Voices

The “Toledo Voices” series highlights Toledo community members, institutions, and legacies that shaped the past and continue to shape our present and future. Ranging from childhood memories to the historical legacies that cemented Toledo’s industrial identity, each story dissects the foundation on which Toledo was built and the community-centered vitalization that will propel Toledo higher.

Voices

From Houston to Shaker Heights: A Great Migration Story

Simone Toney -
In the 1950s, my father’s side of the family, like many other Black families from the South, migrated to the northern parts of the...
Food

A New Big Cheese in Town: Columbus’ First Plant-based Butcher

Leanna Greenlee -
On the inside, Vida’s looks like any other traditional deli shop. There are meats and cheeses neatly wrapped in the front case and a...
High School ThinkLab

Working as a Hero, Living as an Example: Fire Chief Brian Byrd on Leadership During Crisis

Karolen Eid -
“I just can never turn the firefighter off. You can never turn off that desire and willingness to help somebody in a bad spot,...
Voices

Returning to Build Cincinnati’s Future: A Conversation with P.G. Sittenfeld

José Pablo Fernández García -
Over a year ahead of the election, P.G. Sittenfeld is already running to be Cincinnati’s next mayor. Born and raised in the city, he’s on a quest to build a more equitable future. Midstory talked with Sittenfeld about why he returned home and his future plans for Cincinnati.
Voices

South to Midwest: My Grandfather’s Great Migration

Alicia Frazier -
Through conversations with her grandfather, the author unpacks his personal history during the Civil Rights Movement and the Great Migration—one that paved the way for generations to come. Read his story and listen to excerpts from the interview.
Voices

Winding Path to Toledo

the Midstory Team -
Victor is a Toledoan who works as a data scientist at the University of Michigan. He is also a human and an American. He enjoys life and lives in South Toledo with his wife and daughter.
Voices

Becoming Michael’s, from Ellis Island to Toledo

Sophia Yakumithis -
When I was in third grade, I remember my parents being asked at a parent-teacher conference why I always talked about “hanging out at...
Voices

Suburban Comforts

Ruth Chang -
The weather had been hot for the last four days. Sun-blistering heat had hit the Midwest without warning, averaging a ruthless 104 degrees Fahrenheit....
Memoirs of a Toledo Childhood

Memoirs of a Toledo Childhood: “Someday I Will Own It”

the Midstory Team -
In 1977, I bought my dream house at 2210 Robinwood Avenue in the Historic Old West End. I first spotted this home when I...

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Midstory is a 501(c)(3) non-profit thinkhub that progresses the narrative of the Midwest by incubating bright, diverse and interdisciplinary thinkers to exchange ideas and envision the future of our region through multimedia storytelling and solutions-oriented research since its founding in 2018.

As an educational media organization, we inform, interpret and inspire in and for the Midwest and believe that our region’s challenges can be our greatest asset to drive renewed interest and human capital into post-industrial cities.

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