Alan Dean Buchanan Interview, 24 June 2013

Abstract

Alan Dean Buchanan has been the Judge in Cleveland Heights since 2001. He took over for Lynn Toler who was elected in 1994. Judge Buchanan was born in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. He lived with his mother and older brother and attended Northwestern High School in Darlington, Pennsylvania. After high school he went to Princeton University in New Jersey. He was one of about 13 blacks in a graduating class of about 700. While at Princeton he wrote his senior thesis on Carl Stokes campaign in Cleveland, which he came to visit. While here he was introduced to Jim Brown and others who started the Black Economic Union. After he left Princeton he worked full time for the Black Economic Union and started law school at Case Western Reserve University. He then became a clerk for George Forbes and worked at his firm after graduating and passing the bar in 1973. Eventually he went on to start his own practice with three other lawyers. Judge Buchanan has had a long legal career.