TOLEDO – Unveiling a rich history, The Toledo Papers is a book of letters and stories from Toledo’s past, written by local author and historian Tedd Long.
Published on October 11, The Toledo Papers is Long’s third book and his first to be self-published. It aims to help people gain a new understanding of history and its importance in local communities.
“History is more than just dates. It’s about people. It’s about culture. And I feel like the more you know about your city’s history, the more you’ll like it when you understand the context,” said Long.
For John Yakumithis, who helps run Micheal’s Bar & Grill on Monroe St. near downtown Toledo, The Toledo Papers is a story about family, hard work and the American dream.
Chapter 20 of the book describes how Micheal’s started, detailing the challenges faced by its founder, Mike Yakumithis, John Yakumithis’ grandfather and a first-generation Greek immigrant.
“It’s a classic story. Immigrant comes to the U.S. Works hard. Builds up a business. Builds up a family. Is part of the community. I mean, that’s as American as apple pie and Chevrolet,” John Yakumithis said.
Long uses a variety of resources to conduct his research, from interviews like the one with the Yakumithis family, to the Toledo Lucas County Main Library and ancestry websites.
“I’m always looking for those primary sources. I love letters because those are so personal,” said Long. “When you’re reading someone’s letter, you get the emotion; you get a real feel for that person; how they were feeling when they wrote it.”
Though Long’s book is new, his interest in history is not.
“My mother was into history, and she and I used to go to a local bookstore and buy local history books and trade them back and forth,” recalled Long.
As he got older, his passion for history only grew.
In college, I just fell in love with history. I was a liberal arts major but I took almost every history class I could take.
Tedd Long
This appetite for history has driven Long to pursue a range of roles related to preserving Toledo’s past. From conducting Toledo tours to serving on the Valentine Theatre board, and from working in strategic planning to being an author, Long has worn many different hats during his time in Toledo.
One of his most notable historical projects is his maintenance of holytoledohistory.com, a site that features all things Toledo, including Long’s podcast, blog posts, tours, books and photos.
Long has lived in Toledo for the past 35 years and has grown to love it, a sentiment he said he wouldn’t have predicted when he first arrived.
Despite all of his work with history, Long does not consider himself a historian.
“People always want to call me a historian, and I remind them I’m not,” said Long. “I consider myself more a storyteller. I like to gather the information and then tell the stories behind it.”
Long has plans to continue his involvement with historical storytelling and is currently writing his next book titled, A Table for None: Lost Restaurants of Toledo, which seeks to highlight Toledo’s old and forgotten restaurants.
