Description

Mayor Ralph Locher is pictured at the far right in glasses and a dark raincoat. The first man to his right is Ward 18 councilman John W. Kellogg. The event is the dedication of a Central Neighbohood playfield. Ralph S. Locher (1915–2004) was the 50th mayor of Cleveland, Ohio. The Romanian-born Locher graduated from Bluffton College. After being admitted to the Ohio bar in 1939, he practiced law for about six years. He served briefly as secretary of the Ohio State Industrial Commission, and then became Governor Frank J. Lausche’s executive secretary in 1946. He was Cleveland Mayor Anthony J. Celebrezze’s law director, beginning in 1953, and succeeded Celebrezze as mayor when the latter resigned to become Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in 1962. Locher then served two full terms as mayor. During his administration in 1962-1967, there was increasing racial tension in the city, with the Hough Riots taking place in 1966. His support of the Cleveland school board's policy of building new schools in overcrowded neighborhoods cost him the support of many African Americans, according to the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. Among the positives of his time in office, he helped double the size of Cleveland’s port facilities and expanded Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport. Locher was elected as a probate court judge in 1970, and served as justice of the Ohio Supreme Court in 1976-1989.

Record Contributed By

Cleveland Public Library

Record Harvested From

Ohio Digital Network