Joseph Doherty (1889-1965) was a public relations officer for O. P. and M. J. Van Sweringen, the real estate and railroad barons who built Shaker Heights, Ohio, and the Cleveland Union Terminal. Doherty began his career with the Philadelphia Press in 1909. He later worked for the Philadelphia Evening Times and the New York Telegraph, as well working in public relations for the Red Cross, before the Van Sweringen brothers hired him in 1922. He wrote a history of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, Smooth is the Road, and retired in 1954.
The Joseph Doherty Papers, 1921-1944 and undated, consist of correspondence, press releases, official statements of the Van Sweringens, promotional materials for the Van's projects including Shaker Village, magazine articles about the Van Sweringen brothers, newspaper clippings, and a manuscript by Doherty concerning the Van Sweringens.
This collection is useful for researchers studying the history of Cleveland and Shaker Heights, Ohio, and for understanding more about the reclusive Van Sweringens work and lives. In particular, it contains information relating to their railroad interests in the Chesapeake and Ohio, the Nickel Plate, and the Pere Marquette.
The collection is arranged by document type and then chronologically.
All photographs have been removed to the photograph and print collection.
Processed by Daniel J. Linke in 1988.
None.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 4304 Joseph Doherty Papers, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Mrs. Frances S. Johnson, 1980.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.