| Repository: | Western Reserve Historical Society |
| Creator: | Stokes, Carl |
| Title: | Carl Stokes Papers, Series II |
| Dates: | 1947-1992 |
| Dates: | 1967-1971 |
| Extent: | 1.20 linear feet (3 containers) |
| Abstract: | Carl Stokes was the mayor of Cleveland, Ohio from 1967-1971. Stokes was the first African American mayor of a major American city and the first African American Democrat in the Ohio State Legislature, where he served three terms from 1962-1967. As mayor, Stokes launched a number of programs to alleviate the problems of urban decay. Chief among these was Cleveland: NOW!, a joint public and private program with plans to raise $177 million in its first two years to revitalize Cleveland. The program was discredited due to the Glenville Shootout in July, 1968. Under Stokes, Cleveland City Council passed the Equal Employment Opportunity Ordinance, and HUD resumed funding projects aiding in the construction of over 3,000 new low- and middle-income housing units. Stokes became a newscaster with NBC television in 1972, and returned to his law practice in Cleveland in 1980. In 1983, Stokes was elected a municipal court judge. The collection consists of speeches, correspondence, datebooks, budgets, lectures, newspaper clippings, publications, telegrams, reports, resumes, agendas, press releases, programs, flyers, certificates, legal documents, newsletters, transcripts, proposals, lists, minutes, and a yearbook. |
| MS Number | MS 4800 |
| Location: | closed stacks |
| Language: | The records are in English |
Carl B. Stokes (1927-1996), mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, 1967-1971, was the first African American mayor of a major American city. Earlier he had served as the first black Democrat in the Ohio State Legislature.
Carl Stokes was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1927. His father died when he was two, leaving his mother, a domestic servant, to raise him and his brother Louis. Carl dropped out of high school in 1944 and, after working briefly at Thompson Products, he joined the Army. After leaving the service he returned to Central High School where he earned his diploma. He then attended several colleges and universities, including Cleveland College, before earning his bachelors at the University of Minnesota and his law degree at Cleveland Marshall Law School. Admitted to the Ohio Bar in 1957, he served as an assistant prosecutor for four years. He was also a partner (along with his brother Louis) of the law firm of Stokes, Stokes, Character, and Terry, a practice he continued even after the start of his political career.
Elected to the Ohio House of Representatives in 1962, he served three terms before being elected mayor of Cleveland in 1967. In 1965, he had run as an independent Democrat against incumbent Ralph Locher and lost by fewer than 2,000 votes. Running again in 1967, he defeated Locher in the Democratic primary and then edged Republican Seth Taft in the general election. Stokes was able to mobilize both black and white voters to achieve victory in an election which received national attention. The following year, his brother Louis was elected to the United States House of Representatives. In 1969, Stokes ran for reelection and narrowly defeated Republican Ralph Perk, then Cuyahoga County Auditor.
During his mayoral administration, Stokes launched a number of new programs designed to alleviate the problems of urban decay. Chief among these was Cleveland: NOW!, a joint public and private program for urban revitalization. Its goal was to raise $177 million in its first two years for economic renewal projects including employment, youth activities, and housing. Among these programs was the Mayor's Council on Youth Opportunities which provided recreation, as well as employment, for inner city children. Cleveland: NOW!, however, became a focal point of controversy when it was learned that some of its funds, through indirect channels, had been used to purchase weapons used by black nationalists in the Glenville Shootout in July 1968. The shootout, which led to seven deaths, was accompanied by looting and arson in the predominantly black Glenville neighborhood of Cleveland.
Mayor Stokes persuaded city council to raise the city income tax from 0.5% to 1% during his administration and to pass the Equal Employment Opportunity Ordinance. He convinced the Department of Housing and Urban Development to resume funding projects which had been frozen during the Locher administration, which aided in the construction of over 3,000 new Low- and middle-income housing units in Cleveland. He addressed the problem of pollution by advocating the passage of a $100 million bond issue to alleviate water pollution. Several new office buildings were built in the downtown area during his administration.
Mayor Stokes also equipped the police force with new automobiles and a new communications system. After the Glenville Shootout, there was a rapid turnover of safety directors, highlighted by the brief tenure and resignation of General Benjamin O. Davis, Jr.
Stokes decided not to seek a third term in 1971, instead endorsing longtime supporter and assistant, Arnold Pinkney, who ran as an independent Democrat and lost to Republican Ralph Perk. He went on the lecture circuit, and in 1972, accepted a newscaster's position with NBC television in New York. He returned to practicing law in Cleveland in 1980, and in 1983 was elected municipal court judge. In the spring, 1989, his name was mentioned as a possible mayoral candidate to replace George Voinovich.
click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for Carl Stokes
click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for Cleveland: NOW!
The Carl Stokes Papers, Series II, 1947-1992 (1967-1971), consist primarily of speeches, correspondence, datebooks, budgets, lectures, newspaper clippings, publications, telegrams, reports, resumes, agendas, press releases, programs, flyers, certificates, legal documents, newsletters, transcripts, proposals, lists, minutes, and a yearbook.
The collection is of value to researchers studying politics and leadership in Cleveland, Ohio, in the late twentieth century, especially in the African American community. In addition, researchers interested in the topics of civil rights and social welfare in Cleveland will find this information significant. This collection includes material from Stokes' mayoral administration, political campaigns, and personal court case files. It also includes correspondence from political leaders such as Robert F. Kennedy, Hubert Humphrey, and from his brother, Congressman Louis Stokes.
None.
Related MaterialThe researcher should also consult MS 4370 Carl Stokes Papers; MS 5305 Carl Stokes Scrapbooks; and PG 429 Carl Stokes Photographs.
Separated MaterialAll photographs have been removed to The Photograph and Print Collection
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 4800 Carl Stokes Papers, Series II, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Carl B. Stokes, 1994
Processed by Artricia Love in 1999
Series I: Personal Files 1947 1972-1990 |
|||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | Correspondence 1972-1980 undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 2 | Datebooks 1972 | |||||||||
| 1 | 3 | Newspaper clippings 1980 | |||||||||
| 1 | 4 | Publications 1972-1990 undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 5-9 | Transcripts, trial 1989 | |||||||||
| 1 | 10 | Yearbook, East Technical High School 1947 | |||||||||
Series II: Political Files 1954-1972 undated |
|||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 11 | Agendas 1967-1971 | |||||||||
| 1 | 12 | Applications 1954-1968 undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 13 | Budgets 1966-1971 | |||||||||
| 1 | 14 | Certificates 1967-1969 | |||||||||
| 1 | 15-16 | Correspondence 1962-1971 | |||||||||
| 1 | 17-19 | Datebooks 1968-1972 | |||||||||
| 1 | 20 | Flyers 1967-1971 | |||||||||
| 1 | 21 | Lectures 1970 | |||||||||
| 1 | 22 | Legal documents, including briefs, contracts, ordinances, proclamations, and a resolution 1965-1971 undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 23 | Lists, Cleveland AFL-CIO C.O.P.E Scanning Committee; Cleveland Food Industry Committee; Members of the Cleveland. Relations Board; City of Cleveland Clerical Administrative and professional salary schedule; Members of Stokes Committee; Greater Cleveland Growth Corporation Board of Trustees; Port Authority Appointments; Secretary to the Mayor; Executive Assistant and Department Secretary and Urban Coalition 1967-1968 undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 24 | Miscellaneous 1967-1971 | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 2 | 25 | Newsletters 1963-1971 undated | |||||||||
| 2 | 26-29 | Newspaper clippings 1963-1971 undated | |||||||||
| 2 | 30 | Programs 1962-1971 undated | |||||||||
| 2 | 31 | Proposals 1968-1971 undated | |||||||||
| 2 | 32-33 | Publications 1956-1971 | |||||||||
| 2 | 34-35 | Reports 1965-1971 | |||||||||
| 2 | 36 | Resumes 1966-1968 | |||||||||
| 2 | 37-45 | Speeches 1965-1971 undated | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 3 | 46 | Speeches undated | |||||||||
| 3 | 47 | Telegrams 1967-1969 | |||||||||
| 3 | 48-53 | Transcripts, interviews, news conferences, and trials 1969-1971 | |||||||||
Series III: Subject Files 1965-1971 1992 |
|||||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 3 | 54 | Angela Stokes, speech 1992 | |||||||||
| 3 | 55 | Biographical, correspondence, journal articles, agenda, notes, report, and speeches 1967-1971 undated | |||||||||
| 3 | 56 | CBS Format Town Hall Meeting, agenda, correspondence, invitation, program, and speech 1969 | |||||||||
| 3 | 57 | CBS Mayoral Campaign, CBS coverage of the campaign, correspondence, report, and vouchers 1967 | |||||||||
| 3 | 58 | Department of Health, Education and Welfare Public Health Service, agenda, application, correspondence, listing; Committee of Department of Health, Education, and Welfare Public Health Service, resume, and speeches 1967-1968 | |||||||||
| 3 | 59 | Department of Public Safety, correspondence, legal documents, list of city employees, agendas, and report 1967-1968 | |||||||||
| 3 | 60 | Department of Public Service, correspondence, list of city employees, news release, and report 1969 | |||||||||
| 3 | 61 | Department of Public Utilities, notes and report 1969 | |||||||||
| 3 | 62 | Federal Programs, agenda, list of costs of schooling in the Cleveland area, and a report 1967-1968 | |||||||||
| 3 | 63 | Human Resources Economic Development, correspondence and report 1969 | |||||||||
| 3 | 64 | Inaugural Charity Ball, agenda, correspondence, list of contributors, notes, and statement 1967-1968 undated | |||||||||
| 3 | 65 | Income Tax, agenda, budgets, correspondence, financial reports, and statement 1967-1968 undated | |||||||||
| 3 | 66 | Investigation of Building Inspector, correspondence and reports 1968 | |||||||||
| 3 | 67 | Israel, Rome, and Europe trips, newspaper clippings 1970 undated | |||||||||
| 3 | 68 | Law Department, correspondence and list of city employees pay rate and personnel 1967 | |||||||||
| 3 | 69 | Leanza, A., case, agenda, correspondence, and recommendations 1967-1968 | |||||||||
| 3 | 70 | Little Hoover Commission, correspondence, list of members of Little Hoover Commission, and report 1967-1968 | |||||||||
| 3 | 71 | Lyndon Johnson Library Dedication, correspondence, invitations, and newspaper clippings 1971 | |||||||||
| 3 | 72 | Mayor's Attention, correspondence, news release, and program 1968 | |||||||||
| 3 | 73 | Mayor's Petition for Re-election, statement 1969 | |||||||||
| 3 | 74 | Mental Health Cleveland Plan, agenda and notes undated | |||||||||
| 3 | 75 | Model Cities, agenda, application, correspondence, financial report, handbook, list of members of program committee, payroll slips, report, and resolutions 1967-1971 | |||||||||
| 3 | 76 | Neighborhood Youth Corporation Program, agenda, correspondence, and reports 1967 | |||||||||
| 3 | 77 | Parcel 5, agenda, correspondence, and report 1967 | |||||||||
| 3 | 78 | Port Authority, budget, correspondence, financial reports, lists of members of the Greater Cleveland Growth Association, notes, reports, resolutions, and telegrams 1965-1968 | |||||||||
| 3 | 79 | Poverty Program, legal documents, ordinance, and reports 1967-1968 | |||||||||
| 3 | 80 | Public Housing Development, agenda 1969 | |||||||||
| 3 | 81 | Safety Department, report 1969 | |||||||||
| 3 | 82 | St. Luke's Hospital, agenda, legal documents, notes, proposals, report, and speeches 1967-1968 undated | |||||||||
| 3 | 83 | Social Action Committee, correspondence and list of members of the Social Action Committee 1969 | |||||||||
| 3 | 84 | Stokes vs. CPPA Settlement, newspaper clipping and a legal document 1992 | |||||||||
| 3 | 85 | Task Force Report on Damage Rehabilitation Costs: The Glenville Riots, correspondence and reports 1968 | |||||||||
| 3 | 86 | Traffic Arrest, financial reports and notes 1965-1967 | |||||||||
| 3 | 87-88 | Urban Renewal Task Force, notes, reports, speeches, correspondence, notes, reports, and a speech 1967-1968 | |||||||||
| 3 | 89 | Washington, agendas, correspondence, newspaper clipping, report, and resume 1967 undated | |||||||||
| 3 | 90 | Welfare Crisis Commission, list of members and reports 1967-1968 | |||||||||
| 3 | 91 | Willard Park, reports 1968 | |||||||||
| 3 | 92 | Youth Committee, list of members of Mayor's Council on Youth Opportunity 1968 | |||||||||