Mayor Carl B. Stokes | Cleveland African American Civil Rights Trail

Carl Burton Stokes was the first African American mayor of a major American city, having been elected mayor of Cleveland, the nation’s 8th largest city, in 1967. He is among the few American politicians whose career spanned all three branches of government — legislative, executive, and judicial. He served as mayor, Ohio legislator, and municipal court judge. As Cleveland’s mayor, Stokes “transformed the energy of the civil rights movement into a model of black political power.”

This video is the third addition of sites that have been chosen as a site of significant on Cleveland's African American Civil Rights Trail.

All photographs credited to:

Charlie Butts

Cleveland Public Library

Cleveland State University

Western Reserve Historical Society

Visit to learn more about the Cleveland Civil Rights Trail.

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