(Cleveland, Ohio) -- In the lead up to America’s 250th anniversary, the Cleveland Municipal Court announced today it received a Trillium Local Activity Grant from the America 250-Ohio Commission for its upcoming project titled, “Educating Youth About Ohio’s First Municipal Court.”
Contact: Ed Ferenc, Public Information Officer
Cleveland Municipal Court
216 664 6787 / 216 789 2597
ference@cmcoh.org www.cmcoh.org
(Cleveland, Ohio) -- In the lead up to America’s 250th anniversary, the Cleveland Municipal Court announced today it received a Trillium Local Activity Grant from the America 250-Ohio Commission for its upcoming project titled, “Educating Youth About Ohio’s First Municipal Court.”
The grant will allow the Court to create an animated video about the Court's history which will be available for release by January 2025.
“The Cleveland Municipal Court is honored to be selected for a Trillium Local Activity Grant. We are excited about showcasing the Court’s history,” said the Honorable Michelle D. Earley, the Court’s Administrative and Presiding Judge.
The project is designed to produce a fun, engaging and educational animated video for Cleveland-area youth highlighting key topics about the history of the court system in Cleveland from the settling of the "area of the Western Reserve" by Moses Cleaveland in 1796, to the traveling "circuit" judges in the early 1800's followed by the opening of Ohio's first municipal court in 1912, to the specialized court dockets grappling with the social problems of today.
The video will also highlight the Court’s many firsts from Mary Grossman, the country's first female judge in 1923, to Perry B. Jackson, the State's first African American judge in 1942, to Jazmin Torres-Lugo, Cuyahoga County's first Hispanic female judge in 2003.
The Trillium Local Activity Grants offer up to $5,000 for projects with a local or community-wide impact. These projects may include exhibitions, interpretative panels, local commemorative programs or activities, local public events, educational, public programs, and smaller digital and documentary media projects.
“The America 250-Ohio Commission congratulates the Cleveland Municipal Court on this grant award. Their efforts in educating the public and honoring Ohio’s illustrious history are deeply appreciated,” said Doug Preisse, co-chair of the America 250-Ohio Commission.
The Cleveland Municipal Court was one of the 61 recipients chosen from the more than 170 statewide applications during the grant program’s spring 2024 funding cycle. In total, America 250-Ohio, awarded approximately $600,000 in grants to communities and organizations across Ohio as part of the commission’s second funding cycle.
Combined with the approximately $400,000 in grants awarded in January 2024, the America 250-Ohio Commission grants program has worked with Ohio Humanities to distribute $1 million in grants to 84 organizations across the state. The grant program was designed to showcase the achievements, struggles, honors, innovations and significance of all people in Ohio since before its founding to the present day.
For more information on the Cleveland Municipal Court, visit www.clevelandmunicipalcourt.org. To learn more about the America 250-Ohio Commission’s grants program visit America250-Ohio.org/grants/.