Ralph Sidney Locher (July 24, 1915–June 18, 2004) was an American
politicianA politician or political leader is an individual who is involved in influencing public decision making. This includes people who hold decision-making positions in government, and people who seek those positions, whether by means of election, coup d'état, appointment, electoral fraud, conquest,...
of the Democratic party who served as the 50th
mayor of ClevelandCleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately 60 miles west of the Pennsylvania border...
,
OhioOhio is a Midwestern state of the United States. The thirty-fourth largest state by area in the U.S., it is the seventh-most populous with nearly 11.5 million residents...
.
Locher was born in
MoreniMoreni is a town in Dâmboviţa County, Romania, located about 100 km north-west of Bucharest, with a population of 22,868.In 1691, Moreni became the first place in Romania where oil was extracted....
,
RomaniaRomania is a country located in Southeastern and Central Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea. Almost all of the Danube Delta is located within its territory...
, outside
BucharestBucharest is the capital city, industrial and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmboviţa River....
in 1915. He graduated from Bluffton College and was admitted to the Ohio
barA bar association is a professional body of lawyers. Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both.In many Commonwealth jurisdictions, the...
. He became a close associate of Frank J.
Ralph Sidney Locher (July 24, 1915–June 18, 2004) was an American
politicianA politician or political leader is an individual who is involved in influencing public decision making. This includes people who hold decision-making positions in government, and people who seek those positions, whether by means of election, coup d'état, appointment, electoral fraud, conquest,...
of the Democratic party who served as the 50th
mayor of ClevelandCleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately 60 miles west of the Pennsylvania border...
,
OhioOhio is a Midwestern state of the United States. The thirty-fourth largest state by area in the U.S., it is the seventh-most populous with nearly 11.5 million residents...
.
Locher was born in
MoreniMoreni is a town in Dâmboviţa County, Romania, located about 100 km north-west of Bucharest, with a population of 22,868.In 1691, Moreni became the first place in Romania where oil was extracted....
,
RomaniaRomania is a country located in Southeastern and Central Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea. Almost all of the Danube Delta is located within its territory...
, outside
BucharestBucharest is the capital city, industrial and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmboviţa River....
in 1915. He graduated from Bluffton College and was admitted to the Ohio
barA bar association is a professional body of lawyers. Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both.In many Commonwealth jurisdictions, the...
. He became a close associate of Frank J. Lausche, later
Governor of Ohio and U.S. Senator, who nurtured his career. They were instrumental in building the "cosmopolitan Democrats" movement of urban ethnic voters. Locher was law director of
Cleveland, OhioCleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately 60 miles west of the Pennsylvania border...
under Mayor Anthony J. Celebrezze beginning in 1953, then succeeded him as mayor in 1962, when Celebrezze was appointed United States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare by
PresidentThe President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition...
John F. KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
.
Locher served two terms as mayor of Cleveland. His tenure was marked by increasing racial tensions in the city, culminating in the
Hough RiotsThe Hough Riots were race riots in the predominantly African American community of Hough in Cleveland, Ohio that took place over a six-night period from July 18 to July 23, 1966. During the riots, four African Americans were killed and 30 people were critically injured. In addition, there were 275...
of 1966. Locher lost in the 1967 Cleveland Democratic primary election to
Carl B. StokesCarl Burton Stokes was an American politician of the Democratic party who served as the 51st mayor of Cleveland, Ohio. Elected on November 7, 1967, but took office on Jan 1, 1968, he was tied to be the first African American mayor of a major U.S. city with Mayor Richard G. Hatcher of Gary,...
. Stokes went on to defeat Republican
Seth TaftSeth Chase Taft is an American politician of the Republican party. He is the grandson of President William Howard Taft and the son of Cincinnati, Ohio, mayor Charles Phelps Taft II and Eleanor Chase Taft, whose father ran the Waterbury, Connecticut Clock Company. Taft had five sisters and one...
in the general election, becoming the first
African AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa. In the United States, the terms are generally used for Americans with at least partial Sub-Saharan African ancestry...
mayor of a major U.S. city. In spite of being the city's leader, Locher never put on airs and was often seen mowing his lawn where he lived on Ardoon Avenue, in Cleveland's Shaker Square neighborhood.
Locher went on to be elected a probate court judge in 1970, and was elected to the Ohio Supreme Court in 1977, serving two terms. Though a Democrat, he became increaslingly conservative as he got older and with longevity in office frequently voting with Republican justices on worker's compensation and other employment issues. He died in 2004.
Notable Actions
In 1965 he banned all rock concerts in the city following a Rolling Stones performancehttp://www.ericnuzum.com/banned/incidents/60s.html.