CIVIL RIGHTS, UNREST, & RESOLUTION
Equal rights was the basis of the revolution happening in America. Police brutality, segregation, and white supremacy were being challenged and questioned. Locally and nationally, both peaceful and not peaceful protests were broadcasted for all to see. Darrell Branch, a Glenville resident shared, “On the television, local and national, Hunter and Brinkley and Walter Cronkite were America’s voice. They were telling you what was happening everywhere. On TV what I saw were Montgomery, Selma and Oxford, Mississippi. Fire hoses, dogs, and beatdowns. At that time the news media showed it.” As he saw the events of the Civil Rights movement unfold, some of those leaders were also advocating in his neighborhood.
The Glenville Shootout occurred on July 26, 1968, between police officers and the Black Nationalists of New Libya. Special Collections, Cleveland State University Library
Civil Right Leaders Advocating in Glenville
Martin Luther King Jr. made frequent trips to Cleveland from 1956 through 1967 and often stopped in Glenville to speak during church services and events. On May 14, 1963, days after the Birmingham sit-ins and marches that were nonviolently protesting segregation, over 10,000 people came to hear him speak at Cory United Methodist Church. Fannie Allen’s employer told them not to go to see MLK, but she did anyway, “It was uplifting for one, and number two it felt like maybe we would get some of the good things that should have been in this neighborhood coming into the neighborhood. Number three, it brought the people together.” This hope and inspiration was not just in isolation at large events. People continued to organize in many ways including Don Freeman.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. often visited Glenville to register people to vote and speak about injustices. Photograph Collection, Cleveland Public Library
In July 1962, Freeman met with Max Standford Junior, another civil rights activist, and created the Revolutionary Action Committee (RAM) in the booth of a Horn & Hardy restaurant in Philadelphia. The organization got off of the ground in 1963 and established a publication called Black America where Freeman wrote about the African American struggle for liberation in the US as it related to the anti-imperialist struggles in other countries. This showed the international struggle against the oppression of all people of color throughout the world.
Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. both spoke at Cory Methodist Church, which is located on East 105th Street. Photograph Collection, Cleveland Public Library
Freeman also founded the Afro American Insititute in October of 1962, the first secular Black Nationalist organization in Cleveland since the Universal Negro Improvement Association was founded by Marcus Garvey in 1914. The organization's focus was on teaching African and African American history.. He also educated his community on what was happening to people of color nationally and internationally, emphasizing West African cultures. In 1963 they brought William Worthy, a controversial journalist from The Baltimore African American newspaper, to speak about Anti Imperialism against colonial oppression as it relates to the liberation of African American people. This solidified the Afro American Institute becoming an affiliate of RAM.
RAM formed three years before the Black Panthers and influenced their formation. Additionally, Malcolm X supported RAMs teachings of equity through understanding the imperialistic American system. Malcolm X also visited Glenville. In 1967, Malcolm X gave his Ballot or the Bullet speech at Cory Methodist Church. He advised African Americans to vote, but if they were met with continued resistance for their rights, they may take up arms and fight for them. During the same time he was giving his speech, the Commision on Civil rights were holding hearings about discimination in education, housing, and employment. The discussion of de facto school segregation, unfair policing practices, and overcrowding in Hough and Glenville were all discussed.
National Guardsmen lined the streets during the Hough Riots. Photograph Collection, Cleveland Public Library
Hough Riots Impact on Glenville:
Hough is one of Cleveland’s oldest neighborhoods and is located next to Glenville. Both neighborhoods were faced with overcrowding; Glenville is known more for their overcrowding of schools while Hough is known more for their overcrowding of homes. Hough Riots, an outbreak of protests, vandalism, looting and arson in the neighborhood of Hough in Cleveland, Ohio, a neighboring area to Glenville. The neighborhood had become predominantly Black throughout the 1950s much like Glenville. The initial altercation that started the riots occurred at the Seventy-Niners Cafe when the White owner refused to give a Black patron a glass of water.. The riots were no surprise given the ongoing discrimination residents experienced like poor housing to police harassment.
On July 20, the National Guard was deployed. During the riots, four people were killed, close to 30 were injured, 300 were arrested, and 240 fires were set, estimated at $1-2 million in property damage.
Due to the proximity, Glenville residents were restricted as well.“When the Hough Riots happened we went to the store to get milk. The streets were empty and my dad told me we had a curfew. He had to explain to me what that was and we had to be in by a certain time. We were out after the curfew because he had just gotten off of work. The unrest was everywhere.,” says Cynthia Evans, a Glenville resident.
Carl Stokes: First Black Mayor of a Major City
November 13, 1967, Carl Stokes was sworn in as the Mayor of Cleveland, becoming the first African American Mayor of a major city. Photograph Collection, Cleveland Public Library
In 1967, Carl Stokes was elected as Mayor of Cleveland, becoming the first African American to hold that title in a major American city. Cleveland was divided when he took office. The recent Hough Riots kept White community members concerned of more race riots while Black residents were still fighting for equity within schools, jobs, and housing. Everyone was demanding more and Carl Stokes was able to step up to the role.
Carl Stokes was a unifying force throughout the first few months of his first term as mayor. Photograph Collection, Cleveland Public Library
Many hoped his election would be a turning point for Black residents in the city. Community leaders ensured people were registered to vote and came together to make Stokes the Mayor. Fannie Allen was one of the people helping and she continued helping get out to vote efforts until more recently, “I worked with political people like Carl Stokes to get people to vote. Up until Obama was elected we kept campaign workers at the house. We campaigned after church.”
Many national civil rights leaders also came to Cleveland to help with voter registration efforts. Martin Luther King Jr. gathered people at Glenville High School in addition to holding small events to ensure people were registered and voting. Many believed Stokes’ victory in the election would suppress riots such as they had just experienced in Hough. When he was elected, Cleveland was a mostly White city with a 37% Black population.
In office, he ensured to create opportunities for Black people and to address issues of employment, housing, and schools. He ensured that there would be peace as well, and when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968 Stokes worked with community leaders and members to peacefully express their anger and agony. Therefore, people believed in him and his policies so he launched Cleveland: Now! On May 1st 1968. This revitalization effort was focused on housing, health, education, and jobs. The projection for the revitalization program was 1.5 billion dollars over 10 years. At first, the funding goals were reached easily until the Glenville Shootout on July 23, 1968.
Glenville Shootout: A Turning Point
Fred “Ahmed” Evans was the known leader of the Black Nationalists of New Libya. Special Collections, Cleveland State University Library
Black Nationalists were active and the aesthetics of the neighborhood reflected that. “The Black Nationalists had taken over. One July 4 I hung an American Flag on my porch. They knocked on my door and made me take it down,” says Evelyn Davis. “All of the telegram poles were painted black, red, and green. There were a lot of Black Nationalists wearing African garb.” Certain Black Nationalists were being surveilled because of their beliefs and collection of semi automatic weapons. Fred “Ahmed” Evans was one of those people. On the morning of July 24th, 1968 the FBI received a tip about Evans and despite the lack of confidence in the intelligence, the police went to Evans’ home to continue more aggressive surveillance.
That evening, Don Freeman was on his way home when he ran into a conflict. “I was walking home from work and I approached Superior, I could see and hear the gunshots that were ensuing. I could see there was a battle between Ahmed Evans and his colleagues and cohorts and the Cleveland Police Department.”
The account of who shot first has been up for debate. Evans and other nationalists claimed the police took the first shot, although most news stations reported that the Black Nationalists fired first. Residents who had just weathered the Hough Riots nearby spilling into their front yards were now faced again with riots and gunfire. A few blocks from the gunfire, Glenville residents began rioting, throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at police cars on their way to the shootout and as reflected during the Hough Riots, the National Guard was deployed and would not withdraw until July 27. “On our street the National Guard was full of young boys, scared to death. They had us quarantined. We hooked up the hose, turned on the water, but we didn’t turn the nozzle all of the way so the water wouldn’t quite come out. My husband left the car to face out of the drive. By the door I had a tin disposal with important papers in it. We didn’t sleep in sleeping pajamas. We stayed fully dressed because you never knew when you had to get up and run or when your house would be set on fire,” says Evelyn Davis.
“The scariest time of my life,” says Darrell Branch who says he was just starting his teens during that time. “I literally had to ask my dad what does Marshall Law mean? Because at one point the Glenville area was under Marshall Law. There were jeeps and tanks parked in a parking lot. It was terrifying for me. You look at the news and you see these horrendous things happening and you realize it’s just a hot minute before they’re marching down your street. That’s one thing you don’t expect to see growing up, and that’s troops in your backyard.”
The entry of non-resident White police officers and White media members was restricted for 24 hours. Community members policed their neighborhood throughout that time. Special Collections, Cleveland State University Library
The shootout stopped when Fred “Ahmed” Evans gun jammed. At the conclusion of the initial shootout, the neighborhood was in disarray and rioting was continuing. Stokes met with 100 Black leaders to determine what to do next. The community took a stance and together they decided to withdraw all national guardsmen, White officers, and White newscasters from the area unless they lived there. Black community leaders acted as community policemen as an effort to restrict more violence and bring peace for 24 hours.
After the riots subsided, 7 people were dead, 15 injured, and 60 businesses damaged. The total damages cost more than 1 million dollars. Evans was indicted in August 1968 for the murders of Leroy C. Jones, Louis E. Golonka, Willard J. Wolff, and James E. Chapman, and was subsequently found guilty and sentenced to death. His sentence was later commuted to life in prison. Evans was diagnosed with cancer and died on February 25, 1978.
After the shootout riots began throughout Glenville. Many businesses on East 105th street were affected because of looting and arson. Special Collections, Cleveland State University Library
Inevitable Change:
From the beginning of the 1950s to the end of the 1960s the civil rights movement had gains and losses. Laws were enacted to change segregation and hope was instilled for so many.
Both the Hough Riots and Glenville Shootout received national attention. Only two years apart, the residents of Cleveland found themselves in disarray and in need of repair. Locals recall the time as being a shift from the once thriving area to a place that was more hostile as businesses began to leave the area. Neighborhoods such as Glenville never truly recovered.
It is estimated that in 1965, Glenville had roughly 75,000 residents. In 2000, there were just around 23,000, an 8.8% decrease from the 1990 Census with current estimates putting it at 15,000. “I think the first thing I noticed besides the people leaving were the businesses leaving too. It used to be you could literally within walking distance, all of your needs could be met living in that area. You could provide for your families. Clothing stores and grocery stores were in close proximity. Real bonafide neighborhood markets. When they started to shut down it dictated to everyone that now you have to have a car. The convenience of being able to raise a family without a vehicle left and it was a big hardship,” said Branch.
Reform, revolution, and rebellion resulted from the landscape of Glenville changing. The Glenville Shootout made people fearful, and many people moved because of it. Others stayed and continued to build community and raise families. Due to racist lending practices, many businesses did not have the same access to capital leading so growth became much slower than before. The neighborhood continued to be primarily Black and some stores were rebuilt in the 70s and beyond.