In a single burial plot near a pond at Lake View Cemetery, a black granite headstone sits a few inches above ground. It blends in with those nearby, offering no hint that it marks the grave of one of the many famous people buried there.

The headstone reads Ambassador Carl B. Stokes 1927-1996 and features his engraved image and the inscription on the side his family said he wanted.

“He fought. Never gave up. May not have won. But fought a good fight.”  

R.L. Render III, who knew Stokes and remains friendly with his family, always believed the headstone was unbefitting the statesman’s full accomplishments. 

Stokes’ last public role was that of U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Seychelles, which is in the Indian Ocean, off the east coast of Africa. However, it wasn’t the one that made him famous or reflects his enormous contributions to Cleveland and beyond. 

“He was the first Black mayor of a major American city, which changed the political landscape in the United States forever. It’s not talked about much, but he played a primary role in getting the Clean Water Act and the Environmental Protection Agency,” Render said, describing the headstone as “nondescript.”

That’s why Render is trying to remake Stokes’ place in the famous cemetery. Through his event planning business, RLR III & Associates, and with the support of Stokes’ family, he began fundraising a few years ago to build a memorial to Stokes near his gravesite. The memorial will cost about $960,000, which Render hopes to raise by August. 

The memorial is the first phase of the Carl Burton Stokes History and Legacy Project, which is trying to better honor him and is expected to cost roughly $1.5 million, Render said. About $500,000 has been raised so far for the whole project, he said.

Future planned phases include digitizing Stokes’ papers and records at the Western Reserve Historical Society, a task Render said is expected to cost between $350,000 and $400,000. The project also wants to renovate the Stokes Boardroom at Karamu House, which is estimated to cost $100,000. 

Mayor Bibb and other Clevelanders and businesses get behind project

Mayor Justin Bibb, who has a deep admiration for Stokes, gave $10,000 to the project, though it’s unclear if he made a personal donation or if it came from his campaign account. A spokeswoman for Bibb would only say the money is not from the city. (The latest campaign finance report is not yet available.) 

There are other ways Bibb has supported the effort to build a memorial to Stokes, according to Fatimah Harris, a digital content and communications manager with the city. She helped create Carl B. Stokes Day, which is observed June 30, during the Bibb administration. She said Bibb has been actively involved in the memorial project by “speaking at fundraisers, engaging community stakeholders, and consistently elevating the story of Mayor Stokes’ legacy.”

Bibb said doing so is essential.

“This project is about honoring that legacy in a way that matches his impact and ensuring future generations understand the depth of his contributions,” Bibb wrote in a statement emailed to Signal Cleveland.

Bibb recently sent a fundraising letter to 450 businesses, foundations and others soliciting contributions for the project. Co-signers include: City Council President Blaine Griffin; St. Luke’s Foundation President and Chief Executive Officer Timothy L. Tramble Sr.; Richard W. Pogue, senior advisor at Jones Day; and Cordell Stokes, CEO of CLC Stokes Consulting Group, LLC, one of the former mayor’s sons. 

Griffin, who is friends with Cordell Stokes, said he didn’t hesitate to become part of the fundraising campaign.

“It was a no-brainer for many of us to make sure that we support this because of what this man meant for the city of Cleveland and the political history and the African American history of the United States by being the first African American mayor of a major city,” Griffin said.

“His contributions must be recognized by giving him a symbol amongst so many other recognizable figures in Lake View Cemetery,“ Griffin said. 

Those with memorials or monuments there include President James A. Garfield, John D. Rockefeller and Eliot H. Ness, who served as Cleveland Safety Director from 1935 to 1942. The picturesque cemetery, with its hilly terrain and manicured landscape, has a national reputation for its beauty. Every year, thousands flock to its Daffodil Hill as a ritual of spring.

How the campaign to honor Carl Stokes began

Whenever Render attended a burial at Lake View Cemetery, he would occasionally stop by Stokes’ gravesite to pay his respects. He did so in 2021 after attending the burial of Jeanette “Jay” Stokes. She was the widow of U.S. Rep. Louis Stokes, Carl’s older brother, who died in 2015. While there, Render had a conversation with Cordell Stokes.

“I pulled Cordell to the side and I said, ‘Cordell, when I come out here, I sometimes go by your father’s grave,’” he said. “‘It doesn’t even say he was mayor.’”

“Do I have your permission to put a committee together and do some exploratory work on how we can give your father his due here at the cemetery?'” Render said. 

Cordell Stokes response? 

“Let’s do it!” he told Signal Cleveland, adding that he has given $10,000 to the project.

The family had long wanted to enhance Stokes’ gravesite to reflect his father’s place in history, Cordell Stokes said. They had even brought together a group of ministers and others to explore doing something, but “we just couldn’t get it together.”

“I would love to have this memorial constructed because my father was a beacon for Black political leadership, coming behind civil rights leadership like MLK and others, who effectively negotiated and implemented the civil rights and voting rights acts critical to ensure my father’s next step could happen,” he said. “My father’s approach would establish and effectuate change in how Black individuals and businesses would have equitable opportunities to engage their government.”

Donors can give money in honor of individual Stokes milestones

While donations of all amounts are welcome, Render said he’s focused on securing sponsorships for the first phase to build the cemetery memorial. There are 11 sponsorship levels, several of which reflect Stokes’ accomplishments. They range from the United States ambassador sponsorship at $200,000, the Cleveland Municipal Court Administrative Judge sponsorship at $50,000 and the West Virginia State University NCAA Middle Weight Boxing Champion sponsorship for $5,000. The most modest of the levels is the $500 Carl B. Stokes donors sponsorship.

The Carl Burton Stokes History and Legacy Project has already received several large donations from local foundations. The St. Luke’s foundation gave the first substantial donation – $135,000 – to the project, Render said. The George Gund Fund has contributed $250,000 to the project. 

Money also came in from fundraisers, individual contributions and public allocations. For example, Cuyahoga County Council Members Pernel Jones Jr. and Meredith M. Turner each gave $20,000 from their American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding.

Mayor Stokes was a trailblazer in many ways

Stokes was elected mayor in 1967 and served two two-year terms, when Cleveland still ranked among the nation’s top 10 big cities. He did not seek a third term in 1971. (Cleveland didn’t adopt four-year terms until 1981.)

His mayoral election wasn’t the only time he stood out as a pioneer. 

He was the first Black Democrat elected to the Ohio House of Representatives in 1962 and served three terms, according to the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. In 1972, Stokes became the first Black news anchor in New York City when he took a job with WNBC. 

Stokes served as a Cleveland Municipal Court Judge from 1983 to 1994. President Bill Clinton appointed him ambassador to the Seychelles in 1994. He  died at 68 of esophageal cancer on April 3, 1996, at the Cleveland Clinic.

Stokes has been credited with advocating for the environment and extending economic opportunities to African Americans, other people of color, and women, according to the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. For example, the Equal Employment Opportunity ordinance, which required businesses with city contracts to have programs aimed at increasing the number of employees of color, passed during his administration. 

“His commitment to inclusion helped establish the foundation for the City’s ongoing efforts to support minority-owned businesses and ensure fair access to jobs and public contracts,” the city’s website states.

Stokes also pushed for such things as clean air and water. For example, voters approved a $100 million bond issue during his administration to improve the city’s sewage treatment facilities. His environmentalism was more than a local effort. As early as the late 1960s, the mayor and his brother were lobbying in Washington, D.C., for clean air and water. Their continued efforts led to such things as the Clean Water Act and the EPA.

“As national political leaders, they were major voices in defining America’s ‘urban agenda,’” states the Cuyahoga Valley National Park website. “Their agenda included the environment. Carl and Louis Stokes were two decades ahead of the environmental justice movement, which took shape in the late 1980s.”

The Stokes memorial will include the work of a noted sculptor

The memorial is still taking shape, Render said. It will span the four plots Lake View has donated to the project and include seating and historical information about Stokes’ life and impact. The focal point will be a sculpture by Jamaican artist and sculptor Basil Watson, who has done memorials and monuments in the U.S. and internationally. The sculpture will cost $400,000, Render said.

Because Lake View is often used as much as a park as a cemetery, he sees people coming to the monument on purpose and also serendipitously. On any given weekend, especially during good weather, you’ll see people meandering through the cemetery’s park-like setting. Others have come to tour the gravesites of historical figures.

“There are probably two generations who know nothing about what Carl did,” Render said. “This memorial will give them a chance to learn about this aspect of Cleveland history.”

After the contract is signed, Watson is scheduled to visit Lake View and spend a few days in the city to get a better sense of Stokes’ legacy and the site overlooking the pond. Both will shape his commissioned sculpture. Render said he knows a little about what Watson has in mind.

“He will do the image of Carl Stokes, but it won’t be life-size,” he said. “He said you want to make it bigger because this person was bigger than life.”