Act 1: Four Generations of Family Businesses in Over-the-Rhine by Jay Schuermann
Note: Look for the “Enter Full Screen” icon to the left of the vimeo text in the bottom right corner of the video and click to enjoy this presentation in full screen mode.
Act 2: The Cincinnati Opera as an Over-the-Rhine Arts Neighbor by Tracy L. Wilson
Note: Look for the “Enter Full Screen” icon to the left of the vimeo text in the bottom right corner of the video and click to enjoy this presentation in full screen mode.
Act 3: Exploring the 2001 Civil Unrest in Over-the-Rhine by Kevin Mason
Note: Look for the “Enter Full Screen” icon to the left of the vimeo text in the bottom right corner of the video and click to enjoy this presentation in full screen mode.
Note: The views and opinions expressed by our Three Acts presenters are theirs alone and do not necessarily represent the views of the Over-the-Rhine Museum. The museum believes in sharing the broadest possible range of experiences, memories, and histories to expose viewers to the breadth of stories embedded in this single neighborhood. We encourage viewers to engage critically with the stories we present to build their own understandings of Cincinnati’s past.
The Over-the-Rhine Museum is delighted to announce that the next installment in our quarterly lecture series, “Three Acts in Over-the-Rhine,” will take place virtually in September, 2020. Three short video presentations will be released at 6:00 pm on this webpage, on the following three Thursdays: September 10th, 17th, and 24th. These video stories will also be posted to our Facebook page, facebook.com/OTRmuseum, as we celebrate the diverse stories of Over-the-Rhine.
On September 10 we will hear from Jay Schuermann about his family’s many businesses in Over-the-Rhine. September 17 will feature Tracy L. Wilson discussing the Cincinnati Opera’s long relationship with the Over-the-Rhine community. Finally, on September 24, Kevin Mason will explore the unrest that took place in Over-the-Rhine following the murder of Timothy Thomas in 2001 and connect what happened then with recent protests following the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and others.
Jay Schuermann
Jay Schermann is the President and Founder of EOE Furniture and fourth generation German-American entrepreneur with a 150-year family heritage of work in Over-the-Rhine. Schermann will share his family’s business history including ownership of one of Cincinnati’s largest cigar makers, Berning Cigars on 12th Street, and the Vienna Brewing Company on Reading Road. Schermann’s family also ran a bar, a packing house, three distribution warehouses, and an office in the neighborhood.
While we often think of Over-the-Rhine as a residential community, we may forget that it was also home to busy factories and businesses. Schuermann’s talk will feature his fascinating family history beginning with the Berning family of Berning Cigar fame, and then introducing multifaceted Cincinnati businessman A.F. Schuermann. Jay will share then-and-now images of the buildings that housed his family’s businesses and discuss how businesses and buildings changed over time.
Tracy L. Wilson
Tracy L. Wilson is the Director of Community Engagement and Education at the Cincinnati Opera. She is a veteran arts administrator, arts ambassador, and producer and has worked in Over-the-Rhine for decades. In addition to her work with the opera, Tracy serves as a community engagement consultant for local and national organizations including Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati, ArtsWave, Dada Rafiki: A Celebration of Women, Black Dance is Beautiful Festival, Last Poet Standing, the Urban Appalachian Showcase, South Shore Opera Company-Chicago, and Opera America. Tracy is the founder and director of The Firelytes Steel Drum Band and has enjoyed performing fun and festive music at events including the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and the 2008 presidential campaign rally for Senator Barack Obama in Cincinnati, OH.
Tracy L. Wilson will talk about the Cincinnati Opera’s longtime commitment as an arts neighbor in Over-the-Rhine providing experiences including community open dress rehearsals, student performances at Rothenberg Preparatory Academy, the Over-the-Rhine Community Festival talent contest, opera themed haircuts in Washington Park, and performances of the Over-the-Rhine Steel Drum Band. Wilson will share fun stories of some of the events and experiences that have fueled love, laughter, and lasting relationships in Over-the-Rhine.
Kevin Mason
Born and raised in Cincinnati, Kevin Mason is a former newspaper editor for the Wyoming Tribune Eagle in Cheyenne, Wyoming. While working in Wyoming he witnessed the Rev. Fred Phelps protesting against Mathew Shepard and gay rights just outside of his newsroom. Back in Cincinnati Mason found unrest between the Cincinnati Police Department and the Black community. Mason began writing a book about that unrest, which began with the death of Timothy Thomas in 2001.
Kevin Mason’s talk will explore the unrest of 2001 and Mason’s belief that our society has come full circle with the recent attention on wrongful deaths of Black people across the nation, including George Floyd. As with the unrest in Over-the-Rhine in 2001, these deaths have sparked new protests across the nation. The Cincinnati protests were a harbinger of what has come almost twenty years later. Mason will explore the similarities and differences of these two periods of civil unrest.
The Museum suggests a $5 donation for these provocative stories. We encourage you to donate online at http://otrmuseum.org/donate.
Three Acts in Over-the-Rhine is an innovative series designed to expose attendees to stories of the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood. Each event features three fifteen-minute talks on the history of Over-the-Rhine.
The Over-the-Rhine Museum inspires understanding and respect for the people who have created and lived in Cincinnati’s historic Over-the-Rhine neighborhood by working with visitors and community members to uncover, present, and preserve their stories in an immersive experience.