{"id":310448,"date":"2026-10-20T10:20:30","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T10:20:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/310448\/"},"modified":"2026-10-20T10:20:30","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T10:20:30","slug":"unearthing-clevelands-stories-buried-history-days-returns-to-clevelands-historic-cemeteries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/310448\/","title":{"rendered":"Unearthing Cleveland\u2019s stories: Buried History Days returns to Cleveland\u2019s historic cemeteries"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cleveland\u2019s historic cemeteries hold more than the stories of those laid to rest there. These final resting places preserve the history of the people who shaped Cleveland\u2014from baseball history and Civil Rights to the human cost of building the Ohio & Erie Canal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Canalway'sCanalway’s Cleveland Buried History Days returns Thursday, Oct. 22 and runs through Sunday, Oct. 25.The 2026 Cleveland Buried History Days<\/a>, presented by nonprofit Canalway<\/a>\u2014which serves as a catalyst for projects and programs in the Ohio & Erie Canalway National Heritage Area<\/a> to preserve the natural and cultural sites<\/a>\u2014returns Thursday, Oct. 22, through Sunday, Oct. 25, with tours, hikes, presentations, and family-friendly activities that invite visitors to explore the people and places behind Cleveland\u2019s past.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is Canalway\u2019s third annual Buried History Days,\u201d says Meghan Tinker Paynter, Canalway\u2019s director of communications. \u201cLike our summer series, Cleveland History Days<\/a>, we want this event to take people to explore historic spaces they don\u2019t often see.\u201d
Stories beyond the headstones
Tinker Paynter says cemeteries are often spaces people don\u2019t normally think to visit as historic sites. However, she points out that \u201cCleveland cemeteries are, in fact, full of history, art, architecture, symbolism, and human stories.\u201d
Participating cemeteries:<\/p>\n

Canalway\u2019s popular Take a Hike Tours<\/a> will feature Erie Street Cemetery on Thursday, Oct. 22, during Buried History, followed by Brookmere Cemetery<\/a> on Saturday, Oct. 24.<\/p>\n

But cemeteries are not the only places in the spotlight in Canalway\u2019s Buried History.<\/p>\n

Baseball, Civil Rights, and Canal history
During Buried History Days, visitors can learn about Cleveland baseball player Ray Chapman<\/a>, who died after being struck by a pitch on Aug. 17, 1920.<\/p>\n

\"LakeLake View Cemetery.Also featured is John \u201cFather John\u201d Malvin<\/a>, a 19th-century man of many trades<\/a> and Civil Rights activist who often spoke on behalf of the Ohio State Anti-Slavery Society<\/a> and was active in the Underground Railroad.<\/p>\n

Canal workers\u2019 stories take center stage
Cuyahoga Valley National Park<\/a> (CVNP) Interpretive Park Ranger Rebecca Jones, a 37-year veteran of CVNP, will speak at Canal History: The Haunting of Cemeteries<\/a> on Friday, Oct. 23, from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Dunham Tavern Museum & Gardens<\/a> about workers whose lives changed during the 1913 flood of the Ohio & Erie Canal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The program is part of Canalway\u2019s broader focus on the canal and its influence on Ohio and Cleveland ahead of the 200th anniversary of the first boat to travel on the Ohio & Erie Canal.<\/p>\n

Jones will explore the stories of workers on the Ohio & Erie Canal, why we don\u2019t find canal workers in local cemeteries, and where they sometimes wound up. Registration is requested<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition to tours of historic cemeteries, this year\u2019s Buried History Days features a presentation titled \u2018Canal History: The Haunting of Cemeteries\u2019 where Park Ranger Rebecca Jones will speak on the human cost of the building of the Ohio & Erie Canal, and why so few canal workers are found in Cleveland\u2019s historic cemeteries,\u201d Paynter says.<\/p>\n

\"RiversudeRiversude Cemetery.The anniversary offers an opportunity to look beyond the canal\u2019s role in transportation and commerce to consider the people who built it and the lives they led. Canalway plans to highlight those stories over the coming year.<\/p>\n

The events are designed to \u201cenlighten, not frighten,\u201d pairing people\u2019s interest in the Halloween season with opportunities to learn about Cleveland\u2019s past.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople tend to avoid the idea of death, so they don\u2019t consider cemeteries as places to visit,\u201d Paynter says. \u201cBut historic cemeteries are some of the city\u2019s first parks and greenspaces. While we need to be respectful of these places because of their meaning and importance, they are places that hold\u2026so many interesting stories.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through Buried History Days, organizers hope visitors will develop a stronger connection to Cleveland and a better understanding of the people who called the city home.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope Buried History Days helps people connect to their city and helps them learn about people of the past who called it home,\u201d Paynter says.<\/p>\n

Thse full schedule, participating organizations, and ticket information are available on Canalway\u2019s Buried History Days website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cleveland\u2019s historic cemeteries hold more than the stories of those laid to rest there. These final resting places…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":310449,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[136,138,137],"class_list":["post-310448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-erie","tag-erie","tag-erie-headlines","tag-erie-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=310448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310448\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/310449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=310448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=310448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=310448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}