Guide to the Community Newspaper Collection

Biography of Leo Jeffres Collection

Leo Jeffres was a professor in the Communications Department at Cleveland State University from 1975-2011. Some of his interests include the effects of media and communication systems in society. He is the author of the books Urban Communication Systems: Neighborhoods and the Search for Community and Mass Media Effects.

These newspapers were compiled from 1975 to 2014 and represent a variety of ethnic and neighborhood communities.

Jeffres describes the significance of these communications as follows:

"Cities are more than just context - they should be the targets of our efforts to understand how communication connects people to each other and facilitates their 'search for community.' While many have abandoned exploring the geographic city in favor of virtual networks, the physical city continues to be relevant to people's search for meaning in life. We need to understand how a city's 'communication capital' is linked to civic engagement and a healthy public life. That means researching and understanding the processes of interpersonal, mediated, and organizational communication that are important for urban planning, public debate, and problem-solving in all types of cities and cultures.

I've spent a good portion of my professional life examining grassroots newspapers, communication in ethnic groups, neighborhood networks, and civic engagement. Sometimes the themes have changed as the environment evolves, but the goal of trying to develop communication theories and methodological tools for describing and understanding community remains." Because of this, we have continued to add community newspapers as they are donated.

Scope and Content

These newspapers date from c. 1970-2014 and represent many Cleveland metropolitan neighborhoods, ethnic communities, and topics of interest both urban and suburban.

Statement of Arrangement

Restrictions on Use

Please refer to our acknowledgement and statement on copyright below:

http://clevelandmemory.org/copyright/

Restrictions on Access

Access to this collection is unrestricted.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection.

Subjects:

Persons:

Preferred Citation

[Item title, Folder Name] Leo Jeffres Newspaper Collection. Michael Schwartz Library, Cleveland State University.

Acquisition Information

Donated by Leo Jeffres.

Detailed Description of The Collection