South Cumminsville: For the Love of the Neighborhood

Nestled South of Interstate-74 and West of the Millcreek, South Cumminsville is a tight-knit residential neighborhood full of people working to make their neighborhood more equitable.

2 min readJul 17, 2021

In this episode, the final of our Lost Voices of Cincinnati series, we explore the history of South Cumminsville, a neighborhood that, like many Black neighborhoods in Cincinnati, has been divided and diminished by top-down urban planning decisions and years of disinvestment. But it’s also a place with a long history of Black entrepreneurship, ownership, and activism — going back to the late 1800s, when unsung Cincinnati hero Sarah Fossett helped make South Cumminsville a vibrant community for African Americans. Today, it remains a place where residents support each other and fight every day to improve their community.

Part I: A Tour of South Cumminsville [0:00–06:25]
Part II: Sarah Fossett, a Cincinnati hero [06:26–16:12]
Part III: The West End, the Highway, and a Riot [16:13–21:34]
Part IV: Community Action and a Vision for the Future [21:35–27:40]

Guests

Thanks to South Cumminsville Community Council (SCCC) president, Tim Canady, who gave us a tour of his incredible, extremely welcoming neighborhood. In addition to Tim, our guests included SCCC Vice President Derek Fagin and community members Annie Williams, Alberta Warton, Scotty Lewis, and Wilbur Canady. Our episode also features Queens of Queens City’s Sean Andres and Working in Neighborhoods’ Rigel Behrens.