The Cleveland Press Collection
Cleveland Press Editor Louis B. Seltzer in front of Press building, 1960.
Cleveland Press City Room circa 1959.
Man standing in front of Press's horse-drawn carriages.
Press carriers outside of Barlow Agency in 1898.
Front page of last issue of Cleveland Press, 1982.
Comprised of hundreds of thousands of clippings and photographs, The Cleveland Press Collection is the former editorial library, or "morgue," of The Cleveland Press and is now part of Cleveland State University Library's Special Collections. The last of Cleveland's daily afternoon newspapers, The Cleveland Press was published from 1878 until 1982.
The collection was donated to the CSU Library in 1984 by the newspaper's owner, Joseph E. Cole, who was then a CSU Trustee. Though little survives from the first half-century, the collection's coverage of local and national history gets progressively stronger after 1920.
Presently only a very small percentage of the approximately half million 8x10 black and white photographs and one million news clippings have been digitized and are available for you to search or browse. We are continuing to increase this number as time and volunteer help permits.
For Further Reading/Viewing About The Cleveland Press...
- Press closed in '82 but stories and photos live on - Video with reporter Tom Livingston aired on WEWS-TV News in June 2011.
- WEWS coverage from the closing of the Press - Video containing final run of the presses, some shots of the newsroom, an Alan DePetro story of the closing and a Paul Orlousky story on the history of the Press.
- The Cleveland Press Story (1955) - This 28-page brochure describes how a story gets printed in the Cleveland Press, as well as how the newspaper serves the community in other ways.
- Five Decades at The Press (1998) by Ray DeCrane - Memories of a 44 year veteran of The Press, written specifically for Cleveland Memory.
- Press Halts Publication (1982) - The front-page story that ran in the final issue of The Press on June 17, 1982 announcing the newspaper's closing.
- Stop the Presses (for the very last time) (1982)- by Dick Feagler
- The Story of Your Newspaper from the Inside (1938) - Given to visitors of the newspaper plant, this 31-page brochure discusses the functions of the newspaper departments including the news room, city desk, copy desk, library, composing room, engraving room, stereotype room and mailing room.
- The Years Were Good (1956) by Louis B. Seltzer - An autobiography by the editor of The Press from 1928-1966.
