Ohio Civil Rights Hall of Fame inducts talented 10

Photos By Terry Gilliam

Ten icons of integrity, intensity and intellect were inducted into the inaugural class of the Ohio Civil Right Commission Thursday.

Their induction took place in the Statehouse rotunda as part of the Ohio Civil Rights Commission's 50th anniversary ceremony. The event, which also commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Ohio Civil Rights Act, was sponsored by Honda of America Mfg. Inc., the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and Wright State University.

Honorees included individuals who have written and enforced laws, and in some instances broken them in acts of civil disobedience. Their ranks include Ohioans who have made history, and in the case of George Washington Williams, written it.

Washington's short life included stints as a barber, soldier, preacher and an advocate for human rights in what was then the Belgian Congo He is most noted, however, as the first African-American elected to the Ohio General Assembly and as the first black to in this country to comprehensively document African-Americans in this country in The History of the Negro Race in America 1619-1880.

The inclusion of a figure whose contributions to the struggle took place more than a century ago provided a baseline for the achievements made by the other nine honorees in more modern times.

The other inductees were:

William F. Bowen -- Former state senator who ensured passage of legislation that formed what is now the Ohio Commission on African-American Males.

The Rev. Joan Brown Campbell --First woman to be executive director of the U.S. office of the World Council of Churches and the first ordained woman to be general secretary of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA.

Robert M Duncan -- First African-American judge on the Franklin County Municipal Court, who in 1971 became the first black justice on the Ohio Supreme Court. One of his most notable rulings came as a federal judge in 1977 when he found the Columbus Board of Education guilty of intentionally creating and maintaining an illegally segregated school system.

Ruth Gonzalez de Garcia -- Part of a Mexican immigrant family that worked toward formation of church for Spanish-speaking residents of Toledo, Guadalupe Mission Church. Led political activism that resulted in building of El Centro Unico, a community center that provides health and recreational services for youths and the elderly.

The Rev. Bruce Kunkler -- After completing Divinity School at Yale University, Kunkler moved to Cleveland to become an assistant executive secretary of the Student Christian Union at Western Reserve University. In 1964, the Presbyterian minister was killed when a bulldozer backed over him at a demonstration in which he was protesting construction of a segregated school in Cleveland.

C.J. McLin -- Long-time state legislator who was a driving force in the establishment of the Black Elected Democrats of Ohio. Was instrumental in formation of Wright State University School of Medicine, Dayton Correctional Center and the National Afro-American Museum in Wilberforce, Ohio.

Toni Morrison -- First African-American woman to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature (1993, for Beloved). First African-American woman to hold a named chair at an Ivy League school.

The Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth -- One of the co-founders of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Was integral in helping the Congress on Racial Equality organize the Freedom Rides

Carl B. Stokes -- First black mayor of a major U.S. city, being elected mayor of Cleveland in 1967. Became first black anchor of a New York television station, WNBC-TV.

The lives of the inductees weren't merely historic abstractions for many in the rotunda audience.

Former Ohio Senate President Stanley J. Aronoff said that even though he, a Republican, and Bowen, a Democrat, were of opposing parties, they became political allies and personal friends.

"He understood the political game," Aronoff said.

Bowen's widow, Sharon, cited several gains from the civil-rights era, including the right for everyone to "swim in public pools and not have to wait for your day to swim"

Bowen's legacy, she said, "is now sealed in history."

Campbell talked her metamorphosis after seeing the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. speak at a white church in Shaker Heights. The experience took a "flower-arranging, bridge-playing attorney's wife and turned her into a civil-rights activist."

C.J. McLin said that time with his father and Stokes revealed a common trait among those elders, they were "doers."

Federal Judge R. Guy Cole saluted Duncan for being a mentor to young jurists.

At different points in the program Duncan and Gov. Ted Strickland paid tribute to former governors C. William O'Neill and Michael DiSalle. O'Neill was responsible for the council that recommended formation of the Civil Rights Commission. In 1959, DiSalle signed the legislation that established the commission.

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