| Repository: | Western Reserve Historical Society |
| Creator: | Celebrezze, Anthony J. |
| Title: | Anthony J. Celebrezze Papers |
| Dates: | 1944-1962 |
| Dates: | 1951-1962 |
| Extent: | 3.40 linear feet (4 containers) |
| Abstract: | Anthony J. Celebrezze (1910-1998) was the son of Italian immigrants to Cleveland, Ohio, who had a long career in law and government, serving as an Ohio state senator, Mayor of Cleveland, Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, and a federal judge. The collection consists of correspondence, reports, minutes, legal briefs and opinions, financial documents, speeches, ordinances, resolutions, lists, charts, maps and miscellaneous printed matter relating to the administration of Cleveland's municipal government during Celebrezze's five terms as Mayor (1953-1962). |
| MS Number | MS 3884 |
| Location: | closed stacks |
| Language: | The records are in English |
Anthony Joseph Celebrezze (1910-1998) had a long career in law and government, serving as an Ohio state senator; Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio; Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare; and a federal judge.
The ninth of thirteen children, Anthony J. Celebrezze was born in Anzi, Italy, on September 4, 1910. His parents, both naturalized citizens of the United States, were visiting their native land hoping to find better employment when he was born. Anthony's father returned to the United States just before he was born, and two years later, he and his mother joined the rest of the family in Cleveland, Ohio. Meanwhile, his father had found work with the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railroad as a track laborer, and they lived in the East 28th Street-Woodland Avenue area of Cleveland. At age six, Anthony joined his older brothers selling newspapers in front of the Caxton Building in downtown Cleveland. In 1929 he graduated from Central High School, playing football there in his senior year. He attended John Carroll University for one year, and then transferred to Ohio Northern University. Encouraged by his brother Frank, he enrolled in law school at Ohio Northern, meeting his expenses by working for the New York Central Railroad. After receiving his law degree in 1936, he acquired his first legal experience working for the Ohio Bureau of Unemployment Compensation, and three years later opened his own law office. He practiced his profession for the next thirteen years, with time off for Navy service during World War II. In 1938, Celebrezze married his high school sweetheart, Anne Marco, and they had three children, Anthony Junior, Jean, and Susan.
Politics attracted him, and in 1950 as a candidate of the Democratic party, he won election to the Ohio Senate. Although reelected to the Senate in 1952, he chose to run for mayor of Cleveland as an independent Democrat. The incumbent mayor, Thomas Burke, had been appointed to the Senate upon the death of Robert Taft in 1953, and he, together with Governor Frank Lausche and Cleveland Press editor Louis Seltzer, supported Celebrezze's candidacy. Celebrezze was elected to the first of five two-year terms by a comfortable majority over Albert Porter, the regular Democratic party candidate and Republican William J. McDermott. In each subsequent election, his popularity with the Cleveland voters increases, and in 1961, he carried every ward in Cleveland, capturing 73.8% of the total vote.
He acquired a thorough knowledge of how the Cleveland municipal government worked and managed an efficient, well-run city during his administration. To take advantage of the St. Lawrence Seaway, he organized the Cleveland Seaport Foundation to promote Cleveland as a world trade center and supported an eight million dollar Seaway bond issue. During Celebrezze's five terms as mayor, progress was made on the $140 million urban renewal program, including Erieview and the Garden Valley housing project, and the construction of a freeway system serving Cleveland and its suburbs. Since much of the low income housing in the central city was razed to build the freeways, including the mayor's boyhood home, there was a shortage of adequate housing for those displaced by the construction. the heavy influx of migrants to the city in the 1950s exacerbated the overcrowding in some of the city's older neighborhoods, adding to the problem. The increases population and job layoffs contributed to the soaring relief costs the city had to address. To help alleviate these conditions, Celebrezze instituted a job retraining program with the cooperation of local industry, and he sought to transfer some of the relief costs to the county welfare department.
Controversy was generated over the building of a downtown subway to relieve traffic congestion and revitalize downtown businesses. While Celebrezze favored the proposal and the voters approved a $35 million bond issue to build it, County Engineer Albert Porter persuaded county officials that the subway was too costly, and the money would be better spent on the freeway system. Celebrezze was anxious to attract more convention business to the city, and in 1958 he negotiated with the Hilton Corporation to build a new hotel on the city-owned Mall. Resistance to selling part of the Mall for a commercial enterprise forced a referendum, and the Hilton-on-the-Mall was defeated.
Acting as a representative of the United States Conference of Mayors, Celebrezze gained national exposure in 1955 when he testified before Congress against the deregulation of natural gas. Also in 1955 he appeared before the House Committee on Public Works to support a bill to provide federal money for highway construction. He was elected President of the American Municipal Association in 1958 and became President of the United States Conference of Mayors in 1962.
In 1962, President John F. Kennedy appointed Celebrezze Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, where he served for three years. He helped prepare and guide through Congress many of the social programs aimed at improving the opportunities available to all Americans. He resigned from office in July of 1965, and President Johnson appointed him a federal judge on the sixth circuit court of appeals. He relinquished his full time courtroom duties on October 1, 1980, assuming senior status, and continued to hear cases on a limited basis.
Among the honors and awards he received during his career were the Brotherhood Award of the National Conference of Christians and Jews, and honorary degree of Doctor of Humanity from Wilberforce University, and the decoration of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy.
click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for Anthony J. Celebrezze
The Anthony J. Celebrezze Papers, 1944-1962 and undated (bulk 1951-1962), consist of correspondence, reports, minutes, legal briefs and opinions, financial documents, speeches, ordinances, resolutions, lists, charts, maps and miscellaneous printed matter relating to the administration of Cleveland's municipal government during Celebrezze's five terms as Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio (1953-1962).
The material in this collection covers a variety of subject areas, including municipal government, public administration, public utility rates, public welfare, civil defense, community relations, employment and housing discrimination, race problems and race relations, urban problems, and biographical information on Celebrezze and Ralph Locher. Most of the correspondence in the files consists of letters written to Mayor Celebrezze or correspondence between people with whom he had contact in his capacity as mayor of Cleveland. Many of the letters he wrote concern routine matters. His opinions are expressed mainly in his speeches and statements to city, state, and federal officials.
The Civil Defense files provide information on problems in designing an emergency evacuation plan for the city population. Maps show the proposed evacuation routes for the city in 1955 and 1957. These files include the civil defense section of President Kennedy's 1961 State of the Union message defining the need for a nationwide fallout shelter program and Cleveland's problems in meeting the target dates of the national shelter program.
The Community Relations files address the efforts by the city to provide services aimed at improving life for its citizens and enhance the well-being of the city as a whole. A substantial part of the series relates to the Community Relations Board and investigations of complaints of discrimination, primarily in housing, employment, and recreation facilities. These files also document the expansion and reorganization of the Board to address education, migration services, civil right, housing, research activities, and general administration. Additionally, these files reflect the concern for the increases cost of medical care and relief during the period. Of special interest is the attempt to institute a human relations program in the police department in 1953, detailed reports of specific racial incidents in 1954, the City Council resolution to raise the residence requirement for relief and the Mayor's 1959 veto, and an account of Elijah Muhammed's visit to Cleveland in 1960.
The records of the Finance Department provide information on municipal bond issues, the capital improvements program for the city, and the submission of an operating levy to the voters in 1962. A major problem throughout this period was the rising cost of running the municipal government.
The Law Department files contain material on the applications by the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company, East Ohio Gas Company, and the Ohio Bell Telephone Company for rate increases and the city's response to the requests. This series also documents the efforts of both Celebrezze and Locher in 1954 and 1955 to intervene on behalf of the consumer before the state and federal regulatory agencies and their attempts to change Ohio law regarding the utility rate base. Also contained in the series are Celebrezze's 1955 and 1957 statements to the House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce opposing the altering of federal controls on natural gas.
The Personal files of the Mayor includes ordinances primarily relating to the cost of wage incresaes requested by unions representing city employees. Of interest is a comprehensive list of the salary scales in all city departments in 1957 and correspondence regarding the recognition of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 100 as the collective bargaining agent for its members on the city payroll.
The Port Control series provide information on the creation of the Port Control Department in 1954 in order to consolidate the operation of Cleveland's ports-of-entry and coordinate the development of the harbor facilities. The files also provide information on the administration of Cleveland Hopkins and Burke Lakefront airports and the East Ninth Street Pier.
The Properties Department files document the building, maintenance, and remodeling of the auditorium, stadium, and city-owned recreation facilities. There is correspondence on the events held at Public Auditorium, details of its upkeep, and attempts in 1955 and 1956 to improve the acoustics. Stadium improvements and the relationship between the city and the Cleveland Baseball Club are also covered.
The Service Department files detail the building, maintenance, and repair of the city's streets, sidewalks, highways, bridges, sewers, incinerators, dumps, and motor vehicles. There is documentation of Cleveland's highway program designed to relieve traffic congestion in the city and its suburbs. Of particular interest is the relationship between the city and the various state and federal agencies that participated in the program.
None.
Related MaterialThe researcher should also consult MS 4046 Anthony J. Celebrezze Papers, Series II; and PG 353 Anthony J. Celebrezze Photographs.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 3884 Anthony J. Celebrezze Papers, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Transferred to the Western Reserve Historical Society by Cleveland Mayor Ralph Perk in 1976.
Processed by Mary B. Stavish in 1981.
A list of the correspondents represented in this collection is available at the Reference Desk of the WRHS Research Library.
Series I: Civil Defense 1951-1962 undated |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | General files, including personnel directory and organization and financial charts 1951-1954 | |||||||||
| 1 | 2-3 | General files 1955-1956 | |||||||||
| 1 | 4 | General files, including minutes and budgets 1957-1958 | |||||||||
| 1 | 5 | General files 1958-1962 | |||||||||
| 1 | 6 | Miscellaneous brochures, printed matter, and other material, including a 1958 history of Cuyahoga county civil defense and material from the American Municipal Association dates vary | |||||||||
Series II: Community Relations 1953-1962 |
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Sub-series A: General Files 1953-1962 |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 7 | General files, including correspondence and reports on racial incidents at the Glenview Swimming Pool, Patrick Henry Junior High School, and the Union Square Theater. Included is a city map showing areas of racial tension 1953-1954 | |||||||||
| 1 | 8 | General files, including correspondence, reports, newspaper clippings, resolutions, and a memorandum on the 1958 Longwood Village rent strike 1955-1959 | |||||||||
| 1 | 9 | General files, including miscellaneous correspondence concerning mentally handicapped children, a new mental hospital, a treatment unit for delinquent boys, and material on a Fair Housing Ordinance 1960-1962 | |||||||||
Sub-series B: Subject Files 1953-1962 |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 10 | Belle Greve Memorial Committee 1957-1958 | |||||||||
| 1 | 11 | Community Relations Board meetings, including a 1952 report on community relations 1953-1954 | |||||||||
| 1 | 12 | Community Relations Board meetings 1955 | |||||||||
| 1 | 13 | Community Relations Board meetings, including an analysis of Hough Area tensions 1956 | |||||||||
| 1 | 14 | Community Relations Board meetings 1957 | |||||||||
| 1 | 15 | Community Relations Board meetings 1958-1959 | |||||||||
| 1 | 16 | Community Relations Board meetings, including material on the proposed fair housing ordinance 1960 | |||||||||
| 1 | 17 | Community Relations Board membership 1953-1962 | |||||||||
| 1 | 18 | City Hospital, general files with information on new building projects and rate structure for patient care 1954-1956 | |||||||||
| 1 | 19 | City Hospital, general files 1957 | |||||||||
| 1 | 20 | City Hospital, general files including reports on collection of money due for patient care and hospital staff lists 1958-1961 | |||||||||
| 1 | 21 | Cleveland Boys Farm at Hudson, including correspondence and several issues of the student newspaper 1954-1957 | |||||||||
| 1 | 22 | Electrical Workers Union Local #38, correspondence concerning the mayor's efforts to resolve the discrimination complaint against the union 1955-1956 | |||||||||
| 1 | 23 | Health and Welfare Department, general files, including financial reports 1953-1962 | |||||||||
| 1 | 24 | Health and Welfare Department, mailing lists 1956 | |||||||||
| 1 | 25 | Health Division, general files 1954-1960 | |||||||||
| 1 | 26 | Job retraining program, general files on the ninety-day pilot project and the formation of the Office of Job Retraining and Manpower Development in 1962 1961-1962 | |||||||||
| 1 | 27 | Medical care for the indigent 1957-1961 | |||||||||
| 1 | 28 | Relief Division, general files including financial reports 1953-1955 | |||||||||
| 1 | 29 | Relief Division, general files and a 1955 booklet describing the standards of assistance 1955 | |||||||||
| 1 | 30 | Relief Division, general files including reports of operations 1955-1959 | |||||||||
| 1 | 31 | Relief resident requirements, with the resolution raising the residency requirement for relief eligibility, the City Council roll call vote, and the mayor's speech vetoing the resolution 1959 | |||||||||
| 1 | 32 | Transfer of Blossom Hill, Cleveland Boy's Farm, and City Hospital to Cuyahoga County, general files including the financial formula for the transfer 1956-1957 | |||||||||
| 1 | 33 | Workhouse and paroles, general files 1954-1959 | |||||||||
Series III: Finance Department 1944-1962 |
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Sub-series A: General Files 1944-1962 |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 2 | 34 | General files, including correspondence, reports, financial analyses, and estimates of receipts and expenditures 1944 1953-1954 | |||||||||
| 2 | 35 | General files, including correspondence, financial analyses of income and expenditures, and the mayor's financial estimate 1955-1956 | |||||||||
| 2 | 36 | General files, including the mayor's budget message to City Council and expense and estimate statements 1956-1962 | |||||||||
Sub-series B: Subject Files 1948-1962 |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 2 | 37 | Bank tax, general file on the revenue loss due to the Ohio Supreme Court ruling that the local intangible tax on bank stock was illegal 1955-1956 | |||||||||
| 2 | 38 | Bond issues, general file 1953-1962 | |||||||||
| 2 | 39 | Coal purchases and use, general file 1953-1956 | |||||||||
| 2 | 40 | Operating levy, correspondence from constituents and reports on the need for the levy 1948 1962 | |||||||||
| 2 | 41 | Operating levy, correspondence in support of and in opposition to the levy and a record of the vote by ward 1962 | |||||||||
| 2 | 42 | Operating levy, correspondence on resubmission of the levy and miscellaneous campaign literature 1962 | |||||||||
| 2 | 43-44 | Purchases and supplies, general files 1953-1962 | |||||||||
| 2 | 45 | Reappraisal, correspondence and reports on the reevaluation of property for tax purposes 1955-1957 | |||||||||
Series IV: Law Department 1953-1962 |
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Sub-series A: General Files 1953-1961 |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 2 | 46 | General files, including material on the violation of building and sanitary ordinances and the petition for injunction against Khoury's Hough Bar, Inc. 1953-1955 | |||||||||
| 2 | 47 | General files, including material on taxicab rate increases 1956-1961 | |||||||||
Sub-series B: Subject Files 1953-1962 |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 2 | 48 | Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company rate increases 1954-1958 | |||||||||
| 2 | 49 | East Ohio Gas Company rate increases 1954-1959 | |||||||||
| 2 | 50-53 | Federal natural gas deregulation 1954-1960 | |||||||||
| 2 | 54-55 | Legal opinions, general files 1953-1955 | |||||||||
| 2 | 56 | Legal opinions, general files, including material on acquiring land for urban renewal and a 1955 letter describing Cleveland's urban renewal program 1955 | |||||||||
| 2 | 57 | Legal opinions, general files 1956 | |||||||||
| 2 | 58 | Legal opinions, general files, including engineering services for Garden Valley, status of the Mall, acquiring land for urban renewal, and the legality of lottery-type promotions 1957-1958 | |||||||||
| 2 | 59 | Legal opinions, general files 1959-1962 | |||||||||
| 2 | 60 | Ohio Bell Telephone Company rate increases 1954-1958 | |||||||||
| 2 | 61 | Personnel, including correspondence regarding resignations from and applications for positions in the Law Department 1954-1959 | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 3 | 62 | Personnel, including correspondence regarding resignations from and applications for positions in the Law Department 1960-1962 | |||||||||
Series V: Personal, Office of the Mayor 1953-1962 |
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Sub-series A: General Files 1953-1962 |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 3 | 63 | General files 1953-1962 | |||||||||
Sub-series B: Subject Files 1953-1962 |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 3 | 64 | Salaries and wages,general files, including a1954 letter from the employees at City Hospital's Lowman Pavilion describing wages and working conditions 1953-1955 | |||||||||
| 3 | 65-66 | Salaries and wages,general files 1955-1962 | |||||||||
Series VI: Port Control Department 1953-1962 |
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Sub-series A: General Files 1954-1962 |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 3 | 67 | General files, including correspondence, brochures, ordinances, a proposal for a river-lake belt conveyor line and a map of the Cleveland harbor 1954-1955 | |||||||||
| 3 | 68 | General files 1956-1962 | |||||||||
Sub-series B: Subject Files 1953-1962 |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 3 | 69 | Airport concessions, general files 1953-1959 | |||||||||
| 3 | 70 | Airports, general files 1953-1961 | |||||||||
| 3 | 71 | Crane, general file concerning the construction of a crane at the East Ninth Street pier and its possible obstruction of the flight path to Burke Lakefront Airport. Included is an engineering drawing of the flight path 1959-1962 | |||||||||
| 3 | 72 | East Ninth Street pier, general file 1953-1959 | |||||||||
| 3 | 73 | Proposed Chicago Water Diversion Bill, general file 1954-1959 | |||||||||
| 3 | 74 | St. Lawrence Seaway, general file 1954-1961 | |||||||||
Series VII: Properties Department 1953-1962 |
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Sub-series A: General Files 1953-1959 |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 3 | 75 | General files, including a 1954 budget request 1953-1955 | |||||||||
| 3 | 76 | General files, including correspondence, specifications, and blue prints on the proposed cafeteria at City Hall 1956-1959 | |||||||||
Sub-series B: Subject Files 1953-1962 |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 3 | 77 | Auditorium and stadium, general files, including dispute between the Cleveland Baseball Club and Berlo Vending Company 1953-1954 | |||||||||
| 3 | 78 | Auditorium and stadium, general files, including a 1955 financial report on the stadium 1955-1956 | |||||||||
| 3 | 79 | Auditorium and stadium, general files, including 1958 financial reports for the auditorium and the stadium, 1959 financial reports for the Cleveland Baseball Club and Berlo Vending Company, and a 1958 history of the Cleveland Indians at the stadium 1957-1962 | |||||||||
| 3 | 80 | Cleveland Baseball Club complaint against Berlo Vending Company, testimony, and proceedings 1953 | |||||||||
| 3 | 81 | Recreation Division, general file 1953-1962 | |||||||||
Series VIII: Service Department 1952-1962 |
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Sub-series A: General Files 1952-1962 |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 3 | 82 | General files, including a report on the engineering services employed by the city (1945-1956) 1952-1956 | |||||||||
| 3 | 83 | General files, including financial reports of the service department improvements. Of interest is a 1958 letter detailing the condition of the Cleveland water system and the need for a rate increase 1957-1962 | |||||||||
Sub-series B: Subject Files 1953-1962 |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 4 | 84 | Bridges, general file, including correspondence regarding use of the lower deck of the Detroit-Superior bridge for passenger cars 1953-1962 | |||||||||
| 4 | 85 | Highway program, general file 1953-1955 | |||||||||
| 4 | 86 | Highway program, general file, including mayor's plan to charge tolls on new highways to raise money for more road construction 1956 | |||||||||
| 4 | 87 | Highway program, general file 1956-1958 | |||||||||
| 4 | 88 | Highway program, general file 1958-1962 | |||||||||
| 4 | 89 | Incinerator, general files opposing the building of a new incinerator 1955-1958 | |||||||||
| 4 | 90 | Motor vehicle maintenance, general file 1953-1961 | |||||||||
| 4 | 91 | Dumps, general file 1954-1961 | |||||||||