Nehez, Bill
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George A. Myers (1859-1930) owned the Hotel Hollenden Barber Shop in Cleveland, and was active in politics. The Baltimore, Md., native arrived in Cleveland in 1879, working as a barber. He opened his own shop in the Hollenden House in 1888. By 1920, he was employing 17 barbers and a number of manicurists, porters, women’s hairdressers, cashiers, and podiatrists. His barber shop brought him into contact with the city’s social and political elite, including industrialist Mark Hanna, with whom he became friends. Myers had opportunities to get political appointments, but chose to help other African-Americans gain positions of power. He did serve as a delegate to Republican National Conventions. He was also active in racial matters, successfully campaigning in the 1920s to have newspapers capitalize the word ‘Negro’ and discontinue the use of offensive language, according to the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History.
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