Finding aid for the Anthony J. Celebrezze Photographs

Biography of Anthony J. Celebrezze

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

Scope and Content

The Anthony J. Celebrezze Photographs, ca. 1953-1972, consist of individual and group portraits of Anthony J. Celebrezze, his family and friends, and governmental officials; candid and formal pictures of official functions in Cleveland and Washington, D.C.; and views of Cleveland and other areas of the United States. Included are portraits of John F Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Robert F. Kennedy, Thomas P. O'Neill, John W. McCormack, Michael P. Feighan, and Charles A. Vanik. The collection includes 337 black and white and color photographs of varying sizes.

This collection will be useful to researchers studying the history of politics, governance, and the Italian immigrant community in Cleveland, Ohio, during the mid-twentieth century.

Statement of Arrangement

Restrictions on Access

None.

The researcher should also consult MS 3884 Anthony J. Celebrezze Papers; and MS 4046 Anthony J. Celebrezze Papers, Series II.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects:

Preferred Citation

[Container ___, Folder ___ ] PG 353 Anthony J. Celebrezze Photographs, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio

Acquisition Information

These photographs were removed from MS 4046 Anthony J. Celebrezze Papers, Series II. Gift of Judge and Mrs. Anthony J. Celebrezze in 1977.

Detailed Description of The Collection