Gallery owner
Suzanna Terrill

Main Street Gallery owner Suzanna Terrill in the window of her Over-the-Rhine gallery. At right is a painting by Carin Hebenstreit entitled "Family". Photo by Glenn Hartong

        April 10, 2001, was Main Street gallery owner Suzanna Terrill’s 61st birthday. She had planned a dinner down the street to celebrate. But escalating unrest prompted one of her guests to suggest moving the party to Kentucky. When Ms. Terrill returned home, almost all the windows on Main Street were broken and people were walking around in disbelief.

        ‘‘But from that day on we realized we didn’t want these things to happen again,’’ she says. ‘‘We were willing to talk about it and really understand what caused it.’’

        It’s partly this new level of dialogue that gives Ms. Terrill hope. A sophisticated woman with short-cropped hair, she is serene and energetic and deeply dedicated to the neighborhood where she lives and works.

        ‘‘I get so discouraged when clients tell me they’re not coming down; they’re afraid,’’ she says. ‘‘I have a daughter-in-law who won’t even let my grandchildren come down to the gallery. . . . They were allowed to come yesterday for the first time since the riots. I thought about moving, but I love living downtown.’’

        Although her clients complain about panhandlers, 10-year-olds hurling frozen eggs are a thing of the past, and programs such as Impact Over-the-Rhine, a nonprofit helping at-risk kids, have made a difference.

        ‘‘It isn’t 100 percent, but I think it is better.’’ She thinks she’s better, too.

        ‘‘I’ve become street-smart,’’ she says. ‘‘I think that’s important to understanding the problems down here. If I were living in the suburbs, where everything seems so perfect and everything’s so easy — well, things aren’t easy down here. But it’s fun and it’s a growing experience and you learn about mankind.’’

— Marilyn Bauer

Faces of Over-the-Rhine
Restaurant owner Paul Sebring
Taft senior Darrel Shields
Social worker Angela Coleman
Sarah Center director Sister Jeanette Buehler
Jordanian grocer Taraq T.A. Adwani
Filmmaker Steve Gebhardt
Gallery owner Suzanna Terril
Beauty shop supplier Chong Kim
Teacher's aide Kemberley Alexander
Waitress Karla Davis
Teacher Sharon Brooks
Dock worker Leo Sneed
Police officer Michael Ammann
Soup kitchen manager Denise McPherson
Artist Joseph M. Winterhalter
Janitor Latrell Walker
Fund-raiser Torren "T.J." Partridge
School social worker Joe Wilmers
Rehabber Greg Badger
Medical student John Eckman
Treatment counselor Calvin W. Wooten
Photographer Jimmy Heath

The Police
Violence up, arrests down
Changes made since April 2001
Q&A with Police Chief Streicher
Q&A with former F.O.P. president Keith Fangman

Neighbor to Neighbor
Community meetings produce results
Going beyond polite silence
What your neighbors said
What do you think?
What's happening in 145 communities
A sampling of communities:
• Mount Healthy
• Pleasant Ridge
• Milford
What institutions are doing

Related Links
Neighbor to Neighbor home page
Matters of Race: Bridging the divide in Greater Cincinnati
On the Same Page Cincinnati
Live Without Hate
Common Ground
Cincinnati 2001: Year of unrest
Unrest in the city: Archive of riot coverage
Unrest photo timeline
Jim Borgman on race