Anderson, David I
Description
Lonnie Burten is shown speaking at a Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority meeting. John Patterson, a tenant at Outhwaite, and a member of the Outhwaite Homes Tenant Council, is shown seated in the foreground with his daughter Ronnelle Angela, age 7. Tyrone Bolden is to Burten's left. Lonnie Burten (1944-1984) was a city of Cleveland councilman, and an advocate of decent housing for inner-city residents. The Shaw, Mississippi native was raised in the Central Area of Cleveland. He attained his undergraduate degree from Central State University, and earned an M.A. from (Clark) Atlanta University. He became Democratic Ward 12 councilman in 1975. Strongly opposed to public housing, Burten set up the Central Area Development Corporation to finance single-family home construction in the Central-Woodland area. He also played a large role in getting a $255,000 grant from HUD to build new homes for the inner-city, according to the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History.
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