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.
WALTER, PAUL WILLIAM (18 April 1907-4 Nov. 1992), arbitration lawyer, served on the National War Labor Board and chaired the regional Steel Inequity Panel during WORLD WAR II. He was a Republican candidate for the Ohio House of Representatives (1930s) and for the U.S. Congress (1953). Walter was born in Cleveland to Carl Frederick and Leda A. (Schneidemantel) Walter.
WELFARE DEPT. See CUYAHOGA COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES.
The WHIG PARTY in Cleveland was made up of former Federalists, anti-Masons, and national Republicans who opposed the limited government policies of the Democratic party and Pres. Andrew Jackson. The Whigs favored an activist national government that would support internal improvements and advocated a broad program of humanitarian reforms.
WHITE, PAUL DUNBAR (20 Oct. 1917 - 22 Sept. 1997), was a judge and city law director under Mayor CARL B. STOKES. He was born in LaGrange, KY, to Florence Harris and Isham H. White, a Methodist minister. He earned his B.A. from Kentucky State College in 1940 while playing on the Negro Collegiate National Championship football team.
WHITTLESEY, ELISHA (19 Oct. 1783-7 Jan. 1863), lawyer and politician, was born in Litchfield County, Conn., son of John and Mary Beale Whittlesey.
WIGMAN, JOHN B. (1816-1 Feb. 1900), building contractor, was actively involved in local POLITICS as a member of CLEVELAND CITY COUNCIL and an unsuccessful candidate for other offices.
WILLEY, JOHN WHEELOCK (1797-9 July 1841), Cleveland's first mayor, was born in New Hampshire, son of Allen and Chloe (Frink) Willey. He was educated at Dartmouth, studied law in New York, was admitted to the bar, and came to Cleveland in 1822. He became known as a witty, sharp debater, winning 3 years in the state house of representatives (1827-30) and 3 in the state senate (1830-32) as a Jacksonian Democrat.
WOHL, MAX (20 Sept. 1908 - 27 Oct. 1999) was a life long socialist, a former chair of the American Civil Liberties Union of Cleveland and an executive for Tremco Manufacturing Co. He was born in Cleveland to Sarah (Chenkin) and Solomon Wohl. After graduating from East Technical High School in 1928, he went to work as an office boy for Tremco. He was vice president of finance when he took early retirement in 1969.
WOOD, REUBEN (1792-1 Oct. 1864), 16th governor of Ohio (1850-53), was born in Middletown, Vt., son of Nathaniel and Lucretia Wood. He moved to Canada at 15 and studied law, was conscripted into the Royalist Militia during the WAR OF 1812, but fled to the U.S. and served briefly in the U.S. Army.
ZANGERLE, JOHN A. (12 Apr. 1866-1 Oct. 1956), Cuyahoga County auditor (1913-51) and the last surviving public official of the TOM L. JOHNSON era, was born in Cleveland to Adam and Maria Reisterer Zangerle, graduated from West High School in 1884, read law, and was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1890 before studying economics at the University of Berlin.
ZELMAN V. SIMMONS-HARRIS was a landmark Supreme Court case upholding, in a 5-4 decision announced on June 27, 2002, the constitutionality of an Ohio law providing vouchers to Cleveland students to attend the public or private, including parochial, schools of their choice.
ZONING. Zoning in greater Cleveland developed quickly between 1920 and the present, paralleling a similar pattern in other parts of the U.S. Several significant zoning cases have emerged from the Cleveland area, including the landmark case that established its constitutionality. Early land planning and development in Greater Cleveland were unconstrained by zoning or other restrictions.
