Judith Cetina casually strolls through the former warehouse, motioning to shelves of documents as if they were her family albums.
“This is what a death record would have looked like at one time,” she said. “And then this was a naturalization paper.”
The Cuyahoga County archivist has been with the department for “over 40 years.” Her colorful wardrobe matches the colorful characters lurking in the pages of the archives: everyone from the Torso Murderer to Drew Carey to Jimmy Dimora.
"The oldest records that we have are from 1810, when the county was formally created," she said. "We have the first Cuyahoga County Commissioners' volume. The very first piece of business... was to set a bounty for a wolf scalps."
On June 24 and 26, you can meet Cetina by registering for the archives’ open house. The one-time Halle Bros. warehouse at E. 40th St. and Perkins Ave. was repurposed as the archive in 2018, after moving “about 30- or 40,000 square feet of records.”
“Find older birth records, death records, marriage records,” she said. “We have coroners’ case files. Our maps go back to about 1860 if you're interested in tracing the history of your home.”
The open houses are part of Cleveland History Days and will include tours with volunteers specializing in different types of materials. Cetina said visitors can then make an appointment to do research in person. (There’s also an online form to request that material be scanned and emailed.) Some people want to learn about the county’s elections, which are documented back to 1896. Others need genealogy information.
“Currently, many people are applying for dual citizenship,” she said. “In order to do that, they may need to go back and trace their ancestry… especially naturalization records. I have to prepare a letter indicating, in my capacity as the archivist, that these are copies of the originals.”
Aside from the records themselves, the archive offices include displays about Cleveland history relating to subjects like Juneteenth, political buttons, baseball and more.
"Many people know of our existence," she said. "So, this is an opportunity, and hopefully you'll decide to come back and visit again and share the news with your friends."
