3592 E. 149th St. ReBirth Certificate

3592 E. 149^th Street

Built in 1953

Single-family dwelling: three bedrooms, two bathrooms

The Place

The makeup of the neighborhood of Mount Pleasant has undergone both ethnic and socioeconomic shifts since it was first settled in 1826.

The first residents hailed from the Isle of Man, near Ireland. Then, in the late 19^th century an influx of Jewish settlers from Bavaria arrived, only to move out again in the 1930s. Other immigrant groups in the 19^th and early 20^th century included Czechs and Italians.

In 1921, Mount Pleasant became a neighborhood instead of a rural community: streets were mapped and trees planted along Bartlett Ave., just half a block away from 3799 E. 149^th St.

Now, it’s a predominantly African-American community. The first African-American settlers came to the community during World War I. In the 1940s and 1950s, African-Americans became the majority ethnic group in the area.

The neighborhood’s socioeconomic makeup has been in flux since the mid-20^th century. Philip Richards, an African-American writer and professor who grew up in the area, wrote about the population shifts in the neighborhood in the 1950s and 1960s, as seen by his own family: “[Richards’ parents]…departed Mount Pleasant as it filled with black newcomers from the inner city. Years earlier, when they had moved into Mount Pleasant, both the Eastern European immigrants and the black middle class were leaving.”¹

Now, Mount Pleasant is an area with a rich history and hope for the future. Many positive programs have been initiated, including a painting program to revitalize existing structures, home ownership workshops, an energy efficiency program, and other community outreach through Mount Pleasant NOW. Luke Easter Park and the Zelma Watson George Community Center also provide opportunities for community building in Mount Pleasant.

The People

The house from which your [table/countertop ] was made was built in 1953, a time when racial tension was a prominent issue for the denizens of Cleveland. Phillip Richards wrote about his experience coming of age in Mount Pleasant in the 1960s, and we can imagine that those who lived in the house had similar experiences.

Richards attended elementary school in a mostly white part of town and then went to Alexander Hamilton Junior High School in Mount Pleasant. As he grew up, he struggled against his anger even as it was provoked by seemingly everyone around him--black or white. He found solace in academia and is now an English professor at Colgate University. You can read more about his experiences in the Cleveland Magazine article from 2006² or in his book, An Integrated Boyhood: Coming of Age in White Cleveland.

April McClellan-Copeland, a reporter for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, recently participated in a multimedia series³ that takes a look at Mount Pleasant’s past and present. She fondly remembers her childhood on 138^th St., recalling family parties and playing outside with the large number of children who lived on her block. She spoke of the respect for neighbors that was characteristic of that close-knit community.

Tommy LiPuma, legendary Cleveland music producer and Verve label head, also grew up in Mount Pleasant, very near where the house once stood. The first record he made was the O’Jays early regional hit, “Lipstick Traces⁴.” LiPuma continually gives back to his hometown, donating funds to the Cleveland Art Museum and to Cuyahoga Community College.

The Wood

The house at 3799 E. 149^th Street was built of Southern Yellow Pine, the strongest softwood lumber. A popular choice for home-building because of its strength, ability to hold fasteners, and its resistance to wear, Southern Yellow Pine played a key role in building during the Industrial Revolution. Europe imported vast amounts of Southern Yellow Pine in the 19^th century.

It’s a high density wood that grows in a band from East Texas all the way to Virginia. It has been used in home construction since the 1800s and is also used extensively in wooden roller coasters, docks, and utility poles.

There are four main species: shortleaf, longleaf, loblolly, and slash. Each of these species has similar characteristics, but can demonstrate variation in color and grain. Color ranges from light orange to dark red, and can even sometimes be a cream color. The grain pattern might be wavy or knotty. Sometimes its long needles are used in holiday decorations when it’s cut.

A popular wood still in abundant use today, Southern Yellow Pine grows rapidly and is renewed more quickly than it is harvested. Growing it does not endanger old growth forests.

Harvesting the Wood!

1 Richards, Philip. “Coming of Age at Alexander Hamilton Junior High School.” Cleveland Magazine. October, 2006.

2 Richards, Philip. “Coming of Age at Alexander Hamilton Junior High School.” Cleveland Magazine. October, 2006.

3 http://www.cleveland.com/mountpleasant/media/

4 http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xoh93_the-o-jays-lipstick-traces_music

APOC will be in NYC for the International Contemporary Furniture Fair! In collabo with 44 STEEL!

We are showing the APOC 44 line of tables and benches.

Here is the text from one of the Rebirth Certificates coming with us:

Material Source & Story:

2620 E. 115^th St. Cleveland

The Place: Prior to the 1920s, most Italian immigrants lived in the Big Italy neighborhood, but conflict between other ethnic groups in that area prompted some families to move to communities in nearby areas of Cleveland. The neighborhood from which the wood for your table originated was one such enclave, the seventh of these offshoot communities.

Maintaining cultural and familial ties was of the utmost importance to Italians; many of the immigrants to Cleveland came from the same villages. Hometown societies, as well as strong church communities, allowed them to keep their heritage alive. Though many choose to concentrate on linking Italian immigrants with organized crime, that lifestyle was much more anomalous than usual.

The People: John Ciarlillo was born in 1884 in what was recorded as Sangonni, Italy. Though reference to a village named Sangonni cannot be found, it possibly refers to the Val Sangone, a valley in Piedmont, Italy. He immigrated to the United States as a boy, in 1895.

In the 1930s and 1940s, Ciarlillo lived in the house at 2620 E. 115th Street with his wife, Philomena, and his children, John Jr., Joe, Vincent, Gusty, Peter, and Marie. He was a janitor at Hawken School, which was then a small private school that educated boys from kindergarten through ninth grade. He and his wife died on the same day in 1960. The cause of death is not clear. They are buried at Lake View Cemetery.

The Wood and Metal: Antique Southern Yellow Pine was shipped to Cleveland and other industrial cities from the late 1800's through to the 1930's. This wood is old-growth, solid pine not found in the market today.

44 Steel, and APOC have developed a line of fully customizable furniture for the modern home.

Deconstruction VS Demolition

I’m sure many of the Apoc Blog readers are familiar with demolition, which literally is just knocking down a building when it is beyond repair. Demolishing houses is relatively simple, since they are usually only 2-3 stories high. The process involves a safety plan so that the debris doesn’t affect surrounding areas and people by planning where it falls. Even though it is planned, it’s rather chaotic: the building is collapsed with smashing and rubble. After a building is knocked down, the waste materials are loaded into trucks and transported to the local landfill.

The process of demolition does not take into account the preservation of recyclable materials. Everything is just toppled and piled together, dumped into a truck and taken away to waste and decay in a landfill. Some demolition waste that breaks down in landfills give off hazardous elements and gases, and may contain other hazardous materials. Since most landfills are already over capacity, this only contributes to MORE landfills being created – which is a waste of space and materials, and, as you all well know, is terrible for the environment.

Deconstruction is a great solution to demolition. From the start, deconstruction is considering the possibility of saving materials. The approach is truly green, taking the time to sort out things that can be recycled or reused. If properly organized and carried out, deconstruction can divert up to 90% of materials away from landfills,

Apoc has a successful deconstruction program that utilizes an important source of materials. Reclaiming wood from local, expired homes around Cleveland not only gives back to the planet, but gives back to the community by respecting the history of the buildings and neighborhoods from which the reclaimed wood is sourced.

Be sure to catch the Details Magazine article covering Apoc’s contribution to the Rust Belt Revival.

http://www.details.com/culture-trends/critical-eye/201204/rust-belt-revival-cleveland-ohio

-TB

Check Us Out!

Hello Apoc Blog Readers!

We are very excited to let you know that your favorite local furniture fabricator has been featured in two very well known publications.

March 26th, 2012, the Plain Dealer, a local Cleveland newspaper, featured an article about us on the front page. The article talks about the deconstruction work we do around Cleveland, salvaging valuable materials, and how we're trying to make a difference in our community by creating beautifully designed pieces and installations that have made their way into peoples' homes, local businesses, schools and companies. If you didn't get a chance to read the article, you can catch the online version here.

Apoc is also happy to be featured in an upcoming issue of Details Magazine. Jesse Ashlock of Details Magazine spoke very highly of us on MSNBC recently, and you can catch the link for that in the previous blog post. Keep a look out for the issue!

Here at Apoc, we take pride in our city and what we can do to help it. We're glad to spread the word of helping your community by supporting local businesses, and working towards a sustainable future.

-TB