Description: Photograph of William H. Parham (1839-1904), a representative from Hamilton County who served in the Ohio House of Representatives during the 72nd session (1896-1897) of the General Assembly. After his early life in Virginia and Pennsylvania, Parham moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1858. He worked as a school teacher for thirty years before attending law school and his subsequent election to the Ohio House of Representatives. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: P206_B08_Parham
Subjects: African American Ohioans; Ohio House of Representatives; Ohio--Politics and government; Elected officials; Educators;
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph of John Patterson Green (1845-1940), a Republican from Cuyahoga County who served in the Ohio House of Representatives during the 65th session (1882-1883) and 69th session (1890-1891) and in the Ohio Senate during the 70th session (1892-1893) of the General Assembly. Green was born in 1845 in New Bern, North Carolina, to free African American parents. His father died when he was five years old, and in 1857, Green's family moved to Cleveland, Ohio. Green attended high school, studied law and was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1870. He became the first African American elected to political office in Cuyahoga County in 1873 when he became a justice of the peace. Green remained in politics, serving in the Ohio House and Senate. As a representative, Green introduced the legislation that established Labor Day in Ohio. He also advocated civil rights laws for the state. Green was only the second African American to serve in the Ohio House of Representatives and the first to serve in the Ohio Senate. President William McKinley appointed Green as Government Stamp Agent in 1897. When Congress eventually abolished this position, Green returned to his home in Cleveland and established a law practice with his two sons. He later wrote an autobiography entitled "Fact Stranger Than Fiction." Green died in Cleveland in 1940. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: P206_B05_Green
Subjects: African American Ohioans; Ohio House of Representatives; Ohio--Politics and government; Elected officials; Civil rights; Labor Day
Places: Cleveland (Ohio); Cuyahoga County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph of Samuel B. Hill, a representative from Hamilton County who served in the Ohio House of Representatives during the 71st session (1894-1895) of the General Assembly. Born in Xenia, Ohio, Hill grew up to become an educator before moving into politics. Some of his notable legislative efforts while serving in the Ohio House include support for public education in Ohio and for the Blind Asylum and Working Home for the Blind. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: P206_B07_Hill
Subjects: African American Ohioans; Ohio House of Representatives; Ohio--Politics and government; Elected officials; Educators; People with disabilities
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph of Harry E. Davis (1882-1955), a Republican representative from Cuyahoga County who served in the Ohio House of Representatives during the 84th session (1921-1922) and 85th session (1923-1924) , 86th session (1925-1926) and 87th session (1927-1928) of the General Assembly. He was later elected as a senator to the Ohio Legislature in 1947. Davis, a Cleveland native, graduated from Western Reserve University's law school in 1908, and was an early member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. In his time in politics, he worked to fight discriminatory legislation and to advance civil rights in Ohio. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: P206_B20_Davis
Subjects: African American Ohioans; Ohio House of Representatives; Ohio--Politics and government; Elected officials; Civil rights; Lawyers--Ohio; National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
Places: Cleveland (Ohio); Cuyahoga County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph of H.T. Eubanks, a Republican representative from Cuyahoga County who served in the Ohio House of Representatives during the 76th session (1904-1905) and 78th session (1909-1910) of the General Assembly. After working as a waiter and barber, Eubanks was elected to the Ohio Legislature, where he helped to enact legislation strengthening Ohio's anti-lynching laws. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: P206_B12_Eubanks
Subjects: African American Ohioans; Ohio House of Representatives; Ohio--Politics and government; Elected officials;
Places: Cleveland (Ohio); Cuyahoga County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph of George Henry Jackson, a representative from Hamilton County who served in the Ohio House of Representatives during the 70th session (1892-1893) of the General Assembly. Born in Canada, where his parents were visiting relatives, Jackson moved to Cincinnati with his family as a young child. He grew up to be an educator, teaching across the Ohio Valley region, before attending law school and beginning to practice in 1884. Once elected to the Ohio House, he worked on legislation to improve Civil Rights in Ohio. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: P206_B06_Jackson
Subjects: African American Ohioans; Ohio House of Representatives; Ohio--Politics and government; Elected officials; Educators; Civil Rights
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph of George W. Hayes (1847-1933), a representative from Hamilton County who served in the Ohio House of Representatives during the 75th session (1902-1903) and 76th session (1904-1905) of the General Assembly. Born in 1847 into slavery in Louisiana, Hayes was of mixed African American and American Indian heritage. Initially pressed into Confederate service at a young age during the Civil War, he soon escaped and enlisted in the Union Army. After the war, he moved to New York, and later to Cleveland and then Cincinnati, Ohio. He worked as a public school teacher before his appointment as a clerk with the U.S. Court clerk's office--the first African American appointed to the role. He worked in this position for three decades until he was nominated as a state representative in 1901. Over the years, Hayes served as a long-time trustee for the Ohio Institute of the Blind, the Orphans' Home for Colored Children in Cincinnati, the Union Baptist Church and Wilberforce University. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: P206_B11_Hayes
Subjects: African American Ohioans; Ohio House of Representatives; Ohio--Politics and government; Elected officials; American Indians; Veterans; Educators
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph of Albert Lee Beaty (1869-1936), a Republican representative from Hamilton County who served in the Ohio House of Representatives during the 82nd session (1917-1918) and 83rd session (1919-1920) of the General Assembly. Beaty attended law school at the University of Cincinnati and was appointed Assistant U.S. District Attorney for Southern Ohio. In his time with the Ohio Legislature, he worked on committees related to higher education, civil service and support for Ohio's orphans. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: P206_B19_Beaty
Subjects: African American Ohioans; Ohio House of Representatives; Ohio--Politics and government; Elected officials; Lawyers--Ohio;
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph of William H. Clifford (1862-1929), a Republican representative from Cuyahoga County who served in the Ohio House of Representatives during the 71st session (1894-1895) and 73rd session (1898-1899) of the General Assembly. Born in Cleveland, Clifford worked his way up through the county clerk's office and the local Republican Party. While serving in the Ohio House, he was a co-sponsor on anti-lynching legislation with colleague Henry Clay Smith. Following his time in the state legislature, he graduated from Cleveland Law School and went on to work for the War Department in Washington, D.C. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: P206_B07_Clifford
Subjects: African American Ohioans; Ohio House of Representatives; Ohio--Politics and government; Elected officials; Civil Rights
Places: Cleveland (Ohio); Cuyahoga County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph of William R. Stewart (1864-1858), a representative from Mahoning County who served in the Ohio House of Representatives during the 72nd session (1896-1897) and 73rd session (1898-1899) of the General Assembly. When Stewart's parents moved with their young son from Pennsylvania to Youngstown, Ohio, they were the community's first African American family. As a young man, he worked as a brick mason and in the railroad industry before attending law school in Cincinnati. Once he was elected to the Ohio House, he focused on legislation related to anti-lynching laws, pensions for police and firemen, and various public works. He continued his legal career in and out of politics, and was a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People involved in improving race relations in his community. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: P206_B08_Stewart
Subjects: African American Ohioans; Ohio House of Representatives; Ohio--Politics and government; Elected officials; Civil Rights; National Association for the Advancement of Colored People;
Places: Youngstown (Ohio); Mahoning County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph of Jere A. Brown (1841-1913), a Republican representative from Cuyahoga County who served in the Ohio House of Representatives during the 67th session (1886-1887) and 68th session (1888-1889) of the General Assembly. Born in Pennsylvania, Brown settled in Cleveland around 1870, and became the county's first African American political appointee when he was made bailiff. He later moved through the ranks of deputy sheriff, clerk for the County Board of Equalization and Assessment, and letter carrier before he ran for state representative, which he was elected in 1885. As a legislator, he worked in support of racial equality and civil rights, and against Ohio's "Black Laws." First enacted in 1803, these laws limited the freedom and rights of the state's African American residents. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: P206_B04_Brown
Subjects: African American Ohioans; Ohio House of Representatives; Ohio--Politics and government; Elected officials; Civil rights
Places: Cleveland (Ohio); Cuyahoga County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph of William Copeland (1848-1931), a Republican representative from Cincinnati and Hamilton County who served in the Ohio House of Representatives during the 68th session (1888-1889) of the General Assembly. Born in Columbus, Copeland served with the Quartermaster Department at Camp Chase as a young man during the Civil War. He then worked for the Ohio & Pennsylvania Railroad before his time on the state legislature. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: P206_B04_Copeland
Subjects: African American Ohioans; Ohio House of Representatives; Ohio--Politics and government; Elected officials;
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)