Premier of Children's Animated Court History Video

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Premier of Children's Animated Court History Video

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In the lead up to America’s upcoming 250th anniversary in 2026, the Cleveland Municipal Court received a Trillium Local Activity grant in June 2024 from the America 250-Ohio Commission to produce a children’s animated video on the history of the Cleveland Municipal Court.

The video is designed to be 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 this 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, entitled “Educating Youth About Ohio’s First Municipal Court”, was completed in January, 2025 and premiered to Court staff and Judges on Thursday, February 13, 2025 during the unveiling of the Court’s newly renovated jury room. The video is available for viewing here, on the Court’s YouTube channel and on TV20 Cleveland.

The video highlights 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 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.

Educating Youth About Ohio’s First Municipal Court is funded in part by the America 250-Ohio Commission. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this video do not necessarily represent those of the America 250-Ohio Commission.

To learn more about the America 250-Ohio Commission’s grants program visit America250-Ohio.org/grants/.