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.
Leon Bibb's family moved to Cleveland from Alabama, when he was a child. He graduated from Glenville High School. After graduating from Bowing Green State University, his career in journalism was interrupted by the Vietnam War, where he received a Bronze Star for his service under fire. He worked as a television reporter in Toledo and Columbus before returning to Cleveland in 1979 to become an anchor and reporter at WKYC Channel 3. He retired in 2017.
Lori Stokes is the youngest child of Louis Stokes. She is a graduate of The Ohio State University and Howard University. She has worked in television journalism since 1986, reporting for stations in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Baltimore, Maryland. She also worked at MSNBC and is currently a morning television anchor in New York City.
Louis "Chuck" Stokes is the only sone 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 moderator for news and public affairs show "Spotlight on the News" for WXYZ in Detroit, Michigan.
16mm black and white silent film, undated, showing an unknown wedding, Wilkins School of Cosmetology graduation at Phillis Wheatley Building, and church service at St. John African Methodist Episcopal Church.
Marcia L. Fudge was raised in Shaker Heights, Ohio, and served as Chief of Staff for Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones during her first term. Ms. Fudge was mayor of Warrensville Heights, Ohio, from 2000 until elected to Congress in 2008. She chaired the Congressional Black Caucus from 2013 until 2015.
Rev. Samuel Tidmore, IV, was an aide to Louis Stokes during his early years in Congress. Rev. Tidmore was born in Decatur, Illinois, in 1938, but moved to Cleveland, Ohio, as a child. He graduated from John Adams High School and attended the Ohio State University. He is a former NFL linebacker who played for the Cleveland Browns in 1962 and 1963. He later became a business consultant and an owner of fast food franchises. During the late 1970s, he served as chapter vice president of the Cleveland chapter of Operation PUSH (People United to Save Humanity), a project begun by Rev. Jesse Jackson.
16mm black and white silent film, undated, showing unidentified male singing group at WHK radio station, followed by footage of people picnicking at a park.
Black and white group photograph of African American Civil War veterans posing in front of Lawnfield. Group is not identified. "Copyright and published by J. F. Ryder, Cleveland, Ohio.", Without frame border, approximately 9.5 x 14 in., Featured in the "Cleveland Starts Here" Exhibit
Revereand Charles Lucas, Jr., was born in Wheeling, West Virginia. He is the pastor of St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church. During the 1970s, Rev. Lucas was president of the Cleveland Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).