McKinley Museum gathering stories on growing up Black in Canton

CANTON ‒ Family reunions are more than simple get-togethers — they’re living history.

Tameka Ellington, curator of Black history at the McKinley Presidential Library & Museum, recently interviewed members of the Smith family on their 46th annual family reunion in Canton.

The interviews are part of a documentary Ellington is producing with Dexter Ponder, a producer and cinematographer with Ponder Media, that focuses on Canton’s Black history.

In one interview, Ellington spoke with Don Johnson, the Smith family patriarch and second-generation Cantonian who grew up in southeast Canton.

“My dad was born here in 1926. My mother was from Malvern,” Johnson said. “The thing that brought my family to Canton was jobs.”

Memories persist of the old southeast Canton

The neighborhood of Johnson’s childhood is long gone, adversely impacted by urban renewal in the 1960s and 1970s.

“It was a great place to live,” he said. “We had everything there. The only reason we had to go to the northwest was to Fawcett Stadium and Meyers Lake. It was fun growing up in southeast Canton. I go down there sometimes and just reminisce.”

Johnson said his neighborhood was largely populated by Blacks, Italians and a sprinkling of Hungarian, German and Greek immigrants. Eventually, the area fell prey to redlining, a practice in which banks refused to lend money to Blacks for purchases or home improvements. Those factors were coupled with the U.S. Route 30 project, which destroyed such amenities as Jackson Park.

Promises of redevelopment in southeast Canton were never fulfilled.

Johnson recalled how his dad missed out on a chance to become a partner in a barbecue restaurant because none of the banks in town would grant him a business loan.

McKinley Museum working to preserve Black residents’ memories

Ellington said her goals as the museum’s first curator of Black history include a freestanding building on the grounds of the McKinley Museum, and to showcase the stories and experiences of ordinary people, alongside community leaders.

“I’m not looking to make another hall of fame,” she said. “It’s not about individuals, but the life of the community. It’s been an honor to get to know a lot of people. I’m not from here, so this (project) helps me to get to know the people of the community. As a curator, it’s important to me to connect with the community.”

Johnson said his paternal grandfather moved to Canton from Akron in 1919.

“He was just 18,” he said.

In 1949, Johnson’s father opened the Johnson Hotel on the cusp of the Cherry Avenue SE business district. The hotel catered to Black entertainers, many of whom performed at the upscale Baby Grand Nightclub.

At its height, Cherry Avenue SE was home to more than 100 Black-owned businesses, a necessity because of Jim Crow laws, which went largely uncodified in the North, but still were practiced.

The Johnson Hotel closed in 1955.

“Integration,” Johnson said, adding that the demise of passenger trains also hurt the business.

The family worshipped at the Cherry Avenue Church of God, which was relocated during urban renewal and renamed the current Sherrick Road Church of God.

Johnson attended Lathrop School, studying under such teachers as Paul Stevenson and Marion Crenshaw, who he said instilled values as well as lessons.

“Those were some of my favorite memories,” he said. “They grounded you.”

Signs of Smith family’s past are quickly disappearing

Johnson also had family in the now-vanished village of Aultman, a tiny enclave near Green where many of the company-owned houses were round and its occupants made tile at NATCO, the National Fireproofing Co. His maternal grandparents moved from Malvern to Aultman, where they lived from 1930 until 1947, then to Canton.

His late aunt, Emmaline Turpin, lived in Aultman from 1929 until its demise in 1972. She died at 100 in 2018.

Her story is featured in the 2019 book, “African Americans of Canton: Treasures of Black History,” by Geraldine Radcliffe and Nadine McIlwain-Massey.

As part of the upcoming documentary, members of the Smith family assembled for a group photo at the McKinley Monument.

Ellington said she’s grateful they were willing to include a visit to the museum in their plans.

“It’s been a blessing that they were willing to come,” she said. “So often, museums have not been welcoming to Black people. I want them to understand this museum is their museum, too.”

Artifacts wanted

Tameka Ellington, Black history curator at the McKinley Presidential Library & Museum, is seeking artifacts from local families to be placed on display at the museum. She may be reached at tellington@mckinleymuseum.org or 330-455-7043.