Timeline

Stokes Milestones

February 23, 1925

Louis Stokes was born in Cleveland, Ohio to Louise and Charles Stokes.

June 21, 1927

Carl Burton Stokes is born to Louise and Charles Stokes.

1943-46

Louis serves in the U.S. Army.

1944

Carl drops out of high school.

1945

Carl joins the army.

1946-48

Louis attends Cleveland College of Western Reserve University.

1947

After being discharged from the army, Carl earns his high school diploma.

1953

Louis earns his J.D. from Cleveland Marshall Law School.

1954

Carl earns his bachelor's degree from University of Minnesota.

1956

Carl earns his J.D. from Cleveland Marshall Law School.

1962

Carl is elected to the Ohio House of Representatives, where he serves three terms.

1964

The Civil Rights Act is a landmark piece of civil rights and US labor law legislation in the United States that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

1965

Carl loses his first mayoral run in Cleveland, Ohio.

November 7, 1967

Carl is elected the 51st mayor of the City of Cleveland. He is the first black mayor of a major metropolitan city in the United States.

1968

Louis argues the "stop and frisk case, Terry vs. Ohio.

1969

Louis is elected as the Democrat Congressman to the 91st Congress and to the 14 succeeding Congresses.

1970

Louis serves as chairman of the House Ethics Committee and oversees the investigation of the ABSCAM scandal.

1972

Carl becomes the first black anchorman in New York City.

1980

Carl returns to Cleveland as the general counsel for the United Auto Workers.

1983-1994

Carl serves as a municipal judge in Cleveland.

1996

Carl dies at age 69.

1999

Louis retires from Congress.

2015

Louis dies at age 90.