James Horton was born in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1934 where he attended high school. He served in the Air Force, and was a radio broadcaster for the Armed Forces Radio Service in Greenland and Labrador during the 1950s. After graduating from the Ohio School of Broadcasting, Horton hosted his own radio show in Cleveland, Ohio, during the 1960s. He was also a licensed barber, shoe salesman, and worked briefly as a private investigator.
In 1966 Horton went to work for Local 47 of the Building Service and Maintenance Union as a business agent and organizer. In these capacities he dealt mainly with nursing home employees, helping to organize a number of homes and serving as a negotiator at contract bargaining talks. He eventually became president of the union.
Horton was also a community activist in the Eddy Road area of Cleveland's East Side. He has served as president of the Eddy Road Street Club and as an officer of the Ohio Boys Town, receiving numerous awards and commendations for his work in civic affairs. Horton was interested in political issues, having written letters to a number of Mayors, Congressmen and Senators. Horton, his wife Lera and their children resided at 661 Eddy Road as of 1988.
The James Horton Papers, Series II, 1955-1982 and undated consist largely of correspondence relating to Horton's union activities, and a number of collective agreements which he helped negotiate; material relating to the Eddy Road Street Club; electrostatic copies of return letters from prominent public officials to whom Horton wrote, and his various awards and certificates of achievement.
The collection is useful to the scholar interested in the day-to-day activities of a labor union and contract negotiations in Cleveland, Ohio, as well as those wishing to learn about the activities of community leaders and neighborhood clubs in the African American community.
The collection is arranged in three series.
The researcher should also consult MS 3736 James Horton Papers and MS 3744 Eddy Road Street Club Records.
Processed by Art DeMatteo in 1988.
None.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 4306 James Horton Papers, Series II, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
James Horton, 1981 and 1982.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.