43 notable African-Americans with ties to Cleveland: Celebrating Black History Month (2024)

Black History Month? In Cleveland, black history spans more than 200 years - all the way back to 1809, when George Peake crossed the Cuyahoga River by St. Clair Street. Cleveland's first permanent African-American settler was said to be a crafty inventor - the first in a long line of blackinnovators to come from the area. Northeast Ohio has played home and hosted African-Americans who excelled in arts and sciences, transcended sports and shaped American culture.

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

43 notable African Americans with ties to Cleveland: Celebrating Black History Month

Black History Month? In Cleveland, black history spans more than 200 years – all the way back to 1809, when George Peake crossed the Cuyahoga River by St. Clair Street. Cleveland’s first permanent African-American settler was said to be a crafty inventor – the first in a long line of blackinnovators to come from the area. Northeast Ohio has played home and hosted African-Americans that excelled in arts and sciences, transcended sports and shaped American culture.

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

Jesse Owens

Jesse Owens (1913-1980): Adolf Hitler's myth of "Aryan Supremacy" was smashed by a kid from Cleveland. A great runner, but also more than an athlete, the East Technical High School grad won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. The feat spoiled Hitler's grand visions of the games as a showcase for the Third Reich and made Owens an international star. (Photograph courtesy of U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum)

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison (1931-): The Lorain native is a novelist, editor and professor emeritus at Princeton University – as well as a Nobel and Pulitzer prize winner and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. (Diana McNees / The Plain Dealer, Plain Dealer Historical Photograph Collection)

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

Albert Ayler

Albert Ayler (1936-70): Jazz saxophonist and Cleveland Heights native is credited as the godfather of "free jazz" by stripping down to its most primal core. The John Adams Class of '54 grad learned the sax playing with his dad, Albert – often playing with him in church. He played oboe in high school and went on to study at Cleveland's old Academy of Music. Ayler, who is buried in Highland Park Cemetery, remains a musical revolutionary and even many years later continues to inspiration generations of musicians. (Albert Ayler as a boy in a family photo. Photo courtesy of Edward Ayler.)

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

Bobby Womack

Bobby Womack (1944-2014): The Cleveland-born singer, guitarist songwriter penned one of the Rolling Stones earliest hits, "It's All Over Now." It proved to be a big break for Womack, the son of a steelworker, who grew up in Cleveland's Central Avenue neighborhood. He wrote songs for Wilson Pickett and Janis Joplin, backed up Sam Cooke and launched a solo career that reached its peak in the 1970s. In 2009, he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. (EMI Archives)

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

Screamin' Jay Hawkins

Screamin' Jay Hawkins (1929-2000): The Cleveland-born singer and shock-rock legend will always be remembered as the man behind one of rock 'n' roll's craziest classics, "I Put a Spell On You" – a legendary primal scream, howl and moan that was recorded while he was hammered in the studio. Alan Freed offered him $300 to appear onstage in a coffin – which he did, dressed in leopard skin and adorned with voodoo props. (AIM)

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

Halle Berry

Halle Berry (1966-): Model, actress, film producer. The Cleveland native is the only African-American to win a best-actress Oscar, for "Monster's Ball." She has also appeared in "Die Another Day" and the "X-Men" movies and paid tribute to another notable Clevelander in the film "Introducing Dorothy Dandridge." (Halle Berry as "Jinx" in "Die Another Day," Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures)

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

Garrett A. Morgan

Garrett A. Morgan (1877-1965): The Cleveland inventor was tried by fire, literally. In 1916, Morgan help perform a heroic rescue of workers trapped within a water intake tunnel under Lake Erie thanks to a hood he created that incorporated air tubes hanging low to the ground to allow the wearer to breathe clean air under the smoke. Morgan got his start working in Cleveland as sewing machine repairman and owned a clothing store, which sparked his idea to create his "smoke hood." Morgan had many ideas and inventions – from the three-position traffic light to a chemical agent to straighten hair. He also helped found the Cleveland Association of Colored Men and the Cleveland Call newspaper. (Cleveland News file photo, Plain Dealer Historical Photograph Collection)

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes (1902-67): The literary great and Central High School student is said to have developed his writing style in the third-floor attic of the colonial home he lived in at East 86^th Street. He wrote for the school newspaper and started writing his earlier plays, poems and short stories while living in Cleveland. He also attended classes atthe influential Karamu House African-American theater and settlement house, where founders Russell and Rowena Jelliffe helped the teenage Hughes hone his creative voice.

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

Dorothy Dandridge

Dorothy Dandridge (1922-65): The Cleveland native is the first African-American to be nominated for a best-actress Oscar, for "Carmen Jones." The film, which co-starred Harry Belafonte, made her an international star and won her a British Academy of Film and Television Arts award. (Photo by Lynn Ischay/Plain Dealer)

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

Frank Robinson

Frank Robinson(1935-): He became the first black manager in MLB history when he was hired to coach the Cleveland Indians in 1975. Robinson was a player-manager, a rare feat also accomplished decades earlier by former Indians great Lou Boudreau. He hit a home run in his first at-bat as MLB's first black manager, April 8, 1975. "Of all the pennants, World Series, awards and All-Star games I've been in, this is the greatest thrill," Robinson told The Plain Dealer after the game. (Robert E. Dorksen, Cleveland Plain Dealer/AP Photo)

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

LaWanda Page

LaWanda Page (1920-2002): The Cleveland native was best known for her role as Aunt Esther on the groundbreaking 1970s show, "Sanford and Son." But long before that, she was blazing trails on the "chitlin' circuit," where she shared stages with Redd Foxx and Richard Pryor. (NBC, Plain Dealer File Photo)

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

Rudy Ray Moore

Rudy Ray Moore (1927-2008): The comedian and actor played a major role in 1970s Blaxploitation cinema, as the legendary comic pimp, Dolemite. He got his start in Cleveland two decades earlier, while hanging out with a performer named Estella Caldonia Young at the old Majestic Hotel on East 55th. (Norton Records)

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

Bessie Brown

Bessie Brown (1890-1955): The 1920s cabaret, blues and jazz singer got her start in Cleveland and went on to become a popular recording artist and draw on the East Coast. She was one of the city's first musicians to go national and became a fixture in the Harlem Renaissance. The deep-voiced Brown was one of Cleveland's most unique exports – working as a cabaret and vaudeville performer, sometimes as a male impersonator. Many of her songs boasted a toughness that would be considered empowered anthems today, like "Ain't Much Good in the Best of Men Nowadays," "He Just Don't Appeal to Me" and "Song from a Cotton Field." (A March 3, 1928 ad for a Bessie Brown show in The Plain Dealer alongside a compilation Brown's works released by Document Records)

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

Bill Cobbs

Bill Cobbs (1934-): The Cleveland native got his acting start on the stage of the Karamu House. But the veteran actor's path was anything but a straight line. He spent eight years in the U.S. Air Force, worked for IBM and as a car salesman in Cleveland before embarking on an acting career at the age of 36. It worked out more than OK, with more than 80 movie and TV credits to his name, including "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three," "New Jack City," "The Sopranos" and "Jag." (Gus Chan, The Plain Dealer)

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

Carl Stokes

Carl Stokes(1927-1996): The Cleveland native became politically active at the beginning of the 1960s, like many African-Americans back then. But Stokes accomplished what no other did before him: In 1967, he became the first black elected mayor of a major American city. (1969 Press Photo,Plain Dealer Historical Photograph Collection)

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

Arsenio Hall

Arsenio Hall (1956-): The Cleveland native and Warrensville Heights High School grad got his start performing magic tricks as a child. He went on to become the host of "The Arsenio Hall Show" and a contestant on "Celebrity Apprentice." (1993 press photo of Arsenio Hall, host of The Arsenio Hall Show, Plain Dealer Historical Photograph Collection)

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

Dazz Band

Dazz Band (active 1976-): Formed in 1976 by Bobby Harris, the Dazz band started playing, under the name Kinsman Dazz, as the house band at a Cleveland nightclub called the Kinsman Grill. After 27 lineup changes, two albums and a name change, the Dazz Band -- short for "danceable jazz" -- hooked up with Motown Records, on which it released the 1982 Grammy-winning single, "Let It Whip." It continues to play on, usually under the name Kinsman Dazz Band, decades and more than 20 Top 100 singles later. (A 1985 Plain Dealer file photo)

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

Don King

Don King (1931-): The Cleveland native and John Adams High School graduate has led one of the most colorful – and controversial – lives of any American. He got his start as a bookie in Cleveland's Kinsman neighborhood. Then went to jail for second-degree murder. He got out after serving less than four years and went on to become boxing's biggest promoter, known for legendary bouts such as the heavyweight championship fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman known as "Rumble in the Jungle," and the Ali and Joe Frazier fight, the "Thrilla in Manila." King expanded his cultural footprint managing a who's who of boxers and the Jacksons' 1984 Victory Tour. He also bought the Call and Post, where he still serves as publisher. (John Kuntz / The Plain Dealer)

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

Al Roker

Al Roker (1954-): The weather anchor on the NBC "Today" show got his start in Cleveland, in 1978, with WKYC Channel 3. He spent five years in town before heading to New York. In 2014, Roker set the new official Guinness World Record by reporting the weather for 34 hours straight. (1979 press photo, Plain Dealer Historical Photograph Collection)

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

LeBron James

LeBron James (1984-): The Kid from Akron will always be loved for bringing a championship to Cleveland. But the athlete, actor and pitchman has also become an unofficial ambassador for Northeast Ohio to the world -- shining a spotlight on the area with Nike ads set and shot in the area and hosting a world premiere for "Trainwreck" in his hometown. (Lisa DeJong/The Plain Dealer)

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

Jane Edna Hunter

Jane Edna Hunter(1882-1971): A pioneering African-American social worker, Hunter established the Working Girls Association inCleveland, in 1911, to offer shelter, assistance, and education to women. It later became the Phillis Wheatley Association of Cleveland, which provides social services for children, the elderly and people in need. A South Carolinian by birth, she moved to Cleveland in 1905 and quickly became a leader in the black community. A Cleveland Law School grad, she oversaw an 11-story residence for black women and was active in a number of civic- and social-minded groups and causes, including the National Association of Colored Women. She held a number of honorary university degrees and was on the board of directors and was a vice president of the NAACP. (Plain Dealer Historical Photograph Collection)

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

Noble Sissle

Noble Sissle (1889-1975): Many years after his passing, they're still wild about the Cleveland bandleader who co-penned "I'm Just Wild About Harry." Sissle got his start singing in church choirs and the glee club at Central High School. Written in 1921 -- for the Broadway musical "Shuffle Along" -- "I'm Just Wild About Harry" was adopted by Harry Truman's 1948 campaign and is considered one of the great entries in the American songbook. (Noble Sissle, right, with writing partner Eubie Blake, 1963 Press Photo, Plain Dealer Historical Photograph Collection)

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

Jim Brown

JimBrown (1936-): Athlete, actor, activist. The Cleveland Browns great retired in 1965 to pursue an acting career, with roles in films such as "Rio Conchos," "The Dirty Dozen," "Ice Station Zebra" and "100 Rifles." He also became an outspoken activist on issues such as race and crime. (Ray Matjasic, The Plain Dealer, PDHST Plain Dealer Historical Photograph Collection)

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

Eddie Levert

Eddie Levert (1942-): The singer is one of the longest-running singers going – since 1958, when he co-founded the O'Jays while attending Canton McKinley High School. He received a BET lifetime achievement award in 2009 and is the father of Gerald and Sean. (1979 press photo of Eddie Levert, William A. Wynne, Plain Dealer Historical Photograph Collection)

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

Larry Doby

Larry Doby (1928-2003): Signed by the Cleveland Indians in 1947 – three months after Jackie Robinson signed with the National League Brooklyn Dodgers – he broke the color barrier for the American League. Doby and teammate Satchel Paige were the first African-Americans to win a World Series, when the Indians won it in 1948. (Photo by George Hixon, Cleveland News, Plain Dealer Historical Photograph Collection)

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

Ruby Dee

Ruby Dee (1922-2014): The Cleveland native was best known for her performance in "A Raisin in the Sun," but she was also a poet and playwright – not to mention winner of Grammy, Emmy, Obie, Drama Desk and Screen Actors Guild awards and the Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award and the National Medal of Arts. (1976 press photo, Plain Dealer Historical Photograph Collection)

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

Ron O'Neal

Ron O'Neal (1937-2004): Best known for his iconicrole in the 1972 blaxploitation breakthrough "Superfly," the Glenville High School graduate got his start in the mid-1950s at Karamu House, acting in productions of "Kiss Me Kate" and "Streetcar Named Desire." (Warner Bros., Plain Dealer File Photo)

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

Yvette Nicole Brown

Yvette Nicole Brown (1971-): The East Cleveland native starred in the TV show "Community" and has appeared in "Malcolm in the Middle" and "That's So Raven," as well as the films "Dreamgirls" and "(500) Days of Summer." Brown graduated from Warrensville Heights High School in 1989 and the University of Akron in 1994 before moving to Los Angeles to pursue acting. (Gus Chan / The Plain Dealer)

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

Satchel Paige

Satchel Paige (1906-1982): Yes, he was an Indians great. He was also the first Negro Leagues star to pitch in a World Series, for the Tribe, in 1948. Paige and teammate Larry Doby were the first black ballplayers to play on a MLB champion, that same year. But Paige was a folk hero whose star went beyond sports and race. He signed with the Tribe at 42, the oldest rookie in major sports. He played until he was 47 and managed to make the All-Star team that year, in 1953. Twelve years later, he came out of retirement to pitch one game for the Kansas City Athletics – at the age of 59. (Cleveland News press photo, Plain Dealer Historical Photograph Collection)

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

Tadd Dameron

Tadd Dameron (1917-1965): The Cleveland native was considered one of the greatest arrangers of the bebop era. He worked with and arranged for a who's who of jazz greats from many eras and styles -- from Miles Davis to Dizzy Gillespie to Artie Shaw to John Coltane to Sarah Vaughn to Count Basie and Billy Eckstine. (Riverside Records)

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

Robert Guillaume

Robert Guillaume (1927-): Cleveland cultural gem Karamu House has played a vital role in the city's art scene – and the careers of a number of people on this list, including Guillaume. The actor known for his role on the TV series "Soap" got his start at Karamu, where he performed in operas and musical comedies. (1972 press photo, Plain Dealer Historical Photograph Collection)

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

Jimmy Scott

Jimmy Scott (1925-2014): The Cleveland native whose unique, refined voice and gentle demeanor made him an international jazz star got his start singing in local clubs as a teen. It led to gigs around the Midwest and the South – and helped land him in Lionel Hampton's orchestra from 1949-51, when he scored his first hit with "Everybody's Somebody's Fool." "Little Jimmy Scott," as he was often called, performed with jazz legends Charlie Parker, Lester Young and Charles Mingus. He was little – less than 5 feet tall until an 8-inch growth spurt in his mid-30s. Scott's beautiful voice, fine falsetto and unique rhythms found such fans as Billie Holiday, Nancy Wilson, Dinah Washington and Big Maybelle. As Ray Charles once said, "Jimmy was singing soul way back before the word was being used." (Warner Strategic Marketing, Plain Dealer File Photo)

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

Robert Lockwood Jr.

Robert Lockwood Jr. (1915-2006): The American delta blues guitarist from Turkey Scratch, Arkansas gained his early acclaim recording for Chess Records in the 1950s. But he spent most of his career in his wife's hometown of Cleveland, where he relocated in 1961. He took a Grammy in 2004 for "Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen Live" – a disc recorded with blues masters such as Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson and Howlin' Wolf. (Lonnie Timmons III/Plain Dealer)

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

Terrence Howard

Terrence Howard (1969-): The actor known for his roles in movies such as "Crash," "Hustle and Flow" and "Mr. Holland's Opus" was raised in Cleveland. His latest project casts him as a hip-hop mogul in the FOX TV series "Empire," (Fox, Plain Dealer file photo)

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony

Bone Thugs-N-Harmony (active 1991-): The hip hop outfit got its big break when it impressed Eric "Eazy-E" Wright during an audition in the NWA rapper's dressing room during a show in Cleveland, in 1993. Within a year, it was one of the top hip hop acts in the country. (Photo credit: Travis Shin)

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

Antwone Fisher

Antwone Fisher (1959-): The Cleveland-born author, director and screenwriter was born in a prison to a teenage mother and ended up living on the streets of the city until he joined the U.S. Navy. His story resulted in the autobiographical 2001 book, "Finding Fish," which became the basis for the film, "Antwone Fisher" – which was written by Fisher and directed by Denzel Washington. (Brynne Shaw/The Plain Dealer)

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

Gerald Levert

Gerald Levert (1966-2006): The Cleveland native and R&B singer scored four platinum albums with LeVert. He was also the son of Eddie Levert. Gerald died of an accidental overdose of prescription and over-the-counter drugs at age 40. (Denise Trouscello)

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

Macy Gray

Macy Gray (1969-): The Canton native singer enjoyed her musical breakthrough at the turn of the century with the Grammy-winning hit, "I Try." It led to a semi-regular acting career, with small roles in films and TV shows such as "Training Day," "Spider-Man" and "Ally McBeal." (1999 press photo, Plain Dealer Historical Photograph Collection)

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

Rita Dove

Rita Dove (1952-): The Akron native and Buchtel High School grad became the second African-American to win a Pulitzer Prize for poetry, in 1987. She also was the U.S. poet laureate from 1993 to 1995. (1999 press photo, Plain Dealer Historical Photograph Collection)

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

Kid Cudi

Kid Cudi (1984-): The Cleveland native grew up in Shaker Heights and Solon. His 2009 song "Day 'n' Nite" was a breakthrough for his career, which expanded to include starting a label and acting in films and TV shows. (John Kuntz / The Plain Dealer)

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

James Ingram

James Ingram (1952-): The Akron native has enjoyed a music career that has spanned four decades. In that time, the singer has notched more than 20 hits on pop and R&B charts, along with Grammy awards and Academy Award nominations. (1994 Press Photo, Plain Dealer Historical Photograph Collection)

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

Tracy Chapman

Tracy Chapman (1964-): The Cleveland native got her musical start playing the ukulele at the age of three. She got her break years later, in 1988, with the release of her debut album. The disc featured "Fast Car," the first in a handful of hits over her career. (The Plain Dealer)

John Petkovic, The Plain Dealer

George Peake

George Peake (1722-1827): The first African American to settle permanently in Cleveland arrived in 1809. He was said to be a British soldier who is said to have deserted the army and came to Cleveland to start a mill with his wife and two sons. (Aug. 17, 1940 clipping about Peake from The Plain Dealer)