In June 1969, Carl Stokes was one year into his term as the first black mayor of a major U.S. city when the Cuyahoga River caught fire. The 1969 fire was by no means the first fire on the river ( at least 13 others were reported prior to that) or even the biggest ( the largest fire cost more than $1 million in damage). But this fire landed Cleveland on the cover of Time magazine in an report on the nation's environmental problems.
The river fire capped a tough decade for Cleveland. While the Browns won the NFL championship in 1964, there was no Super Bowl. And, between 1960 and 1970, Cleveland lost more 100,000 people - representing over 14 percent of the population - to the surrounding suburbs.
Despite this chaos, the river burning served as a catalyst for passage of the Clean Water Act and the first Earth Day celebration. Mayor Stokes was able to invest significant resources into public services and create far-sighted plans to revitalize Cleveland. As Cleveland undergoes a new wave of revitalization, his name and legacy remain inextricably intertwined with the city's history.
In this conversation with David Stradling, Ph.D., author of Where the River Burned: Carl Stokes and the Struggle to Save Cleveland, he explains the significance of the river burning and its place in Cleveland's - and our nation's - history.