Browse Interviews 38 total

  • Collection: Stokes: Honoring the Past, Inspiring the Future

Albert B. Ratner is a native Clevelander. He is an avid philanthropist and the co-chairman of Forest City Realty Trust, a nationwide real estate development firm. For twenty years he was the CEO of his family owned business Forest City Enterprises, Inc. This 2017 interview was collected as part of a yearlong, community-wide commemoration of the…
Subjects: Carl Stokes Louis Stokes Oral History

Angela Stokes is the daughter of Louis Stokes and a graduate of the University of Maryland and Howard University Law School. She was Assistant Attorney General for the State of Ohio and a Cleveland Municipal Court Judge for twenty years. This 2017 interview was collected as part of a yearlong, community-wide commemoration of the 50th anniversary of…
Subjects: Carl Stokes Louis Stokes Oral History

Ben S. Stefanski II was born in Garfield Heights and graduated from Case Western Reserve University and The University of Michigan. He served as Utilities Director for Carl Stokes and worked to combat pollution Lake Erie as well as developing the regional sewer system. This 2017 interview was collected as part of a yearlong, community-wide…
Subjects: Carl Stokes Louis Stokes Oral History

Betty Pinkney and her husband, Arnold, were long time advocates for the Stokes brothers. Arnold helped elect Louis to Congress and was a major strategist for the Democratic party. Arnold Pinkney, an insurance executive, also ran Jesse Jackson's national campaign for President in 1984. This 2017 interview was collected as part of a yearlong,…
Subjects: Carl Stokes Louis Stokes Oral History

Robert Gries was born in Cleveland. For fifty years he was a minority owner of the Cleveland Browns and is a former venture capitalist. Gries is a tireless philanthropist supporting many civic organizations. He served as the finance chair for Carl Stokes’ 1967 mayoral campaign. This 2017 interview was collected as part of a yearlong, community-wide…
Subjects: Carl Stokes Louis Stokes Oral History

Brent Larkin is the retired director of the Cleveland Plain Dealer editorial page. His career as a journalist covering Cleveland politics began in 1971. This 2017 interview was collected as part of a yearlong, community-wide commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Carl Stokes' election as mayor of Cleveland.
Subjects: Carl Stokes Louis Stokes Oral History

Carole F. Hoover is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Hoover Milstein. She is the former CEO of the Greater Cleveland Growth Association. Hoover was also on the executive leadership team of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. This 2017 interview was collected as part of a yearlong, community-wide commemoration of the 50th…
Subjects: Carl Stokes Louis Stokes Oral History

Louis “Chuck” Stokes is the only son of Louis Stokes. He began his career as a sports writer for the Washington Post. For over 30 years he has been the editorial/public affairs director and moderator for news and public affairs show “Spotlight on the News” for WXYZ in Detroit. This 2017 interview was collected as part of a yearlong,…
Subjects: Carl Stokes Louis Stokes Oral History

John Lewis was born in Troy, Alabama. He has served in Congress representing the Fifth Congressional District in Georgia since 1986. Lewis organized lunch counter protests, was the Chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and participated in the Freedom Rides. This brief 2017 interview was collected as part of a yearlong,…
Subjects: Carl Stokes Louis Stokes Oral History

Marcia L. Fudge was raised in Shaker Heights. Fudge served as chief staff for Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones during her first term. Fudge was mayor of Warrensville Heights from 2000 until elected to Congress in 2008. She chaired the Congressional Black Caucus from 2013-2015. This 2017 interview was collected as part of a yearlong,…
Subjects: Carl Stokes Louis Stokes Oral History

Mary Rose Oakar was born in Cleveland. She was the Congresswoman representing Cleveland’s 13th and 20th Congressional Districts. Oakar was the first Arab-American member of the House of Representatives and has served as president of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. This 2017 interview was collected as part of a yearlong,…
Subjects: Carl Stokes Louis Stokes Oral History

Cordell Stokes is the youngest child of Carl Stokes and was born while his father was the mayor of Cleveland. He is a graduate of Youngstown State University and is an executive with the Urban League of Greater Cleveland. This 2017 interview was collected as part of a yearlong, community-wide commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Carl Stokes'…
Subjects: Carl Stokes Louis Stokes Oral History

Matthew Zone is a native Clevelander. He is the Cleveland City Councilman representing the same Detroit-Shoreway ward as his late parents Councilman Michael Zone and Councilwoman Mary Zone on Cleveland’s west side. This 2017 interview was collected as part of a yearlong, community-wide commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Carl Stokes' election…
Subjects: Carl Stokes Louis Stokes Oral History

David Stradling is the Associate Dean for Humanities, Zane L. Miller Professor of History at the University of Cincinnati where he teaches urban and environmental history. He is the co-author of the book Where the River Burned: Carl Stokes and the Struggle to Save Cleveland. vThis 2017 interview was collected as part of a yearlong, community-wide…
Subjects: Carl Stokes Louis Stokes Oral History

Grover C. Gilmore is the Dean and Professor of Applied Social Sciences at the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve University. He received his Ph.D. from The John Hopkins University. This 2017 interview was collected as part of a yearlong, community-wide commemoration of the 50th anniversary of…
Subjects: Carl Stokes Louis Stokes Oral History

Dee Perry spent 40 years as a Cleveland radio broadcaster. She hosted programs on Cleveland's public radio station, WCPN, where she was a leader in promoting the Arts. She has conducted more than 10,000 interviews and was the lead interviewer for the Stokes Oral History Project. This 2017 interview was collected as part of a yearlong,…
Subjects: Carl Stokes Louis Stokes Oral History

Richard Peery was raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is a retired journalist and lived in Cleveland for 40 years while working at the Call and Post and the Cleveland Plain Dealer. This 2017 interview was collected as part of a yearlong, community-wide commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Carl Stokes' election as mayor of Cleveland.
Subjects: Carl Stokes Louis Stokes Oral History

George Forbes was born in Memphis, Tennessee. Forbes has owned a law firm in Cleveland since 1971. He was a city councilman from 1963-1989 and served as the first black council president during his last eighteen years in office. Forbes was also president of the Cleveland NAACP. This 2017 interview was collected as part of a yearlong, community-wide…
Subjects: Carl Stokes Louis Stokes Oral History

Jewell Gilbert served in Congressman Louis Stokes’ administration as his Cleveland office manager. This 2017 interview was collected as part of a yearlong, community-wide commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Carl Stokes' election as mayor of Cleveland.
Subjects: Carl Stokes Louis Stokes Oral History

Joan Campbell, born in Youngstown in 1931, is an ordained pastor, who has committed her life to service and activism working with important leaders such as Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr. She worked to organize voters for Carl Stokes’ mayoral campaign. This 2017 interview was collected as part of a yearlong, community-wide commemoration…
Subjects: Carl Stokes Louis Stokes Oral History

About Cleveland Voices

Cleveland Voices is a project of the Center for Public History + Digital Humanities at Cleveland State University Department of History. Audio is housed in the Cleveland Regional Oral History Collection, an archive of more than one thousand interviews collected since 2002. Content presented on this site represents the labor of students, faculty, and staff in the CSU Department of History and the perspectives of individual interviewees. Listeners are encouraged to verify stories through additional research.

Get In Touch

The Center for Public History + Digital Humanities at Cleveland State University Department of History has been collecting oral history interviews since 2002 on an ongoing basis. If you would like to tell your story for the record, you can schedule an interview by emailing us at digitalhumanities@csuohio.edu. If you have questions about Rights and Reproductions, or would like us to remove your interview, please call us at (216) 687-2172. For more information about our work, please visit csudigitalhumanities.org.