It has been brought to my attention that our quest to find former Call & Post employees doesn’t always have to reach back a half or even a quarter century.
By KEVIN ‘CHILL’ HEARD
Managing Editor
It has been brought to my attention that our quest to find former Call & Post employees doesn’t always have to reach back a half or even a quarter century.
In fact, people who have worked here not that long ago have been responding to the 95th anniversary call. The truth of the matter is that you can’t get to 95 years without the last ten or twenty years.
It was the winter of 1993 when I first walked into the Cleveland Call & Post newspaper. East 105th and Chester, what I then thought to be the “old building,” was a magical place. It was a place that I could walk the same stairway, hallway and elevator that W.O. Walker, Charlie Loeb and Harry Alexander walked. Although, by ‘93, I was never sure if the old elevator would actually make it past the first floor but was in awe of the building none-the-less.
It may not have been the most architecturally attractive edifice in town but it was heavy on character. It was more than just bricks and mortar. The Call & Post building on E. 105th possessed a fierce pride that rivaled any structure standing in the city.
On the inside, the Call & Post was a bustling hive of activity. Men and women worked feverishly on there individual duties, most of their names never appeared on a byline but the contribution was tangible... a newspaper for the people.
A good majority of them actually worked with W.O. Walker and not the W.O. whose youthful glare peers out from the iconic 1935 Allen E. Cole newsboys photo but the seasoned W.O., who had grown into an unbreakable and resolute advocate on behalf of Black people.
It would have been all too easy for a line to be drawn in the proverbial sand with those between old and new employees but the die had already been cast and the cause was forged in type and tone.
If you worked for the paper that meant you worked for the people.
It was that way then and it is that way now. From 105 and Chester to Shaker Blvd, with a cup of coffee in between at the ShoreBank Building, the location has changed but the reason for being remains the same.
Call & Post workers over the last 25 years have seen plenty and have lost a few soldiers along the way. The upcoming articles in this space will be dedicated to telling the story of the first year to this current year. From the names you may have long forgotten, to names you may have just recently come to know.
The Call and Post newspaper, 95 years and counting, stand up and be counted. Be a part of the history that you or your family helped to build. Email us at Info@call-post.com or give us a call at (216) 588-6700. Yes, we are still looking for you!
