ST. JOHN'S AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL (AME) CHURCH was the first AFRICAN-AMERICAN church, and the only permanent one, to be established in Cleveland during the antebellum period.
ST. PAUL AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL (AME) CHURCH is the oldest AFRICAN-AMERICAN congregation on Cleveland's West Side. St. Paul originated from informal meetings held by adherents of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) denomination at the home of the Williams family on Peerlor Avenue in 1919 under the leadership of Rev. T. J. Evans.
STANTON (DAY SESSIONS), LUCY ANN (16 Oct. 1831-18 Feb. 1910) became the first AFRICAN-AMERICAN woman to complete a four-year college course when, in 1850, she graduated with a Literary Degree from the Ladies' Literary Course of Oberlin College.
STARR, EDWIN (born Charles Edwin Hatcher) (21 January 21, 1942 – 2 April 2, 2003), was an internationally renowned African-American singer, whose musical career spanned more than four decades and multiple genres of popular music..
STOKES, CARL B. (21 June 1927-3 April 1996) became the first AFRICAN-AMERICAN mayor of a major U.S. city when he was elected mayor of Cleveland in November 1967. He later became a news anchorman, judge, and a United States Ambassador.
STOKES, LOUIS (23 Feb. 1925-18 Aug. 2015) was a prominent attorney and the first AFRICAN-AMERICAN congressman from Ohio when he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1968, a position he held for 15 consecutive terms.
TALL, BOOKER T. (12 Dec. 1928-13 Feb. 1994) had a varied career as a teacher, businessman, and politician, but he is best remembered for a lifetime of work to enhance and honor the positive achievements of AFRICAN AMERICANS. Born to sharecroppers Booker T. (Sr.) and Julia MacFulton Tall in Hooker Bend, TN, Tall early learned the virtue of industry and thrift.
TILLEY, MADISON (1809-30 Oct. 1887), black political leader and businessman, was born in slavery, escaped to Ohio as a young man, and ca. 1837 came to Cleveland, working as a boatman and teamster. According to his PLAIN DEALER obituary, Tilley "obtained a fair education and accumulated considerable property" in Cleveland.
TUBBS JONES, STEPHANIE (10 September 1949 - 20 August 2008) was the first African American woman from Ohio elected to the United States House of Representatives, and served the state's eleventh congressional district for nearly ten years. Prior to her election to Congress, Tubbs Jones was Chief Prosecutor of Cuyahoga County.
TYLER, RALPH C. (15 Jul. 1921-17 Aug. 1998), a pioneer for black engineers, was a chief design engineer and chief project engineer for interstate construction projects throughout northeast Ohio. Tyler was also a gifted athlete. He was born in Guthrie, Oklahoma, to Katherine (Mason) and Ralph M. Tyler, a Deputy U.S. Marshall and later a hotel manager. Tyler moved to Cleveland as a child and graduated from Central High School.
The UNITED FREEDOM MOVEMENT (UFM), established 3 June 1963 in Cleveland, was a coalition of more than 50 civic, fraternal, social, and civil-rights organizations inspired by the southern civil-rights movement.
The UNIVERSAL NEGRO IMPROVEMENT ASSN.
The URBAN LEAGUE OF GREATER CLEVELAND, an interracial organization incorporated on 17 Dec. 1917 as the Negro Welfare Association of Cleveland, confronts racial barriers to economic opportunities. It has supplemented its early focus on employment with an emphasis on housing, education, and research.
WALKER, HAZEL MOUNTAIN (16 Feb. 1889-16 May 1980), the first black woman principal in the Cleveland public school system, was an educator, an actress, and an advocate for racial integration.
Walker was born in Warren, Ohio, the daughter of Charles and Alice (Bronson) Mountain. She married George Herbert Walker in 1922; he died in 1954. In 1961, she married Joseph R. Walker.
WALKER, WILLIAM OTIS (19 Sept. 1896-29 Oct. 1981), black Republican publisher, was born in Selma, Ala., son of Alex and Annie Lee (Jones) Walker.
WHITE, CHARLES W. (December 26, 1897-August 21, 1970), lawyer and civic servant, was the first AFRICAN AMERICAN common pleas judge in Ohio, appointed January 16, 1955 by Democratic governor Frank J.
AMANDA (HUNT) WICKER (1900-September 19, 1987) was born in Sandersville, Georgia, and was raised by her mother, who was widowed when Wicker was very young. Wicker was one of seven children. She graduated from Tuskegee Normal School for Teachers in 1923. The following year, Wicker was an apprentice at the Clarke Training School in Washington, DC, where she learned the dressmaking trade under Mrs. Addie Clarke.
WILLIAMS, EDWARD CHRISTOPHER (11 Feb. 1871-24 Dec.
WILLIAMS, EUGENE (25 Sept. 1901-19 Oct.
WILSON, CURTIS (27 Feb. 1932 - 13 Dec. 1996) was a professor of history and the director of the black studies program at CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY for eighteen years, during which he oversaw the addition of many courses dealing with black history and culture to various departments at CSU.
WOODMERE, originally part of Orange Twp., incorporated as a village in 1944. It is located in eastern Cuyahoga County just east of the intersection of Chagrin Blvd. and I-271. Occupying less than 1 sq.
The YOUNG MEN'S SOCIETY, or the Colored Young Men's Lyceum, was an organization of black men in Cleveland founded in 1839 to advance and debate information on a variety of subjects. The society was patterned after the then-popular men's lyceum and literary organizations, with weekly meetings open to the general public.
