Aired November 17, 2006

The fact that an African American can be a mayor or congressperson in Northeast Ohio isn't very controversial these days. But, 40 years ago, the political landscape was quite different. The path that Frank Jackson, Mike White and Stephanie Tubbs Jones took to power was paved by a couple of brothers from a housing project on the east side of Cleveland. ideastream's David C. Barnett reports on a new exhibit opening this weekend that traces the lives of Carl and Louis Stokes.

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The Stokes brothers as toddlers. Image from the Linton Freeman Personal Collection, loaned to the Western Reserve Historical Society

Louis Stokes paused before he spoke his final thoughts to a Cleveland City Club audience. It was September of 1966, and the Cleveland attorney had just delivered a scathing criticism of a Grand Jury report on the Hough Riots which had burned down dozens of buildings on the east side earlier that summer.

Louis Stokes: The Hough Riots were a protest by people who had reached the depth of despair. By reverting to the Stone Age, they were telling you in the Jet Age that they need help.

If you're a native Clevelander over the age of 50, you probably remember those turbulent days, and the pioneering brothers who broke down racial barriers in local politics. But, if you're younger, "Stokes" may only mean a name chiseled on the new federal courthouse, or a wing of the downtown Cleveland library, or a street that runs through University Circle. Archivist Susan Hall says the generation gap is growing.

Susan Hall: Often we hear from young people that they know Carl and Louis Stokes as names on buildings. They don't have a real connection to them.

Hall is curator of the new exhibit at the Western Reserve Historical Society that chronicles the lives of retired U.S. Congressman Louis Stokes and his late brother, Carl, who made the history books as the first African-American mayor of a major American city.

Arnold Pinkney: Anytime you went up against Carl Stokes, you knew you were going up against someone who wanted to win.

Arnold Pinkney ran successful political campaigns for both Carl and Louis Stokes in the late 1960s.

Arnold Pinkney: The biggest difference between them was that Lou was more low-key. He was an outstanding lawyer, and I don't think he thought about being anything but a lawyer. I don't think he had any ambitions for a political career. Carl's ambition was to become a politician, and to hold political office.

The article is from the Louis Stokes Collection, Western Reserve Historical Society.

And the office that Carl Stokes wanted to hold was mayor. Arnold Pinkney first heard about that aspiration in the early 1960s, when Carl was the first black Democrat elected to the Ohio House. In his initial attempt to land the job as Cleveland's chief executive, Stokes barely lost to incumbent Ralph Locher, in 1965. But, Pinkney says he wasn't bitter. He just licked his wounds and came back stronger, two years later. At a City Club speech, candidate Stokes put it plainly.

Carl Stokes: Are the people of Cleveland willing to vote for a candidate for mayor who has the best qualifications, who has the best program, who has the philosophy of government and its relationship with people, but whose skin does happen to be black?

The voters said yes, and Arnold Pinkney says you could feel a pulse in the streets afterwards.

Arnold Pinkney: I think when he got elected in 1967, if you walked downtown at Euclid and East 9th, people really felt good about themselves - that Cleveland had elected the first African-American mayor of a major city in America. They really felt good about that. And, of course, since he was such a charismatic and good-looking man, he made good copy for TV and news papers.

One of Lou Stokes's first big victories was convincing the U.S. Supreme Court that Cleveland-area congressional district borders had been drawn to dilute the influence of the African American vote. As a result, the 21st District was redrawn to more accurately represent the eastside's black population. And Louis Stokes became that district's - the Ohio's - first black representative in Washington.

Arnold Pinkney: You know, it's amazing. We talk about how he didn't want to be a public official or a politician, but once he became the congressman from the 21st Congressional district, he made a mark that very few congressman - white or black - have made. The 30 years that he was in Congress, I don't know of any other congressmen in this country that has done more for his district than Lou Stokes. I don't know of any other congressman that has more buildings named after him than Lou Stokes, and that's because of the contribution that he made.

Archivist Susan Hall says she's found a great sense of pride from Clevelanders - both black and white - about the Stokes brothers, and all they achieved.

Susan Hall: And the one sentiment that runs through it all is that they were part of the community. They remained part of the community. And all of their hard work and efforts were for the constituents, and not just for themselves. Not just to further their own political careers.

The exhibit, "Carl and Louis Stokes: From the Projects to Politics" opens to the public tomorrow at the Western Reserve Historical Society. David C. Barnett, 90.3.

Louis Stokes: On September 16, 1966, Louis Stokes stood before an audience at the City Club of Cleveland and criticized a recent Grand Jury report on the Hough Riots, which had occurred earlier that summer. [Listen]
Carl Stokes: On September 15, 1967, Democratic candidate for Mayor, Carl Stokes, spoke to an audience at the City Club of Cleveland. This is an excerpt of his remarks. [Listen]
Special thanks to the City Club of Cleveland and Cleveland State University for the archive audio clips.