Brookmere Cemetery

Brookmere Cemetery, established in 1843 and located at 3645 Broadview Rd. (western end), has been referred to as a "disrespected" City of Cleveland cemetery. Over the years, it has suffered from vandalism and significant disrepair. Fortunately, Linda Cameron and her sister, Karen Parks, have taken the initiative to form a volunteer Preservation Coalition to address these challenges.

Last year, Brookmere was chosen as Ohio's host for the 48 State Tour, a philanthropic initiative by Atlas Preservation, a leader in monument and building restoration. This nationwide program offers FREE workshops focused on the proper cleaning and repair of headstones and monuments. Many historic cemeteries, including Brookmere, lack the funding for essential repairs and rely on the dedication of volunteers, fundraising, and grants.

In August 2024 participants learned how to identify stones, understand carvings, ensure cemetery safety, and master essential repair techniques. This was a unique opportunity to acquire valuable skills from an expert in the field. For more details and other locations, please follow the links below:

MORE INFO:
News 5 Cleveland stories on Brookmere Cemetery
Old Brooklyn's Brookmere Cemetery included in nationwide cemetery tour, Plain Press
5th 48 State Tour News Release
48 State Tour Flyer
Workshop Agenda

2019

• The issues of The Rhodes Review from 1933 to 1979 have been scanned, digitized and Optical Character Recognition-ed and put on the Cleveland Public Library Digital Gallery website. Go to http://bit.ly/CPL-Rhodes to find JFRHS material. Find out what your older relatives were doing in high school back in the day!
• The 1920 to 1936 issues of The Brooklyn News (before we were referred to as Old Brooklyn) have also been scanned, digitized and Optical Character Recognition-ed and put on the Cleveland Public Library Digital Gallery website. Go to http://bit.ly/CPL-NEOnews for "Cleveland and Northeast Ohio Newspapers and Periodicals," then you can choose either The Brooklyn News – Times or The Brooklyn News. We still have 1937–1950 to complete when we raise more funds. Find out what was going on in our neighborhood in the past. This may be a great place to get more back ground information for your family genealogy.
• Cleveland State University has helped us put our Frank Libal collection of photographs on the Cleveland Memory Project website www.clevelandmemory.org. In fact, they have said that there were so many hits from viewers, that they were going to make it a special category. You may notice the description to a particular picture needs more detail. Please call us and let us know, so we can have it changed.
  Frank Libal was a photographer who lived in our neighborhood from 1910–1983. His love of photography started at age 10 and was involved in some aspect of his entire life. This included being the president and founder of the United Photo Company that was located at 4491 Pearl Road (where Urban Kutz is now).
• The City of Cleveland cemeteries department did not know which of the 3,500 burials at Brookmere Cemetery (3645 Broadview, located at the end of short Broadview) were veterans. We have researched one by one and located them all. We have Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Spanish American, Civil War, WWI and WWII veterans. Their names and locations may be obtained by contacting the Historical Society of Old Brooklyn Museum at (216)337-8200.

2016

• Opened the storefront museum 1/19/16
• Secured a Neighborhood Connections Grant to assist with our operating funds
• Secured a Cuyahoga Arts and Culture Grant to purchase PastPerfect Museum software to catalog our collection and help begin our scanning and digitizing of The Brooklyn News
• Participated in Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation's "Summer Cinemas" events
• Table at the Cuyahoga County Fair
• Memorial Day service at Cemetery
• Participated in the Bedford Heights Strawberry Festival at the Local History table
• Table at the Euclid Beach Park Event
• Created t-shirts as a fundraiser
• Pancake fundraiser at Applebee's
• Sales of Old Brooklyn books
• Candy bar sales

2015

• Preserving Old Brooklyn History
   
  • More oral history for publishing! Seniors and current/former business owners were interviewed. See our new publication.
• Memorial Service at Cemetery
• Field trip to Dunham Tavern
• Table at the Cuyahoga County Fair
• Candy bar sales

2014

• Candy bar sales
• Compiling and publishing of Old Brooklyn, Images of America Series, Arcadia Publishing
• Memorial Service at Cemetery

2013

• Preserving Old Brooklyn History. We are pleased to to have received $2502 funding through Cuyahoga Arts & Culture’s 2013 Project Support II grant program toward this project.
   
  • digitization of Brooklyn Times/Brooklyn Parma Times issues from 1920-1950;
  • digitization & printing of Rhodes Review (James Ford Rhodes High School) student newspaper 1944-1949 issues (see Gallery-Rhodes Review);
  • preparation of 180-220 pictures with annotations for for a book about Old Brooklyn to be published by Arcadia Publishing, leading local history niche publisher.

2012

• Speaking of Old Brooklyn... book sales
• Business Meetings with speakers and refreshments
• Participation in Neighborhood Connections Collaborative History Group with City of Cleveland Historical Societies
• Civil War Event, with Civil War displays of quilts, books, personal mementoes, Abraham and Mrs. Lincoln portrayals, Civil War period food sale, speakers on various topics related to the Civil War, May 12 [flyer]
• Participation in the Pop Up Pearl event May 19
• Memorial Day Gathering at the Broadview/Brooklyn Burial Ground, May 28
• Sold candy bars at OBCDC Movie Night Loew Park, June 22, and Old Brooklyn Community Pot Luck/Movie Night, on August 17.
• Our first HSOB potluck picnic at Brookside Park, July 13
• Continued work on our blogs with the Neighborhood Connections Small Museum Group on June 26 and August 9
• Participated in the Brooklyn Centre Bicentennial Celebration, August 12
• Attendance at Cuyahoga Arts and Culture Grant seminars

2011

• Candy bar sales
• Community Breakfast with homemade waffles
• Luncheon Grilling at the Sausage Shoppe
• Oral History Interviews - "Senior to Senior"
• Compiling and publishing of Speaking of Old Brooklyn... book
• Memorial Service at Cemetery
• New HSOB t-shirts
• Identify pictures in Old Brooklyn News
• Pop Up Pearl participants with:
  • Producers Milk photos
  • Old Brooklyn “Is This Your Grandma?” photos
  • Petitions to show interest in having a museum
  • Flyers advertising our meetings