Armond Robinson (1911-1973) was a lawyer and business and civic leader in the Cleveland, Ohio, African American community. Born in Jacksonville, Florida, he graduated from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, before moving to Cleveland in 1935 to help establish an office of the Atlanta Life Insurance Company. After serving in World War II, he entered the Cleveland Marshall Law School, graduating in 1951.
In 1965 Robinson incorporated the nonprofit Cleveland Small Business Opportunity and Development Corporation (CSBODC) with financial aid from the city of Cleveland, Western Reserve University, the Greater Cleveland Associated Foundation and the Area Redevelopment Administration. As a management advisory group, the CSBODC provided free advice and recommendations for financial assistance to small merchants in various Cleveland area neighborhoods as well as small business courses offered through Western Reserve University and Cuyahoga Community College. With the assistance of the Cleveland Business League, Northeast Businessmen's Association, and the Black Economic Union, the CSBODC formed the Minority Economic Developers Council for which Robinson served as executive director. The council provided financial and management counseling to minority businessmen through its affiliation with the United States Office of Minority Business Enterprises. Robinson also served as treasurer of the United Freedom Movement, a federation of civil rights organizations. He was a member of the executive board of the local NAACP; board member of the Cleveland Business League; and on the boards of the Forest City and Fairhill Psychiatric hospitals.
The Armond Robinson Papers, 1933-1974 and undated, consist of biographical materials, certificates, correspondence, memorabilia, newspaper clippings, programs, speeches, and files of the Citizens for Better Housing, CSBODC, and Minority Economic Developers Council.
These papers pertain to Robinson's civic and business efforts within the African American community in Cleveland, Ohio.
The collection is arranged by subject and document type, then chronologically.
Processed by Bari Oyler Stith in 1987.
None.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 4122 Armond Robinson Papers, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Margery Robinson, 1974 and 1977.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.