from the Austro-Hungarian provinces of Transylvania and Bucovina. By the beginning of World War I there were about 12,000 ethnic Romanians living in Cleveland. The largest settlements were on the west side between W. 45th and W. 65th Streets immediately north and south of Detroit Avenue (where they gradually replaced the Irish and German settlements), and in the eastern part of Lakewood. A sizable group also settled in the E. 65th St. and St. Clair Avenue area and in the Buckeye Rd. section of Collinwood.

After World War I, when Transylvania and Bucovina became part of Romania, nearly half of the immigrant population returned to their native land. The distinct Romanian neighborhoods vanished along with them, except for the one on the west side which managed to maintain an ethnic and cultural Romanian character. The emigration back to Romania meant that by the 1920s, only about 6,000 Romanians remained in Cleveland. In 1940, this number had dropped to around 4,000. Beginning c. 1948, however, Romanian emigration was again replaced by immigration as about 2,000 Romanians arrived in Cleveland. Around this time, the compact west side community started to break up and move farther west to the suburbs. Only a few old-time Romanians remained in the original neighborhood in the 1980s.

Although the Greater Cleveland Romanian community has lost its physical cohesiveness, the influx of post-WWII immigrants and the strong position of the Orthodox church has helped maintain a variety of traditional programs. It has also helped build a Transylvanian-style church with a museum, library and other facilities.

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Located near the southwest corner of St. Clair and East Boulevard, the Polish Cultural Garden was dedicated in 1934 with the planting of an elm tree from Poland. Originally designed as a sunken, hexagonal court, the Polish Garden was designed with organic material from Poland.

Poles were one of Cleveland's largest nationality groups in the 20th century. Some arrived even earlier. In 1870, the first notable U.S. Census counted 77 Poles living in the city. The earliest Polish immigrants settled within the Czech community around Croton Street. Eventually, however, the Poles created their own settlement adjacent to Tod (E.65th) St. and what became Fleet Avenue. The area soon became known as Warszawa, after the capital city of Poland. Today, the area is known simply as Slavic Village today. Immigrants continued to move to Cleveland in the 1880s, increasing the Polish population considerably. Two more settlements grew up in the late 1880s and 1890s. The Poznan neighborhood was established around E. 79th St. and Superior Ave. and Kantowo arose in the Tremont area.

Cleveland's Polish community continued to grow with the city's need for workers. The largest influx occurred between 1900-14. The U.S. Census for 1920 records 35,024 Poles with several smaller neighborhoods having been settled by WWI: Josephatowo near E. 33rd St. and St. Clair Ave., Barbarowo at Denison Avenue, and along Madison Ave with other groups including Slovaks. All immigration after WWI was inconsequential and the Cleveland Polish community peaked in 1930 with a population of 36,668 foreign-born Poles.

The movement to the suburbs began as early as 1910. By 1970, only 6,234 Poles still resided within the city limits. The U.S. Census for 1990 estimated that only 1,635 Poles remained in the city, with Slavic Village being the community's main center.

At the center of the Polish Cultural Garden stands an octagonal fountain decorated with allegorical figures that represent music, literature, science and astronomy. It has an ornamental border of jumping fish and small carved turtles along its base. The fountain was dedicated to the daughter of 16th century poet Jan Kochanowski. The little girl's death at 2 ½ years of age prompted Kochanowski to write a series of 19 elegies. Fittingly, the fountain was built largely by the help of small donations from schoolchildren. It was dedicated in 1953.

Surrounding the central fountain are seven busts showing Polish notables. All the busts were dedicated between 1947 and 1966. Among the notables are 19th century composer and pianist Frederic Chopin (1810-1849), 16th century astronomer Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543), and 20th century physicist and chemist Maria Sklodowska Curie (1867-1934).

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Dedicated in October 1936, the Lithuanian Cultural Garden extends from East Boulevard down three levels to Martin Luther King Boulevard. Designed by Professor Dubinecras in Lithuania, the garden was adjusted by the City Plan Commission of Cleveland to fit the local topography. The Lithuanian Cultural Garden's choice of sculptures reflects the importance of national identity in the construction of many of the cultural gardens. Designed in the shape of a lyre, the Lithuanian delegations explicitly organized the landscape into three levels, to represent three moments in Lithuanian history and its struggle for national identity.

The central feature of the garden's upper level is the Fountain of Biruta. Biruta was a priestess in the Temple of Perkunas, the God of Thunder and/or Oak. Two nooks frame the upper-level's fountain and terrace, each nook possessing a bust of a figure that is closely associated with Lithuanian national identity. On one side of the garden is a bronze bust of Vincas Kudirka, a poet, physician and composer of the Lithuanian National Anthem (1858-1899). This bust was dedicated in 1938. On the opposite side of the garden stands a bust of Maciulis Maironis, a priest whose poetry advanced the cause of Lithuanian independence (1862-1932). This bust was dedicated in 1961.

The middle level of the garden is a terrace defined by a three pillared sculptured wall that towers above the garden's lower level. The wall was modeled after the three pillars of Gediminas, which is a commemorative memorial in Vilnius symbolizing the unification of Lithuania.

The lowest level runs along MLK Boulevard. It tells the story of Lithuania's rebirth after World War I through the dominating bust of Dr. Jonas Basanavicius (1851-1927), a scholar, historian, and first president of the Lithuanian Republic in 1918. Dedicated in 1936, the bust was a gift of the Lithuanian government. According to Clara Lederer, both the Basanavicius and Kudirka busts were copies of originals created by prominent Lithuanian sculptor Jonas Zikaras, whose work championed Lithuanian national identity.

The first Lithuanians were recorded in Cleveland in 1871. They formed settlements around St. Clair and Oregon Ave (now Rockwell), ranging east to about E. 71st St. between Oregon and Cedar Avenues. By 1930 approximately 10-12,000 Lithuanians lived in Cleveland. The growing community continued to expand east to the Collinwood area. Around 4,000 Lithuanian refugees immigrated to Cleveland after World War II. By 1973, a new community center called Lithuanian Village was built and dedicated along E. 185th Street. Community activity quickly shifted to that area.

The Lithuanian community presently numbers about 16,000. The re-establishment of Lithuanian Independence in the early 1990s had a monumental impact on the community. There has been a modest level of new immigration since then, and some members of the Cleveland community have established business ties with the Republic of Lithuania.

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The Latvian Cultural Garden was dedicated on October 8, 2006. The garden was designed by landscape architect Albert Park and assisted by local architect Kalvis Kampe. An unusually colored flagstone walk leads visitors past a number of sculpturs. The garden's focal point, however, is Maras Akmens. A granite sculpture designed by Latvian artists Girts and Gaits Burvis, the Maras Akmens is shaped as an open silhouette that depicts a symbol of Latvian folk art and represents the strength and spirit of the Latvian culture. The garden also has three other beautifully crafted sculptures by Girts and Gaits (father and son).

Pioneering Latvian families in the Cleveland area are considered to have been the Raufmanis (sometimes given as Kaulomonis) family who arrived in 1887 and the Krastins (sometimes Krostius) family who arrived in 1902. Because they were often counted by country rather than by ethnic origin in the U.S. Census, it is difficult to determine exactly how many Latvians lived in the area at different points in time. What is certain is that Cleveland's Latvian population remained fairly small, numbering only about 1,000 in 1930. The group did not occupy any distinct neighborhoods except for an area near W. 25th St. and Memphis in the Buckeye Rd. area. An estimated 2,500 Latvians had settled on the west side and in the suburbs by the end of the 1960s. Reflecting the difficulties faced in determining the Latvian presence in Cleveland, estimates of the Latvian population in the 1970s for Cuyahoga County range from 1,500 to 3,000.

In 1963, 1968 and 1973 the community hosted the Latvian Song Festival. The first such Latvian song festival was held in the city of Riga in 1873 while the city and country were still part of the Russian empire. It is considered to have been "the first organized countrywide manifestation of nationalism." This gave later festivals strong overtones of patriotism and nationalism. Cleveland's festival of 1963 reportedly brought 10,000 Latvians to the city. The centennial (1973) song festival attracted an estimated 15,000. With Latvia gaining its independence in August of 1991, many Cleveland Latvians began revisiting their homeland. Visitors arrived from Latvia as well. Among these was the President of Latvia, who visited Cleveland in November of 1994 for the re-opening of the Honorary Latvian Consulate.

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The Hebrew Garden was designed by T. Ashburton Tripp. It was the first garden to be built after the Shakespeare Garden and signaled the formal beginning of the Cultural Gardens. Dedicated in 1926, it is a monument to the Zionist movement, as well as the vision of Leo Weidenthal. Originally naming it "Poet's Corner", Weidenthal was instrumental in the founding of the Cultural Gardens chain. The Jewish Federation of Cleveland sponsors the Hebrew Cultural Garden through its Hebrew Cultural Garden committee.

The pink Georgia Eweh marble fountain is the centerpiece of the Hebrew Cultural Garden. The bowl sits on seven pillars referred to in the Hebrew holy texts. In the King James translation of Proverbs chapter 9, verse 1 that text states the following: "Wisdom hath built herself a house; She hath hewn her out of seven pillars". A popular explanation or commentary on the text suggests that the first sentence refers to that God created the world, with the second sentence referring to the seven days of creation.

Directly south of the fountain is the Musicians' Garden, which is in the shape of a lyre or small harp, framed by a sidewalk. The September 10th, 1937 article Wisdom's House Dwells in Hebrew Cultural Garden states that "the triangular pillar at the south end bore a plaque on its north face honoring Jacques Halevy, author of the opera 'The Jewess', Giacomo Meyerbeer, composer of the opera 'L'Africana', and Karl Goldmark, author of 'Queen of Sheba'."

The central architectural feature of the Garden is a hexagonal Star of David, which gives shape to the landscape. In an October 11, 1942 story in The Plain-Dealer, Mary Hirshfeld described the garden in the following way: "From the pool stone paths radiate and form the Shield of David. At four of the six points which form the double triangle of the Star of David are memorials to the Hebrew philosophers; Moses Maimonides, Baruch Spinoza, Moses Mendelssohn, and Ahad Ha'am".

A round bronze plaque is attached to an elevated boulder in the northern section of the garden. The plaque bears Emma Lazarus' poem for the Statue of Liberty: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free..." Underwritten by Federation of Jewish Women's Organizations and dedicated on June 14, 1949, the plaque is located adjacent to a boulder with Lazarus likeness on it.

The first Jews to make their home in Cleveland were from Unsleben, Bavaria. In 1840 there were 20 families alongside 20 single males living in the city. Jews settled in Cleveland during two "eras": The German Era (1837-1900) and The East European Era (1870-1942). By 1880 there were 3,500 Jews living in Cleveland. This number increased dramatically over the next generation.By 1925, about 85,000 Jews lived in the city. Initially, Jewish settlements were established near the Central Market east of the Cuyahoga River. As the community grew, they moved farther and farther east, first to Glenville and the Mt. Pleasant/Kinsman districts. Following World War II the Jewish community moved into Cleveland Heights and other eastern suburbs. At the turn of the twentieth century only a small number of Jews remained on the west side. In 1910 they formed a congregation which later became known as the West Side Jewish Center.

On the east side, the area between Coventry Rd. and South Green Rd in Cleveland Heights became the heart of the Jewish community. In the late 1950s and early 1960s the focal point was Taylor Rd., which witnessed the greatest concentration of Jewish institutions in Cleveland's history. Later decades have seen many Jews moving even further east, most recently to Beachwood and Pepper Pike.

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In the 19th and 20th centuries Germans formed one of Cleveland's largest nationality groups. They began arriving here in substantial numbers during the 1830s, after the canals were built. The first German settlements were built along Lorain Street in Brooklyn and along Superior and Garden (Central Ave.) Streets on the east side. Succeeding generations have lived among the rest of the city's population.

Between 1840 and 1846 Cleveland's population grew from 6,000 to 10,000. One third of this growth was due to immigrants arriving from Germany. By 1848-49, the German-born population reached 2,590 (60 less than the total of all other foreign-born residents). German immigrants remained the largest ethnic group arriving in the city until the mid-1890s. By 1900, more than 40,000 Germans resided in Cleveland. Immigration continued into the twentieth century, but on a smaller scale. German culture and customs in Cleveland have been preserved both in Gemuetlichkeit (public festivity) and German clubs.

Clara Lederer writes that "The Cultural Gardens fountain, stone walks and double lateral sections of linden alleys center about an impressive bronze two-figure statue of Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749-1832) and Friedrich von Schiller (1759-1805), Germany's greatest two poet-philosophers. The statue is a replica of the famous Weimar statue, modeled in 1856 by Ernest Reitschal, the Dresden sculptor. Here tower the two mighty figures, joined in friendship as they were in life, and grandly dominate the spacious and imposing German Garden. The garden is entered at the upper Boulevard level through a triple-arched ornamental iron gate. The German Cultural Garden was dedicated on June 2, 1929, as part of a week-long celebration commemorating the Lessing-Mendelssohn Bi-centennial. The Lessing bust was unveiled at this time, and the Goethe-Schiller statue, which formerly had stood in Wade Park, was rededicated in its new place of honor in the German Garden."

The garden also commemorates other German heroes with plaques, busts, a gate and fountain. Among the many figures honored are naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859), composers Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) and Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827), and artist and theorist Albrecht Durer (1471-1528).

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In 1966, the city's Estonian community unveiled a symbolic flame to Estonia--then a state within the USSR. Designed by Oberlin graduate and prominent architect Herk Visnapuu, the Estonian Garden features an abstract sculpture, an inscribed flame, at its center. Sculptor Clarence E. VanDuzer designed the inscribe flame that represented freedom from bondage, and hope for a brighter future. This was an especially poignant message in 1966 when Estonia was still part of the Soviet Union.

The Inventory of American Sculpture describes the inscribed flame as being "a tapered cement shaft with curved tips. The top of the shaft is cut out in the shape of a petal or a leaf. The cutout area holds flame-shaped pieces made of wood. The sculpture rests on a raised mound surrounded by trees." The inscription on the monument is from Kalevipoeg, an epic poem written by Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald, a writer and physician (1803-1882) in the 1850s but originally published in 1861. Part of the broader awakening of nationalist sentiment in Europe, Kalevipoeg became a lightning rod for the creation of Estonian national identity, of self-confidence and pride. It reads: But the time will come when all torches will burst into flame at both ends.

It is believed that the first Estonian settler, Geo. Tammik arrived in Cleveland in 1903. About 35 more people were recorded as Estonian immigrants by 1945 with about 200 more arriving following World War II. They are still one of the smallest ethnic groups in the Cleveland area.

September 2010 marked the completion of the remodeling of the Estonian Garden's central area. A large, sandstone, boat-like planter surrounded by sandstone walks, has replaced the original walkway. The Baltic Sea is an important part of Estonian life and the boat suggests as much. Text incised in a paver at the boat's stern is also from the Estonian epic poem, Kalevipoeg.

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The Azerbaijan Garden was dedicated on May 12, 2008. Khanlar Gasimov's sculpture, "Hearth," stands at the center of the Garden. Made of polished stainless steel, the bowl-shaped sculpture allows viewers to see the reflection of the earth and sky in its exterior and interior curves. The "Hearth" was inspired by the 12th century Azerbaijani poet Ganjavi and the 14th Century Azerbaijani philosopher Imadeddin Nasimi. The sculpture embodies contradictions. According to Gasimov, "its physical form, with its defnitive height and diameter, represent limits, containment, and finite, while the circles represent boundlessness, openness."

When the garden was dedicated, Karl Turner wrote for The Plain Dealer that "A chorus of 'Wow' resounded when the white canvas fell away and a giant stainless-steel bowl shimmered on the wet green grass. The seventh grade boys from University School had come to Rockefeller Park to witness a Cleveland ethnic tradition -- the dedication of a cultural garden. Among the Azerbaijani-Americans gathered for the noon ceremony, the response was something softer and more powerful -- a collective breath, followed by smiles that lit up a rainy Monday."

"'It's a great honor to see our symbol here,' Dr. Dilara Seyidova Khoshknabi explained. The Cleveland Clinic brought her from Azerbaijan, in western Asia, eight years ago for medical research. Now she and her husband, Mohammad Khoshknabi, call the city home. 'I feel like it's a piece of my land here in Cleveland,' she said. The Cleveland Cultural Gardens have bestowed that gift of belonging upon generations of immigrants, often people from small, emerging nations who badly want the world to know who they are. The moments of recognition do not come as often anymore. But Monday's ceremony proved that the 92-year-old garden chain still stirs emotion and pride."

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Dedicated on September 19, 2010, the Armenian Cultural Garden celebrates the distinctive identity of the Armenian people. Designed by architect Berj A. Shakarian, the site plan is devised in the form of the "vesica piscis", a sacred geometric symbol representing Christ and by extension the conversion of Armenia as the first Christian nation in 301 CE. The "Alphabet" monument symbolizes the centrality of the Armenian language in creating the Armenian state. In order to make the Bible accessible to Armenians, St. Mesrop Mashtots invented the alphabet circa 404 CE. According to the Armenian delegation, "The garden's divinely inspired script is the 'secret code' that defines the unique Armenian identity."

"Alphabet" is composed of staggered granite blocks, representing both the turbulent history of the Armenian people and the ruggedly beautiful landscape of Armenia and the Caucasus region. The reverse side of the monument is inscribed with "Pride of a Nation" and lists the anglicized names of 33 men and women who are noted for their historical and cultural contributions to the Armenian nation. Their accomplishments are briefly noted next to their names. These important Armenians' lives span history from antiquity to the 21st century; from the king Tigran the Great (140-55BCE) to the journalist Hrant Dink (1954-2007).

Armenians began immigrating to Cleveland in 1906 or 1907 from Worcester, MA to work in a Cleveland branch of a Massachussetts company. By 1910 there were more than 100 Armenians in Cleveland, many originally from the Turkish city of Malatya. The Armenian population approached 1,500 by WWII.

The Armenians arriving in Cleveland did not settle and congregate in any distinct areas. The Armenian Church became the protector of traditional Armenian culture. In addition, a Saturday school that taught language and history was opened in 1970, and, between the 1950s and the 1970s, an Armenian radio program played for an hour every week. The community has remained stable since the 1960s, with a population of around 2,500.

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There are two sections to the American Legion Peace Garden. One celebrates the international contributions with intermingled soil; it is designated the American Legion Peace Garden (Nations). The other celebrates distinctive "American" contributions. It is designated as the American Legion Peace Garden (States).

From Clara Lederer's The Paths Are Peace - "The chief feature of the Garden of the Nations is a semi-circular, high-backed seat of classical design, surmounted by the head of a beautiful woman, symbolizing peace, and done in Tennessee marble by Henry Herring... Also upon that occasion, the soil from twenty-eight nations was deposited by ambassadors and consular representatives of those nations in a marble crypt at the base of the monument, and the bronze tablet now covering it is inscribed: 'Here in soil from historic shrines of the Nations of the World, are planted trees to create the American Legion Peace Gardens. May the intermingled soil of the nations symbolize the united effort of their peoples as they advance to a better understanding. These gardens planned by men who know the horrors of war, are dedicated to the brotherhood of man and peace throughout the world. Established by The American Legion 1936 Convention Corporation of Cleveland and dedicated by Ray Murphy, National Commander, The American Legion.' The author of the tablet was Legionnaire Glen Campbell and the sculptor was Frank L. Jirouch."

From Clara Lederer's The Paths Are Peace - "The section devoted to the United States and known as The American Legion Peace Garden of the States lies north of the Garden of Nations on the east side of the upper drive. It is marked by a stone pedestal upon which is affixed a bronze tablet similar in design and inscription to the one dedicated to the nations. It bears the following inscription:"...'Here in soil from historic shrines of the States of the Union, are planted trees to create The American Legion Peace Gardens. May the intermingled soil of the States symbolize the national unity which constitutes the strength of our great Republic. These gardens, planned by men who know the horrors of war, are dedicated to the brotherhood of man and peace throughout the world. Established by The American Legion 1936 Convention Corporation of Cleveland and dedicated by Ray Murphy, National Commander, The American Legion.' In this section there is also a bust of George Washington, presented by the American Legion and unveiled on July 4, 1943. Brigadier General Robert L. Denig, U. S. M.C., delivered the principal address."

Clara Lederer in The Paths Are Peace wrote of the dedication of the Gardens - "Many of the members of the American Legion who had taken part in the founding and dedication of the Peace Gardens in 1936, took an active part in planning and conducting the 7th World Poultry Congress which took place in Cleveland in July of 1939. At this time occurred the mass dedication of the entire Cultural Gardens chain, when Paul V. McNutt, past national commander of the American Legion gave the principal address."

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The American Colonial Cultural Garden is planted with native varieties of trees, shrubs and vines to create a forest in the gardens. It also contains a number of busts made by Frank Jirouch.

On May 24, 1935, the Parent Teachers Association Council presided over the dedication of what was then known as the American Cultural Garden. They were aided by numerous Cuyahoga County schoolchildren and their mothers who sang folk songs. Those same schoolchildren also collected pennies toward the purchase of a bust of Mark Twain. The bust was finally unveiled on December 6th, 1935, the 100th anniversary of his birth. On July 23, 1939, the B'nai B'rith presented the garden with a bust of John Hay; secretary to Abraham Lincoln, Secretary of State from 1898-1905 and husband of Clara Stone of Cleveland. On August 2, 1948, The Plain Dealer presented a bust of Artemus Ward (pen name of Charles Farrar Browne); noted lecturer, humorist and member of the Cleveland Plain Dealer staff in 1859, to the city. In later years the Tuskeegee Airmen Alumni association of Cleveland donated a bust of educator, author, orator and political leader Booker T. Washington. The Pearl Harbor and Space Exploration Monuments were also added to the Garden.

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The African American Cultural Garden was dedicated in 1977 following years of effort by local community leaders such as Booker T. Tall. For many years the African American Cultural Garden's construction lay mostly dormant as the delegation developed plans and raised money for the garden along Martin Luther King Jr Drive.

Cleveland has a long history of African American settlement but mass migration from the South increased Cleveland's African American population considerably between 1890 and 1920. In 1900, about 6,000 African Americans lived in the city. By 1920, the number had grown to almost 35,000. Most of the African Americans who arrived in Cleveland came from the South; especially from Georgia and Alabama. Upon reaching Cleveland, many settled in the area along Central Ave. between the Cuyahoga River and E. 40th St. This was also the home to many Italian and Jewish residents at the time.

African Americans kept arriving in Cleveland even after the first great migration and World War I. Coupled with natural growth, the number of African Americans living in the city more than doubled between 1920 and 1930 to reach a total of 72,000. During the second great migration from the South, Cleveland's African American population grew from 85,000 in 1940 to 251,000 in 1960. By the early 1960s they made up over 30% of the city's population; a vast increase from the 1.6% of 1900.

As the suburbanization of the rest of the city's population accelerated, the African American community expanded to the east and northeast of the Central-Woodland area, particularly into Hough and Glenville. Cleveland's African American population stabilized in the 1970s and 1980s. In the 70s, fair housing programs and laws made it possible for middle-class African Americans to move to the suburbs.

When the African American Cultural Garden was dedicated in 1977 there were plans to honor six prominent African Americans: Richard Allen, founder and first bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church; Garrett Morgan Sr., inventor (of the safety helmet, gas mask, and a traffic light with a caution signal) and founder of the Cleveland Call & Post newspaper; Jesse Owens, who won four gold medals in the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin and was awarded the Medal of Freedom in 1976; John P. Green, an elected official in Ohio who introduced the bill in 1890 that made Labor Day a holiday in Ohio; Jane Edna Hunter, who established the Phillis Wheatley Association to assist unmarried African American women and girls who had newly migrated to the North; and Langston Hughes, a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance who spent part of his youth in Cleveland. His poetry and prose offered evocative portrayals of African American life in America.

In his poem "Dreams," Langston Hughes writes:

Hold fast to dreams,

For if dreams die,

Life is a broken-winged bird,

That cannot fly,

Hold fast to dreams,

For when dreams go,

Life is a barren field,

Frozen with snow.

In 2003, the late Cordell Edge, a longtime Glenville resident, was appointed to engage a committee to develop the African American Cultural Garden. Mrs. Edge began a journey to cultivate and renew interest in the Garden and hired a landscape architect to develop a design within the specifications of the Cleveland Cultural Garden Federation. Later, Mayor Frank Jackson organized a task force to develop and implement a plan for the garden. In 2016 the first major element of the plan was dedicated. This element, called the Past Pavilion, depicts corridors within slave castles along the western coast of Africa. Present and Future Pavilions are planned to complete the garden as funds are raised.

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The first Irish immigrants arrived in Cleveland in the early 1820s, with approximately 500 Irishmen and women residing in the city by 1826. Within two decades, the number had doubled, reaching 1,024 by the late 1840s. The passing of another twenty years saw an even greater increase as the Irish population in Cleveland grew ten-fold. In 1870, the U.S. Census counted almost 10,000 Irish living in the city, making up ten percent of the total population.

Most of the Irish lived around the east and west banks of the "Angle," a bend in the Cuyahoga River. Another significant community resided along Detroit Ave. Over time, however, the Irish began leaving their unique enclaves and started settling among other groups. Furthermore, the number of new immigrants began to dwindle. By 1930 there were 8,113 Irish immigrants living in the Cleveland metropolitan area. But, although the number of new immigrants was decreasing, the number of Clevelanders with Irish heritage continued to grow. By 1970, with no distinct Irish neighborhoods remaining, estimates of Irish descendants living in Cleveland varied wildly, ranging anywhere from 37,000 to 100,000.

The Irish Cultural Garden was originally dedicated on May 28, 1933. A refurbished Garden with a renovated and enlarged northern section was re-dedicated on October 3, 2009. Numerous groups have sponsored the Garden over time, including The Irish Garden Club (the original sponsor), The Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians, and Murphy Irish Arts Center. These three groups currently share responsibility for upkeep and other activities.

The principal feature of the Irish Cultural Garden is a sandstone walk with a Celtic cross design. In 1960 the Irish Cultural Garden League dedicated a granite pillar and a bronze bust of Victor Herbert, renowned Irish-American composer and musicians' organizer. Originally placed at the northern edge of the Garden, it was moved in 2009 to its current site at the east side of the north central part of the Garden. Black granite pillars with the portraits of Irish literary figures were part of the Garden's re-dedication in 2009. Among the people honored are Samuel Beckett, dramatist, poet and writer (1906-1989), and author, playwright and poet James Joyce (1882-1941).

Writing in "Their Paths are Peace," Clare Lederer describes the natural beauty of this "greenest of the park gardens." She reports that "Irish juniper, yew and white lilac, hawthorn, lavender and wisteria have been planted, and shamrocks, cowslips, and Shannon roses form the borders. There are beds of Killarney roses and of the "Last Rose of Summer" species. Along a cinder path descending to the Irish Garden are planted Irish blackthorn, used in the making of a shillelagh, or cudgel."

The Irish Cultural Gardens was designed by Donald Gray.

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With the dedication of a bust of the poet Virgil, the Italian Cultural Garden was opened on October 12, 1930 before a crowd of 3000 local Italians celebrating Columbus Day and the 2000th anniversary of Virgil's birth. Over the next decade, the Italian Garden Delegation added sculptures, and designed and constructed the formally landscaped space. On September 14, 1941, the Italian Cultural Garden was officially dedicated. It cost over $100,000 to build the garden, with the city contributing approximately $18,000 and the Federal Government contributing over $94,000 through WPA funds.

Cleveland's Italian community started to slowly form during the Civil War. The U.S. Census of 1870 shows a very limited Italian presence in the city, as only 35 Italian immigrants were registered. The next 50 years, however, saw a far more explosive growth as 20,000 Italians moved to the city. By the late 1920s, 6 Italian neighborhoods were established in Cleveland; Big Italy, between Woodland Ave. and Orange Ave. from E. 9th St. to E. 40th St., was the largest community. Another neighborhood grew up around the St. Marian Church at E. 107th St. and Cedar Ave., and Collinwood also housed a significant number of Italians. On the west side, Italians took up residence in two areas; one near Clark and Fulton Avenues, and one on Detroit near W. 65th St. At the end of the 1920s some Italians moved out of Big Italy to an area at Woodland Ave. and E. 116th St. After WWII many Italians moved to the suburbs while others kept the Italian neighborhoods viable into the 1970s.

In 1960 there were still 19,317 foreign-born Italians in the city. By 1990 this count was 1,429 though still the second largest European immigrant group in Cleveland.Today, Little Italy, centered at Mayfield and Murray Hill Roads is Cleveland's identified Italian community.

Designed formally, the two-level Italian Cultural Garden was, to borrow Clare Lederer's phrasing, "grandly conceived in the spirit of the Italian Renaissance." The upper level of the garden has a large circular marble fountain, a stone parapet, and a bronze bust of the poet Virgil. Mounted on a stone column taken from the ancient Roman forum, this sculpture was a gift from the Italian government under Mussolini. The upper level also includes a block of stone extracted from the side of Monte Grappa in northern Italy. This is in honor of the many northern Ohio members of the 332nd Regiment of Infantry who fought on Italian soil during World War I. There is also a table that recalls the flight of Italian General Balbo from Rome to Cleveland in 1933.

The lower level is accessible from above by two curved staircases that flank a semicircular, brick-paved court. Set into a thirty-foot, decorated retaining wall is a double shell fountain. Six medallions of carved stone adorn the wall and represent six Italian cultural figures: Giotto di Bondone, a painter, sculptor and architect (1267-1337); Michelangelo, a painter, sculptor, architect and poet (1475-1564); Petrarch, a scholar, poet and humanist (1304-1374); Guiseppe Verdi, an operatic composer (1813-1901); Leonardo da Vinci, painter, sculptor, draftsman, architect, engineer and scientist (1452-1519); and Guglielmo Marconi, an inventor best known for his work in radio technology (1874-1937).

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