Cleveland Public Library

The People's University

Cleveland Call & Post Database

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Historians, genealogists and anyone curious about Cleveland history can now search the full text of all issues of the Call and Post (1934 to the present) instantly. The research possibilities are endless and amazing: newspaper research that would have formerly been extremely time-consuming, if not totally impossible, is now done in a matter of seconds! Do you remember reading about a family member or an old neighbor in the Call & Post? Now you can find the article instantly, as long as you remember the name. Search features allow you narrow your search by date and document type (article, obituary, marriage, editorial, etc.)  To search 1934-1991, use the Call and Post database. To search 1992 to the present, use the Ethnic Newswatch database. Remote access available to CPL cardholders.

From the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History Online: 

"The Cleveland Call & Post rose from somewhat obscure origins to become long Cleveland's major African American newspaper. It was created from the 1927 merger of 2 struggling weeklies, the Call and the Post. The Call was founded ca. 1920 by a group that included local inventor Garrett A. Morgan. At about the same time, the Post was established as the organ of a fraternal group known as the Modern Crusaders of the World. Even after its self-described "marriage of misery," the Call & Post continued to flounder until the arrival in 1932 of William O. Walker a black businessman from Baltimore. Over the following decade, Walker nursed the Call & Post's size from 4 to 12 pages and its circulation from 300 to 10,000. He also acquired most of the paper and formed a partnership, the P-W Publishing Co., with attorney Lawrence O. Payne in 1940.

Part of the Call & Post's success may have stemmed from the sensational treatment of violence on its front page, a practice excused by some defenders on the basis of the paper's heavy dependence on over-the-counter sales. That was balanced by the paper's unrivaled coverage of the African American community's religious and social news. Politically, the Call & Post combined frequent support of local black Democrats with generally Republican preferences on the national level. In 1959 the Call & Post moved from its long-time address on E. 55th St. to its own building on E. 105th at Chester Ave., where the paper became one of the first in Ohio to convert to offset printing. Separate editions were added for Columbus, Cincinnati, and statewide. On 20 Jan. 1983, the weekly's traditional Saturday publication date was moved up to Thursday. Following Walker's death in 1981, Harry Alexander and John H. Bustamante became co-publishers."

Content prior to 1934 is not available because no pre-1934 issues of the Call & Post are known to exist. If you have copies of the Call & Post prior to 1934 and would like to donate them to Cleveland Public Library, please contact Ronald Burdick at 216-623-2865.