Louis Stokes

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Louis Stokes

Louis Stokes (born February 23, 1925 in Cleveland , Ohio , † August 18, 2015 there ) was an American politician of the Democratic Party . From 1969 to 1999 he was a member of the House of Representatives of the United States for the 11th and 21st  congressional district of the state of Ohio.

Family, education and work

Louis Stokes was born in Cleveland. Together with his brother, Carl Stokes , who later became the US Ambassador to the Seychelles, he grew up in a subsidized housing project, the Outhwaite Homes in Cleveland. From 1943 to 1946 he served in the US Army . He studied at the Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland State University law . In 1953 he took up a lawyer in Cleveland. In 1968 he joined the Terry v. Ohio as a lawyer before the Supreme Court .

Stokes was married to his wife Jay for 55 years and had four children. He practiced law in Cleveland and Washington, DC until his death . Some buildings and a train station are named after him. Stokes was a member of the Masonic League ; his box is constituted under the Prince Hall Grand Lodge .

Political career

In the 1968 election , Stokes was elected to the US House of Representatives as representative of the 21st Congressional constituency of Ohio, and took office on January 3, 1969. In 1972, Stokes became vice chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus , the organization of African American congressmen, and drove the transformation of the group from the claim of a collective representation of all African Americans in the country to concrete, individual legislative work. He was replaced in this position by Charles B. Rangel in 1974 in the 94th Congress . Always re-elected, Stokes moved in 1993 from the 21st congressional district to the 11th Ohio, which he represented until 1999. He sat in the House of Representatives for a total of 30 years and resigned in 1999.

During his tenure in the House of Representatives, he served twice as Chairman of the United States House Committee on Ethics . He also chaired the United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence . Stokes was also chairman of the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations . The committee was formed to investigate the attacks on John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King . He was also a member of the committee that was formed to investigate the Iran-Contra affair .

Web links

Commons : Louis Stokes  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Carl & Louis Stokes Making History. In: Western Reserve Historical Society.
  2. ↑ David Gray: The History of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Ohio F&AM 1971-2011: The Fabric of Freemasonry. Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Ohio F&AM, Columbus, Ohio 2012, ISBN 978-0615632957 , p. 414.
  3. ^ Black Americans in Congress: Creation and Evolution of the Congressional Black Caucus. In: History, Art & Archives , House of Representatives.
personal data
SURNAME Stokes, Louis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American lawyer and politician (Democratic Party)
DATE OF BIRTH February 23, 1925
PLACE OF BIRTH Cleveland , Ohio
DATE OF DEATH August 18, 2015
Place of death Cleveland , Ohio