,990057,
Subject,Jesse Johnson,
Date,8/6/2013,
Interviewer,Katherine Taylor,
Abstract,"Jesse Johnson, a retired sergeant first class, was a leader in a local union. He describes his early experiences and how the United States changed after he came back from the war in Korea. He also mentions the riots that occurred in the 1960s, which changed Clevelanders' perception of race relations. He describes various injustices in workplaces and housing. He also describes what it was like being an African American regional leader of a union, and the various battles he fought in order to achieve a level playing field for his constituents.",
Tags,"Military, Kinsman School, Thomas Edison School, Glenville High School, Birmingham, xray technician, unions, Hough Riots, Glenville Riots, union leadership, fair housing, mount pleasant, Cafe Tia Juana, Nat King Cole, Miles Davis, Lube Lounge, million man march, free mandela campaign, Carl Stokes, Louis Stokes, Gold Coast",
Special Notes,"Interview is in two parts (40:55) and (10:29), sound between 41:00 and 41:30 is fuzzy but it gets fixed",
minutes:,,
0,"Introductions-July 30, 1932 in Birmingham, AL stayed until the 6th grade- parents moved to Cleveland in 1944-45-spent a year back in birmingham",
1,"served in the military -SGT First Class in the 11th airbourne-came back in 1955; Kinsman School, Thomas Edison School, Glenville high",
2,"Difference between Alabama and Cleveland high school-segregated in the south, not as strict in cleveland",
3,Glenville was 90+% Jewish when he went to school; in 1952 he went to the army and when he came back the demographics had changed,
4,more Blacks moved into Glenville-talks about the way banks were steering people,
5,"describes moving back to Cleveland as an African-American G.I.; Glenville was the place to be, mentions Cafe Tia Juana",
6,Job market robust-Remembers an experience he had trying to work for a sweater store on Euclid,
7,mentions the E105th area-called the Gold Coast,
8,"Transitions into the 1960s, he was an xray technician and he eventually joined the union",
9,Worked at Sunny Acres hospital for 13-14 years; he became aware of inequities after he joined the union,
10,Became president of county local 1746 then the regional director for Ohio Council 78 - city of cleveland: mount sinai hospitals,
11,Always disparity between minorities and Whites-once recognized the disparities were lessened,
12,"No violence, but it was difficult procedurally to get recognized",
13,Strike to get recognized in 1957; Describes the changes in the 1960s,
14,Talks about modern problems plaguing unions including the struggle for keeping collective barganing,
15,"Discusses being president of a chapter of the union, spent 2 years as president",
16,,
17,Able to develop relationship between union and management,
18,"Hough Riots and Glenville Riots, he lived a little distance away so he knew about it but that was his involvement",
19,Describes how the area around E79th and Kinsman has changed over the years-went from being well mixed to predominantly African-American,
20,Experienced discrimination even as executive director,
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22,Describes his responsibilities as executive director,
23,"""steering"" from the banks to put African-Americans into certain areas",
24,Put people into Glenville and Mount Pleasant and took them away from the E55th area,
25,Changes occured in the 1950s and 1960s-many Italians were there,
26,Remembers going to the Tijuana Club that would bring in big names like Nat King Cole; also downtown place called Lube Lounge which would bring in Miles Davis-both were pretty mixed,
27,He got Martin Luther King Day in a contract that he negotiated-very proud of it; describes the challenges,
28,,
29,Talks about Sunny Acres and how the lunch room was segregated-worked to fix that,
30,Sunny Acres strike and its national impact,
31,"Marched on Washington for jobs, Million Man March, Free Mandela March",
32,Describes his favorite-Million Man March and what caused him to join it,
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34,As an executive director of the Cleveland Federation he did interact with the international president and Jackie Presser,
35,Lives in Garfield now,
36,Campaign manager for Henry Warren for 18 years in Garfield-enjoying retired life now,
37,Glenville High School was mixed at the time he went-relationships were good and educational standards were high,
38,"Recalls a story about a high school corporate law class; Over the years he organized 15,000 people",
39,"One time had the Juvenile Court and County probation office, but a law was passed in 1973/4 that took these employees away",
40,"Lived in Glenville, Kinsman, Garden Valley, Mt. Pleasant, and Garfield (Break at 40:55)",
41,Describes living in Garfield,0
42,"His kids were set to go to cleveland schools even though they lived in Garfield, so he filed a petition to get that decision reversed-describes the process",1
43,"Not opposed to bussing, but they were upset that they had to get up at 6am to get bussed to the Cleveland School even though there was a school down the street",2
44,The lines were drawn along race lines to see who would go to which schools-lost the vote in the supreme court and the decision still stands,3
45,Craftsman were the only ones who wanted preferential treatment-majority were white,4
46,(5:50) talks about Cleveland being the place to be-everyone would shop downtown and go to ballgames in suits and ties,5
47,"Mentions Sterling, Higbee, May Company-not a casual thing, got dressed up to go; Restaurants were different-Cart's Restaurant was segregated describes it",6
48,"Bussing was dealt with within the teachers union, not his union; Campaigned for Carl Stokes-describes it: how he knew Carl and what he did",7
49,Worked for Louis Stokes as well,8
50,Describes the union offices that were downtown and the staff-pretty mellow,9
51,Thanks and End of Interview,10
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