The Moreland neighborhood has a long history of community connection
and activities – everything from putting on a community production of the play
“Our Town” to hosting movie nights and clean-ups.
WWW.SHAKER.LIFE | WINTER 2022 39
In the isolating, confusing early months of the COVID-19
pandemic, two people were dreaming up a new way for
folks in Moreland to connect with each other. The idea:
Interview senior residents of the neighborhood about
their life experiences, and broadcast the interviews live
on Zoom and then post them on YouTube.
Now known as Witness to History, this would be the
latest (and, importantly, a pandemic-friendly) way to build
on that neighborhood pride and connection.
The show is the brainstorm of Donna Whyte, a
longtime Moreland resident and history professor at
Cleveland State University, and resident Kevin Kay, a
community relations specialist who works under contract
with the City.
Says Donna: “We were having a conversation one
day on the telephone and Kevin said, ‘Wouldn’t it be
nice to capture the stories of our seniors in the Moreland
community? Because they have witnessed history to such
an extent.’ And I said, ‘That’s it, there it is: witness to
history.’ And that’s how it all came about.”
Donna was a natural choice to host the new show,
which she thought might last just a few months. It’s been
going for well over a year.
Rounding out the Witness to History team is John
Dutton, a Moreland resident who designed the logo,
receives and queues up the personal photos that
accompany the stories, manages the Zoom, and
updates the Witness to History YouTube playlist.
Then there is Meghan Hays, the local history librarian
at Shaker Heights Public Library, who took the
initiative to include the recordings in the Library’s
archives and website.
It’s clear from watching the Witness to History
DONNA
WHYTE
interviews that Donna is having a good time. “Oh,
my goodness, yes,” says Donna. ”I grew up in a
household where my parents told stories from my birth.
They were wonderful storytellers. Everybody is – absolutely
everybody. When people talk about their lives, they’re
telling their story.”
Donna says people often protest that they haven’t
done anything major in their lives, but she is adamant that
it doesn’t matter. Everyone has a story to tell.
That, of course, includes Donna herself. Growing up in
the nearby Mt. Pleasant neighborhood of Cleveland, she
was familiar with Shaker Heights, but she never thought
she’d live here. It was a place her father would take the
family for a drive to look at the beautiful houses, but she
assumed, without thinking much about it, that it wouldn’t
be a welcoming place for her.
Many years later, while shopping at Heinen’s in
Shaker, Donna, by then a mother of two elementary-age
daughters, ran into a Cleveland friend and neighbor, Iris
Anderson. She and Iris had attended elementary, junior
high, and high school together, but hadn’t seen one
another since graduation. No matter. When Donna heard
that Iris, also a mom, lived in Shaker Heights and was
happy with the schools, she knew that it could be a place
for her family too.
Shortly after this chance meeting, Donna moved to
Shaker Heights. After renting for a time, she bought a
house in 1990. That house is on Chelton Road, next door to
none other than Iris Anderson. More than 30 years later, the
friends are still next-door neighbors.
That’s the kind of story that Witness to History brings
out, although Donna herself hasn’t yet been interviewed
for the program. She brushes off the idea, reiterating how
much she loves to be in her seat as host, how she loves
talking to neighbors and eliciting their stories.
“The beauty of Witness to History, the beauty
of neighborhood networking, happens because we’re
communicating with each other,” says Donna.
“We’re community, and we’re neighbors, and it’s
just absolutely wonderful.”
To view the YouTube playlist for Witness to History:
bit.ly/shakerwitnesstohistory
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/shakerwitnesstohistory