Property and money

by M. Stewart
I was pleased to see in today’s Review that the city Planning and Expansion Committee has begun discussion of legislation that will provide more options in dealing with East Liverpool’s nuisance, vacant, and “disruptive” properties.

Getting rid of slumlords and their unsavory tenants is a top priority here, even if it means tearing down half the city’s housing stock. As I’ve said before, shrinking a city can be done well or badly, but you must have a plan. It’s starting look like a plan is developing.

On the other side of shrinking, it appears that our city will be getting a wee bit bigger with the purchase and annexation of 80 acres of largely undeveloped land off Parkway. It’s premature to judge whether the purchase is sensible. On the surface, paying over $16,000 per acre for East Liverpool land without a secure development plan in place is pretty far from sensible, but we’ll see.

One thing is for sure: Liverpool Township dropped the ball big time on the joint economic development plan with the city—especially if the city is able to follow through and turn the Bosco property into something worthwhile. But that’s a big if. Purchasing land with taxpayer money is the easy part. We’ll all be watching to see if our money has been spent wisely.

By the way, does anyone know whatever happened to all that money that Buckeye Water District owes the city of East Liverpool for breaking its water purchase agreement? What was it, something like $9 million? I forget the exact figure, but it was a significant chunk of change.

BWD has opened up a new water plant and is living high on the hog. Meanwhile, we could use the money from that judgment. Has everyone just agreed to forget about this, or what?

Last again

by M. Stewart
The East Liverpool School District is in the news again. On Tuesday we learned that teachers negotiated a new two-year contract that brings 3 percent annual pay increases and a $100 signing bonus.

Embattled lone-wolf school board member Gary Bonnell spoke out against the agreement in the newspaper, reminding the public that East Liverpool teachers already are the highest paid in the county. Bonnell also indicated that he will not support the 6.5-mill emergency renewal levy on the fall ballot.

Today we learn that district students continued their mediocrity on state testing. East Liverpool once again has the dubious distinction of being the county’s worst school district, bringing up the rear behind Wellsville and Southern Local.

I’ll withhold my opinion on these issues in favor of reader comments.

Signs and portents

by M. Stewart
Today’s Morning Journal carries another story about Lisbon barber Brian Davis, who is using the controversy about his sign and the newspaper to enhance his business.

The story carries no news aside from Davis’s attempt to undermine village government by turning his sign on and off. He says the whole thing is a “matter of principle” designed to keep the village “honest.”

In the big picture, this is about as minor of an issue as you can get, but hey, it’s August, which traditionally is the worst month for news. So you can’t really blame the newspaper for doing the update. The story does make it clear, however, that Mr. Davis likes the publicity and wants to keep the controversy going as long as possible. I guess I've done my part.

Back here in Liverpool, I hope the city will strongly consider making the four-way stop at the corner of Jefferson and Sixth streets permanent. Prior to the traffic signal malfunction, that intersection was one that most people avoided due to the length of the unnecessary red lights. Since the light has been down, it has become clear that the four-way stop is the appropriate solution for the intersection.

The East Liverpool Historical Society has decided to sell copies of the newly digitized version of The City of Hills & Kilns, the 1984 history of East Liverpool by William Gates. The CD-ROM soon will be available for purchase at the Museum of Ceramics, the historical society Web site, and selected other venues.

If all goes as planned, the publication of the digital Hills & Kilns will be just the first of many successful collaborations between Kent State East Liverpool and the historical society.

112 years ago

These photos are from a collection of large-format slides designed for "magic lantern" projection. The top photo is the 1897 graduating class of East Liverpool High School. Today, the photographer would have everyone looking directly at the camera and smiling. Not so here. The bottom photo is the entrance to Central High School. Click to enlarge. These images were produced by projecting old large-format slide positives onto a screen using a classroom overhead projector -- a compromise, of course, but it worked. Acting on the advice of my good friend and former colleague Wayne Maris, we then took digital photographs of the images on the screen and processed them in Photoshop. Because of the less-than-ideal mode of transfer, these images are not as sharp as the originals, which were taken by Dr. Birkett at the end of the 19th century. Larry Walton of Pic's Photo in Calcutta advised us not to remove the film from the glass plates, so we used what was at hand and made do. Cooperation of the KSU-EL Digital Archive Project, the East Liverpool Historical Society, Larry at Pic's, and Wayne from The Review made these digital images possible.

Selling groceries in 1903

A full-page advertisement from the History of Lisbon Centennial Souvenir Edition (1903). It is unthinkable that any modern grocery store would run such an ad. Typical of its era, however, the ad markets the personal integrity and success of the proprietors, who want to be seen as serious, sophisticated men. The ad supports the notion that a completely different people inhabited our area a century ago. Compared to them, we are barbarians. Click to enlarge. (KSU-EL Digital Archive Project/Carnegie Library)

The end of Ezra

by M. Stewart
Today’s newspapers carry good news for residents of East Liverpool: The Ezra Center will be closing next month. Aside from improving the neighborhood, the Ezra Center’s exit means that at least one poverty-industry business is leaving our city. If only we could get rid of more.

Quoted in the papers, Mayor Jim Swoger implied some remorse concerning the pending closure, which, at least on the surface, is the politically correct position. However, the mayor might do better to take some credit for the closure.

For those of you who are ready to cite the demise of the Ezra Center as an example of East Liverpool “running business out of town,” don’t bother. The future of East Liverpool depends upon eliminating the poverty industry infrastructure that has a hold on this city like a poison vine. Although the Ezra Center isn’t the worst example, it certainly is one of them.

Maybe this minor success will inspire the mayor and city council members to step up efforts to actively oppose the poverty-for-profit system that chokes our city. Unless or until that happens, we must celebrate the small victories when they occur.

The motorcar in Liverpool

This full image of "Sixth Street Looking East" shows a motorcar zipping by horse-drawn wagons. A man with a cane surveys the action in the lower right in front of a store whose sign reads "Bionius." This is the "Steinfeld's" sign from an earlier post. This detail (ORL Aug. 16) is the lower-left quadrant of the full postcard image. Click to enlarge.

Steinfeld's on the Diamond

Anyone know what Steinfeld's sold?

Click to enlarge.

The crop tool

Details from East Liverpool post card images c. 1900. Click to enlarge.

Out the window

Looking down from Kent State East Liverpool's Mary Patterson Memorial stairwell, 4th floor. The Carnegie Library on the left. Click to enlarge. (Stewart).

Michael Vick puts on wings

by M. Stewart
I’ve been trying to figure out why the Philadelphia Eagles signed reformed dog killer Michael Vick. At first I was puzzled, but it’s starting to come into focus.

No question that Vick is a good quarterback, and good NFL quarterbacks are hard to find. The only problem is that the Eagles already have a good starting quarterback in Donovan McNabb. But at 33 years of age, McNabb is entering the final phase of his career, so I guess the front office and head coach Andy Reid are thinking of the future by taking on the 29-year-old Vick.

Everybody is talking about the whole “second chance” thing. Yes, everyone should have the right to screw up and come back for a second chance. One driving force behind Vick’s rehabilitation has been former Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy, whose Christian ethics and leadership skills are beyond question. Both Dungy and McNabb have made strong statements of support for Vick’s return to football. In a news conference after last night’s preseason game, McNabb said that he and Vick are close friends and that he worked hard to get Vick to Philadelphia.

The NFL is a business first and foremost, and if Michael Vick is able to come back and win, all will be forgiven. Sure, the “dog-killer” tag will follow him for the rest of his life, but it won’t matter if he can produce. With a two-year contract in hand, Vick will be able to work under McNabb—also a devout Christian. From Vick’s point of view, it’s a perfect situation.

Vick has yet to show that he is an elite quarterback; however, he’s definitely a very good one who could have an impact on a team hurting at that position. But to join a bad or marginal team at this juncture would bring with it a tremendous amount of pressure, enough to break most guys.

So I think Michael Vick did absolutely the right thing in signing with the Eagles. Only time will tell if it was the right thing for the Eagles. Remember that Philadelphia fans are notorious for booing their heroes, so if Vick should get booed in Philly, it won’t be anything new.

Time for Potters football

by Buckeye ELO
I attended the East Liverpool Potters football scrimmage on Tuesday and watched for about an hour and a half. My thoughts are:

Marky Thompson can throw a football. Standing still and throwing to receivers across the middle or going down the sideline, he was accurate in the 10- to 15-yard range hitting crossing receivers with rope-like passes and accurate in hitting sprinting receivers down field along the sideline at between 40 and 50 yards. He could stand in the end zone beside the goal post and drop the ball into receivers’ hands between the 30 and 40 yard lines as they ran downfield.

One would have to use geometry to calculate that additional yardage the angle from the goalpost to the sideline would add at those distances, but it would add some, which means his throws were in the air 40-50 yards. However, that is all meaningless since the Potters are going to run the same "spread" offense they did last year. More on that later.

Most of the scrimmage consisted of one group running 8-on-8 drills with five defensive linemen and three linebackers going against five offensive linemen, a quarterback, and two running backs. In other words, it was blocking, running, and tackling practice. Willie Leavell got free a few times on quick hitters off tackle and also around the end.

While this was going on, Marky and two other quarterback hopefuls were working with receivers in what I already described. By the way, the receivers going downfield were covered by defensive backs. Marky Thompson (who was wearning #9 Tuesday and #19 last Friday night) seems to be in competition with #8, whoever he is. The other two QB hopefuls don't really seem to be that much in the mix, at least not at present.

During the hour and half I was there, I saw no 11-on-11 drills with or without passing plays. I sincerely hope they are spending time in practice with the offensive linemen pass protecting. That was a huge weakness last year: Willie running for his life and being taken down for huge losses because defensive linemen and/or linebackers had come through the line untouched.

It is very difficult for linemen, especially on the high school level, to pass block for a roll-out quarterback, which is what we have with a spread offense. Also, it is very hard for the high school quarterback to pass with accuracy and distance while running laterally. These are advanced football skills.

The playoff teams that played at Patterson Field last year ran spread offenses, but they also had pocket passing plays, and those plays were very effective for both teams. I hope the Potters have pocket passing plays too. It’s far easier to pass block for a pocket passer.

Just before I left, the offense did run some passing plays with receivers going down field against linebackers and secondary. Thompson and the other QBs would sprint out to one side or the other and throw, but of course there was no rushing the QB, so again the results could be very misleading. It was not actual game conditions, and there were more missed passes and some interceptions as a result of the QB throwing on the run. All of the QBs had misses and interceptions.

It is a shame if they have a kid that can pass the ball to saddle him with a offense that is 90% running and what passing is done is mostly on-the-run option passing. They don't need a true QB for that. All they need is a tailback who can throw a little.

The East Liverpool Potters 2009 varsity football schedule:

Fri 08/28/09 @ Beaver Local 7:00 p.m.
Fri 09/04/09 @ Oak Glen 7:30 p.m.
Fri 09/11/09 Steubenville (Patterson Field) 7:30 p.m.
Fri 09/18/09 Youngstown Chaney (Patterson Field) 7:30 p.m.
Fri 09/25/09 @ Maple Heights 7:30 p.m.
Fri 10/02/09 @ Martins Ferry 7:30 p.m.
Fri 10/09/09 John Marshall (Patterson Field) 7:30 p.m.
Fri 10/16/09 Wheeling Park (Patterson Field) 7:30 p.m.
Sat 10/24/09 @ Linsly Academy 1:30 p.m.
Fri 10/30/09 Salem (Patterson Field) 7:30 p.m.

ELO 1922: Colonial Hotel

The view in 1922 from the Broadway Wharf in East Liverpool. Pottery was still shipped in barrels in the 1920s. Click to enlarge. (East Liverpool Historical Society/KSU-EL Digital Archive Project)

East Liverpool 1918

Detail of a 1918 photograph taken from the Carnegie library looking south toward the Ohio River. On the right is the Potters National Bank (now Smith Auto). Left center is the Thompson Hotel, which sat at the corner of Third and Broadway. The route 30/39 viaduct now runs above old Third Street. Click to enlarge. Click here for another view of the Thompson Hotel from Third Street. (East Liverpool Historical Society/KSU-EL Digital Archive Project)

When pagan barbarians killed priests

by M. Stewart

The illustrations are from The English Correspondence of Saint Boniface (London: Chatto & Windus, 1924). Bonifacius was born in Brittania around 672 and is perhaps best known for his Catholic missionary work on the continent.

He was executed in 754 by Frisian-Saxons in what is now the Netherlands. The plate from the Correspondence is based upon a fresco by Carl Hesse. It shows a pagan “barbarian” warrior dressed in animal skins as he prepares to plunge a knife into Bonifacius. Two clerics plead with the animal-man to stop, while others recoil from the spectacle of execution. Legend has it that the Frisians sentenced Bonifacius to death for destroying their sacred shrines.

I have a lot of old books, and I always keep my eyes open for interesting stuff, no matter what the subject. Earlier this week I was fortunate to be among the first to walk by a table full of library book discards, mostly from the general history section.

Among the books I rescued were three small volumes containing esoteric medieval writings: The English Correspondence of Saint Boniface, The Chronicle of Jocelin of Brakelond, and The Rule of Saint Benedict. The books themselves are not that old. One was published in 1909, the others in the mid 1920s; however, the works they contain span roughly a 500-year period between the 7th and 12th century A.D.

All three of the books came from the library of William H. Vodrey III, who inscribed them with his name and, I assume, where he was when he bought them – Princeton University in 1925 and 1926. At some point, they were donated to the Kent State East Liverpool library. Now they live in mine.

Today, only scholars of medieval literature and church history would be interested in such books. The titles are too deep into the medieval canon to be required by our undergraduates, but Princeton in the 1920s is not now. Most likely these books had never been checked out of the KSU library, and because many of the pages in each volume remained uncut, it’s safe to say that they’ve never been read cover to cover by anyone, including Mr. Vodrey.

As co-director of the Kent State East Liverpool Digital Archive Project, I am involved in the digital preservation of old books, documents, and photographs, but the process only enhances my appreciation for the old books themselves. Prior to mass production, books were made by hand and designed to outlive the owner. Although some are still made better than others, today’s books are best seen as another commodity in a throw-away culture.

The old books are artefacts worth preserving for reasons beyond the words and ideas they contain. But who will preserve them? Most libraries today can’t afford to function as book museums, so the discard table represents the end of the line for many books.

But these things have a way of taking care of themselves. At some point, everything dies—including the old learning and the vessels that contain it.

The new Republicans

by M. Stewart
When Ohio Sen. George Voinovich earlier this week decried the current image problem of the Republican Party by referring to Southerners who say “grrrrrr,” he was attempting to inspire the former base of the party—moneyed, educated people—to take back the GOP from the brainless, racist lemmings that are threatening to walk off with it.

It’s safe to say that for Voinovich and those who reside in more civilized areas of the country, the term “Southerner” is code for “dumb-ass redneck,” regardless of where they actually live.

Although it's the worst kind of stereotyping, Democrats couldn’t be more pleased. American politics is all about stereotyping anyway.

Media coverage of angry mobs stifling serious political debate with screeching and grrrr serves only to verify the rise of the Sarah Palin element within the party. The Palin approach to politics has as its motto: “I don’t really understand these things, but whatever it is, I’m against it.”

The other leaders of the Republican Party—talk-show hosts Rush Limbaugh and Glen Beck—will say whatever it takes to make themselves richer and more famous. My concern isn’t that the mobilized mob will be successful in establishing an idiocracy in America. They are motivated largely by decades of economic frustration, racial intolerance, and a longing for pioneer anarchy. As crude as it sometimes is, their cry is sincere. No, what worries me is that the Republican Party has become so hopelessly split that it has ceased to function as a viable alternative to the Democrats.

As such, the GOP must do whatever it takes to locate a leader who appeals to a more sensible, thoughtful electorate. Rather than placate the Palinites, that leader must control them while seeking a new constituency among Independents--the group that determines elections.

Until now, Republican establishment leaders have been unwilling to take on their own lunatic fringe; instead, they have tried to adjust the platform to include it. (John McCain comes to mind.) If they continue to play that game, we should all get ready for a long-term Democratic dynasty in Washington.

KSU-EL 1976

Here is a July 1976 photograph of the corner of Broadway and East Fourth Street. At the time, Kent State did not own the parking lot on the left. It was operated by the city. As I recall, the meters had short time limits that made it virtually impossible for students to park there without getting a ticket. The buildings in the center were razed to provide space for the green area that exists today. Click to enlarge. (Photo submitted by Beth Allison-Christy)

School group photo from the 1930s

East Liverpool school children in the 1930s. Click to enlarge. (submitted by Bill Burlingame)

Eastern Manufacturers meet in ELO (1876)

This image and caption is from The City of Hills and Kilns (p. 85). I wonder if anyone out there knows exactly where the Brunt House was? I'm guessing Second Street. Click to enlarge. (East Liverpool Historical Society/KSU-EL Digital Archive Project)

I am a racist, but it's not fair to call me one

[Long time ORL readers may remember Richard Cooper, who wrote a few pieces for us back in the day. Well, Mr. Cooper--a bone fide Southerner from Roanoke, Va.--has returned with some comments about racism.]

by Richard Cooper
A headline last week at cnn.com reads: Officer who sent 'Jungle Monkey' email: "I am not a racist." Of course, you have to laugh at the set-up. How can a man who uses a term like "jungle monkey" (as opposed, I guess, to "zoo monkey," "Planet-of-the-Apes monkey" or "lab monkey") not be a racist?

I've heard many African-Americans say that a racist is somone who uses his power to keep blacks from succeeding. Most of us don't have that kind of power, except perhaps politicians, police officers and supervisors. Many of these same African-Americans claim they can't be racists because they have no power (which we all know is silly).

My definition of a racist is someone who hates someone else because of their race. The simple fact is that dislike and ridicule of another culture is nothing more than a fear of the unknown and a hatred for something one feels he cannot be a part of. Sometimes, it's sheer stupidity.

There are some people who cannot do anything different than their pappy and grandpappy always did because they aren't able to move forward. They don't have the ability to understand and assimilate what's happening around them. Life always leaves these people behind. They complain that everything is changing and that it's not good.

We all like some kinds of change. No one refuses a salary increase or better quality food. Most of us like advances in cinematography and recording. We also like medicines, cars, and food preservation. We aren't afraid of these things. If "everyone just got along," we might find that we like a lot about other cultures.

In the meantime, let's not let people get away with making racist statement followed by "I am not a racist." It won't wash.