The first Black congressman to represent Ohio, Louis Stokes attended Western Reserve University from 1946 to 1948. Stokes went on to start a prominent legal practice with his brother Carl, who became the first Black mayor of Cleveland. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1968 and served 15 terms representing the east side of Cleveland.
Stokes retired from practicing law in 1999 and later served as distinguished visiting professor at the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences.
