Winston E. Willis
Encyclopedia
Winston Earl Willis is a formerly successful American real estate
developer who first came to local prominence in Cleveland
, Ohio
during the early 1960s. At the time, one of the most successful business owner/operators in the country, he created and controlled a corporation, University Circle Properties Development, Inc.
(UCPD, Inc.) that owned one of the most strategic and valuable real estate parcels in Cleveland and was the largest employer of blacks in that part of the country. Under his solely-owned UCPD corporation at East 105th and Euclid
, upwards of 23 successful businesses were running simultaneously and exhibiting tremendous success. Frequently referred to as “The Black Rockefeller” and “The Black Howard Hughes”, Willis was the first African-American to appear in a front page headline story of the city’s largest newspaper, that was not political or crime related. But his prolific business prowess and radical outspokenness clashed with the city’s politically powerful entities and hierarchical organization and set into motion an enmity that would lead to his eventual economic destruction. His ongoing legal battles with the city of Cleveland over ownership of his lands spans several decades, including his 2007 Petition to the U.S. Supreme Court, and continues to this day. Often described as "unique to the annals of American economic history", Willis’ place among notable Cleveland entrepreneurs has been greatly obscured by years of animosity and discord with city officials. He is one of several largely forgotten figures from the turbulent bygone era, an environment created by the explosive racial politics of America during the ’60s.
American historian and author, David J. Garrow,(1987 Pulitzer Prize Winner for Biography: Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr.
and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
) commented:
In a staff meeting with her Club Date Magazine photojournalists who had witnessed and photographed the wrecking ball demolition of Willis’ Euclid Avenue properties, prominent local community leader/publisher, Madelyne Blunt had this to say:
Montgomery
, Alabama
, the third of the five children of Clarence C. Willis and his wife, Alberta Frazier Willis, both natives of Montgomery. His formative years included a Southern boyhood of strict parental rules, traditional values and obligatory racial boundaries. Boundaries of propriety, but more importantly, boundaries for his personal safety. But even as a male Negro child living under the legalized racial restrictions of the day, he was raised to see himself as equal to any other human being. Every adult male in his large extended family owned land and operated his own business, and he was strongly influenced by the drive and work ethic of these men in his life. They ignited in him an entrepreneurial spirit and impressed upon him the enduring value of economic independence and land ownership.
The close-knit, self-sufficient black community was composed of businessmen, farmers, lawyers, domestic workers, teachers, nurses, and day-laborers who shared a unique connection and alliance that bound them together. From this group, a number of courageous individuals would be launched toward the social movement that would change history.
Among them, Mrs. Rosa Parks
a former classmate and friend of his mother’s at Miss White’s School for Girls, (aka Montgomery Industrial School) and a cousin, Bernard Scott Lee, a student leader of the Alabama Sit-In Movement, who was later chosen by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to become his personal assistant and road manager.
at the 36 acres (145,687 m²) City of St. Jude. The sprawling educational campus originally named St. Jude Educational Institute for Colored People was the creation of Pennsylvania-born Roman Catholic priest Father Harold Purcell and was founded “as a way to improve the lives of Southern Negroes”. Winston's father and older brother were among the construction crew that built the school building. The property on the outskirts of Montgomery included the school, grades K-12, the Church, a convent and rectory, and the hospital. St. Jude later served as the official campsite for the demonstrators of the famous Selma to Montgomery March
of 1965 and is now a national landmark.
, in the fall of 1954 when Winston was 14, the Willis family joined in the Great Migration
North and settled in Detroit. As with millions of other black families lining up for the tremendous exodus and Northward flow toward freedom, the Southern States reaction to the May 17 decision of Brown v. Board of Education
clearly demonstrated that there would be on-going and widespread resistance to the High Court’s ruling, another pilgrimage and escape from racial oppression was underway. In Northern cities all over the country, recently transplanted Southern Negros were settling into the complacency of the post WW-II era and newly discovered opportunities. Winston's father's years of experience as a carpet installer for the Montgomery Fair department store enabled him to find suitable employment and settle his family into a quiet neighborhood on the West side near Dearborn
. There, Winston created, published and delivered his own neighborhood advertising newspaper, the Western Detroit Shopping News. His high school career at Chadsey High School
was uneventful – and brief. Before long, his daily walks to school gave way to the enticing pull of the local billiards parlor he passed on the way and where he discovered a hidden talent. Soon he was impressing local notorious pool hall denizens with his skills, until his father discovered his extracurricular interest and began pulling him out of the pool hall on a regular basis. But despite his stern and straight-laced parents determined efforts to keep him out of that environment, he had had a glimpse of possibilities outside of the sheltered world of academia they had in mind for him.
Parlaying his winnings into capital, Willis reconsidered his original plans and decided to postpone his trip out West. The acquired experience of having operated several successful small businesses led to a quick assessment of the local college community that would prove to have been very shrewd. After securing a lease on a building that was previously an automobile dealership showroom, 19-year-old Willis opened The Jazz Temple
, a liquor-less coffeehouse/night club, to immediate success. Situated on a small triangular lot on Mayfield Road near Euclid Avenue and adjacent to the Western Reserve University campus, his institutional neighbors were the Cleveland Museum of Art
, University Hospital
, and Severance Hall
, home of the Cleveland Orchestra
. The club also bordered the ethnic enclave known as Murray Hill/Little Italy
.
Willis approached such legendary jazz artists as Miles Davis
, John Coltrane
, Dizzie Gillespie, Herbie Hancock
, Cannonball Adderley, The Ramsey Lewis Trio, and Dinah Washington
and convinced them to come to Cleveland to appear at his club. Not only did they appear and perform before standing-room-only crowds, but such notable acts at the trendy establishment also attracted visits from Malcolm X
, and Stokely Carmichael
, and booked performances from other notables such as comedians Red Foxx, Bill Cosby
, Richard Pryor
and Dick Gregory
. The popular night spot, frequently referred to as “the Jazz Mecca”, was hugely successful and became a regular hang-out for college students from throughout and around the State of Ohio. But that success was short lived. As is typical of jazz establishments – there was much race-mixing and numerous interracial couples in attendance. This triggered community wide resentment in the racially polarized community, and after months of threats and intimidation, a vanguard of vengeful racists planted a bomb in the club, thereby ending the brief history of one of the most successful jazz spots of the region.
After The Jazz Temple
was gone, Winston Willis continued on his entrepreneurial path. His Hot Potato Restaurant was one of the most successful businesses on Cleveland’s lower East side. The small restaurant proved to be the cash cow that would provide the means for his next business venture.
- the city’s so-called “cultural oasis”, he went on to purchase multiple real estate holdings in the city of Cleveland and surrounding areas of Cuyahoga County, opening wildly successful businesses and employing hundreds of blacks. He then set his sights on an opportunity to continue acquiring property and begin building his own real estate empire, but with this attempt, he fell into official disfavor with Cleveland’s white establishment community. With increasing white flight exacerbating historically polarized Cleveland communities, business owners were exiting the inner-city at warp speed. The explosive Hough Riots
of 1966 and the notorious Glenville Shootout
triggered a mass exodus from the city and rapidly dwindling patronage of numerous businesses on Euclid Avenue.
Of particular interest to Willis was one large “strategic” parcel encompassing the old Doan’s Corner, at East 105th Street and Euclid Avenue, site of the Keith's East 105th Theater where comedian Bob Hope got his start in Vaudeville
. Flanked on either side by University Circle and the Cleveland Clinic
, this acquisition by Willis followed a long and contentious legal struggle with the former titleholder, The Cleveland Trust Company, at the time Ohio’s largest bank. Every imaginable obstacle was devised and implemented to prevent him from purchasing the properties. But in spite of the clearly racially motivated efforts, and through some self-taught legal gymnastics of his own, Willis prevailed. He then went on to open and operate numerous successful businesses on the Euclid Avenue strip. Shortly thereafter, he established University Circle Properties Development, Inc.
(UCPD, Inc.) a commercial property development corporation under whose auspices the strip of Euclid Avenue businesses were run. These included restaurants, movie theaters, clothing stores, taverns, a food market, a check cashing establishment, a penny arcade, a State liquor store, and an adult book store. With bright lights, music and 24-hour security, the newly revitalized East 105th St. and Euclid Avenue corner was a spark of life for the lower East side, and frequently referred to as “an inner-city Disneyland”. At one time there were 28 simultaneously thriving businesses in operation – all either owned or operated by Willis' UCPD, Inc.
A June 1, 1973 Cleveland Press
newspaper article heralded the strip’s success in a cover story entitled: “Winston Willis’ Miracle on East 105th Street…”. During this period of time, the turbulent riot-torn ‘60s, when minimal prospects for economic advancement existed for local blacks, Winston Willis employed over 400 of his fellow citizens, placing them securely on a road to more prosperity than they had ever known. All under the watchful and resentful eyes of the white establishment community and his institutional neighbors. Willis’ expanding business empire stood in the way of the city’s plans for creating a sprawling, mega-billion-dollar medical educational metropolis connecting Case Western Reserve University
, University Hospitals, and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation
. Having formed this alliance to become one of the most dominant medical facilities in the country, they were anxious to remove the only “temporary obstacle” to their master plan – several strategically located city blocks with 28 flourishing businesses sitting right in the middle of the proposed expansion development project. Having successfully handled such “obstacles” with little resistance in the past, the group’s expectation was for similar results. Tightening their grip on surrounding properties, methodically expanding and crowding Willis’ turf, every conceivable advantage was seemingly on their side. But Willis let it be known that he wasn’t about to let go of his toehold on this corner without a fight.
Willis and his lawyers filed numerous subsequent lawsuits in the local Federal District Court and the Ohio Court of Common Pleas in an attempt to prevent the illegal takings of his lands and the unconstitutional destruction of his investment-backed business operations. No court would put a stop to any of the conduct. Without exception, every single one of Willis’ lawsuits was dismissed on motions to dismiss or summary judgements. As was frequently reported in numerous local publications at the time, the ongoing fire inspections soon gained the notoriety of a sporting event. Unscheduled, unannounced and routinely taking place at the height of business hours while the restaurants and movie theaters and other businesses were teeming with customers. In response to the city’s constant targeting and harassment of Willis, newspaper publisher, W.O. Walker’s Call & Post
ran a scathing editorial, "Fire Inspections as Weapons".
privileges, he mounted a public forum. Utilizing his in-house construction crew and a talented artist, he erected a large, very visible billboard on the side of his building overlooking Euclid Avenue, the main thoroughfare for suburban commuters to Cleveland’s downtown financial center. Initially utilizing the newly erected structure as his own personal platform and bully pulpit, he exposed, protested and criticized what he had personally experienced as corruption and cronyism among Cuyahoga County officials, the local judiciary, and so-called philanthropic institutions, and what he believed to be the rampant practice of racism in his community. The "community billboard",as it came to be known colloquially, quickly became the featured attraction for neighborhood residents and patrons of Winston’s numerous business outlets on Euclid Avenue. The copy was changed every two weeks, and was soon elevated to folklore status. His initial posted statements were bold and provocative, exhibiting a sense of moral outrage. Soon the billboard became the talk of the town. A tourist attraction and "an embarrassment" to the establishment elite and the staid University Circle
area.
As he continued to seize the opportunity to speak out against racist conditions, his words were labeled by some as “inflammatory propaganda” while attempts were made to discredit and silence him. At the time, Cleveland was “the second most racially polarized city in the nation” and blacks were being oppressed. As Willis himself said at the time: “I don’t hate whites for hating me…I just call them on it and make them admit it.” Prior to his death in 1981, Call & Post publisher and well respected force in the black community, W.O. Walker, gave the young Willis a dire warning: “Take those billboards down, son. These white people will crucify you.”
Walker, recognizing the city’s grand expansion agenda, had also attempted to use his considerable influence in the community to convince the city’s redevelopment planners that black businessmen should not be shut out of their plan, but he was unsuccessful.
From the time the Jazz Temple
was destroyed in the early ‘60s, there was an overt effort to remove Winston Willis and his businesses and employees from the University Circle area and return its so-called “cultural oasis” to its former “purity”. Rumblings of “…take back the block” reached City Hall and council meetings. City officials, the police department, and every mayoral administration (with one exception, Mayor Carl B. Stokes
) were either bemused, enthusiastic observers or active participants in the plan. But to his credit, Mayor Stokes deflected every takeover attempt that came to his attention.
Writing about the corrupt nature of Cleveland City Hall and its police force in his 1973 autobiography, Promises of Power: A Political Autobiography, Carl B. Stokes described the rampant corruption he dealt with as mayor:
, Ohio
, correctional facility he was held in solitary confinement for ten days without access to his attorneys while the taking and immediate demolition of all of his Euclid Avenue properties was executed. The entirety of these lands, buildings and business holdings were taken without payment of just compensation. After being released from prison Willis filed a legal complaint and sought the assistance of Professor Spencer Neth of Case Western Reserve University School of Law
, who is an expert in the field of commercial transactions. Professor Neth concluded and stated in his written expert opinion that the check had been paid, “the transaction was closed” and there should not have been an indictment, trial or conviction. The judge hearing the case refused to allow him to present his findings.
, Ohio
, his Euclid Avenue business compound and buildings were cordoned off and surrounded by huge numbers of the Cleveland police department, and S.W.A.T. teams. During the entirety of the 10 days of his incarceration/isolation, members of the police department’s Intelligence unit kept the entire complex surrounded on an around-the-clock basis. Unmarked police cars were stationed at each intersection leading to and from the area. As reported by numerous eyewitnesses at the scene, “the wrecking ball swung quickly and unmercifully”, flattening tall, multi-story brick buildings into a barren empty dirt lot. Within a few days, not a trace of the Willis/UCPD,Inc. business empire remained.
As noted in the reporting of hundreds of cases documented in the 2001 Associated Press
series, Torn From The Land, "...these property thefts are just the tip of one of the biggest crimes of this country's history." Dr.Raymond Winbush
, scholar/activist, director of the Institute for Urban Research at Morgan State University
, and native Clevelander.
Willis maintains that the historic pattern of land takings from blacks in this country is a continuation of slavery
.
, scholar/activist, director of the Institute for Urban Research at Morgan State University
.
Willis maintains that the historic pattern of land takings from blacks in this country is a continuation of slavery
.
"To deny a person their right to own property is a form of slavery. I am a slave without bondage."
City of St. Jude Historic District
Father Harold Purcell, C.P.
Coltrane First Hand: John Coltrane Quartet. ‘Jazz Temple’ Cleveland OH September 1963
Jazzed In Cleveland: “Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers refused to be intimidated by bomb threat at the Jazz Temple...”
Jazz Temple, 13141 Mayfield Road near Euclid Avenue. Opened in 1962 by Winston Willis who presented Art Blakey and his Jazz Messengers, Philly Joe Jones, Sonny Rollins, Horace Silver, John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Donald Byrd, Jimmy Heath, Miles Davis, Jimmy Smith, Stan Getz and Dinah Washington. Closed after a bomb explosion and a shooting incident in 1963. Singer Gloria Lynne was accidentally shot in the leg during an argument.
Spencer Neth, Professor Case Western University School of Law
B.A. 1961 (Miami University), J.D. 1964, LL.M. 1966 (Harvard)
O Theophilus: Mischief By Statute
The State is able to frame mischief (evil) into the very foundation and fabric of the law.
Barclay, Dolores; Lewan, Todd; DeSilva, Bruce “Torn From The Land” Associated Press – 2001 Three-part series documenting largely untold chapter of America's violent racial history and how black Americans lost family land over the last 150-plus years.
United States Supreme Court Docket (USSC No. 07-6132)
In Re: Winston E. Willis, Petitioner, Petition for a Writ of Mandamus and/or Prohibition.
Docketed: August 28, 2007
ClevelandSGS Blog (January 2011)
“When we think of heavyweights in Cleveland history one name comes to mind…Winston Willis.”
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
developer who first came to local prominence in Cleveland
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
during the early 1960s. At the time, one of the most successful business owner/operators in the country, he created and controlled a corporation, University Circle Properties Development, Inc.
University Circle Properties Development, Inc.
University Circle Properties Development, Inc. was a commercial property development corporation established in 1968 in Cleveland Ohio. Located in the University Circle area at the famous intersection of Euclid Avenue and East 105th Street, the area came to be known colloquially during the '60s...
(UCPD, Inc.) that owned one of the most strategic and valuable real estate parcels in Cleveland and was the largest employer of blacks in that part of the country. Under his solely-owned UCPD corporation at East 105th and Euclid
105th and Euclid
East 105th Street and Euclid Avenue is the most famous intersection in the city of Cleveland, Ohio. The legendary commercial junction consists of several blocks from East to West between 107th Street and 105th Street...
, upwards of 23 successful businesses were running simultaneously and exhibiting tremendous success. Frequently referred to as “The Black Rockefeller” and “The Black Howard Hughes”, Willis was the first African-American to appear in a front page headline story of the city’s largest newspaper, that was not political or crime related. But his prolific business prowess and radical outspokenness clashed with the city’s politically powerful entities and hierarchical organization and set into motion an enmity that would lead to his eventual economic destruction. His ongoing legal battles with the city of Cleveland over ownership of his lands spans several decades, including his 2007 Petition to the U.S. Supreme Court, and continues to this day. Often described as "unique to the annals of American economic history", Willis’ place among notable Cleveland entrepreneurs has been greatly obscured by years of animosity and discord with city officials. He is one of several largely forgotten figures from the turbulent bygone era, an environment created by the explosive racial politics of America during the ’60s.
American historian and author, David J. Garrow,(1987 Pulitzer Prize Winner for Biography: Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference is an African-American civil rights organization. SCLC was closely associated with its first president, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr...
) commented:
In a staff meeting with her Club Date Magazine photojournalists who had witnessed and photographed the wrecking ball demolition of Willis’ Euclid Avenue properties, prominent local community leader/publisher, Madelyne Blunt had this to say:
Family background
Willis was born in pre-Civil Rights MovementCivil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...
Montgomery
Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...
, Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, the third of the five children of Clarence C. Willis and his wife, Alberta Frazier Willis, both natives of Montgomery. His formative years included a Southern boyhood of strict parental rules, traditional values and obligatory racial boundaries. Boundaries of propriety, but more importantly, boundaries for his personal safety. But even as a male Negro child living under the legalized racial restrictions of the day, he was raised to see himself as equal to any other human being. Every adult male in his large extended family owned land and operated his own business, and he was strongly influenced by the drive and work ethic of these men in his life. They ignited in him an entrepreneurial spirit and impressed upon him the enduring value of economic independence and land ownership.
The close-knit, self-sufficient black community was composed of businessmen, farmers, lawyers, domestic workers, teachers, nurses, and day-laborers who shared a unique connection and alliance that bound them together. From this group, a number of courageous individuals would be launched toward the social movement that would change history.
Among them, Mrs. Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks
Rosa Louise McCauley Parks was an African-American civil rights activist, whom the U.S. Congress called "the first lady of civil rights", and "the mother of the freedom movement"....
a former classmate and friend of his mother’s at Miss White’s School for Girls, (aka Montgomery Industrial School) and a cousin, Bernard Scott Lee, a student leader of the Alabama Sit-In Movement, who was later chosen by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to become his personal assistant and road manager.
Early Life (1939–1954)
The Willis children attended St. Jude Educational InstituteSt. Jude Educational Institute
St. Jude Educational Institute is a private, Roman Catholic high school in Montgomery, Alabama. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mobile, and was built as "the City of St. Jude" by Father Harold Purcell for the advancement of the Negro people....
at the 36 acres (145,687 m²) City of St. Jude. The sprawling educational campus originally named St. Jude Educational Institute for Colored People was the creation of Pennsylvania-born Roman Catholic priest Father Harold Purcell and was founded “as a way to improve the lives of Southern Negroes”. Winston's father and older brother were among the construction crew that built the school building. The property on the outskirts of Montgomery included the school, grades K-12, the Church, a convent and rectory, and the hospital. St. Jude later served as the official campsite for the demonstrators of the famous Selma to Montgomery March
Selma to Montgomery marches
The Selma to Montgomery marches were three marches in 1965 that marked the political and emotional peak of the American civil rights movement. They grew out of the voting rights movement in Selma, Alabama, launched by local African-Americans who formed the Dallas County Voters League...
of 1965 and is now a national landmark.
The Detroit Years (1954–1958)
Just one year prior to the Montgomery Bus BoycottMontgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a political and social protest campaign that started in 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, USA, intended to oppose the city's policy of racial segregation on its public transit system. Many important figures in the civil rights movement were involved in the boycott,...
, in the fall of 1954 when Winston was 14, the Willis family joined in the Great Migration
Second Great Migration (African American)
The Second Great Migration was the migration of more than 5 million African Americans from the South to the North, Midwest and West. It took place from 1941, through World War II, and lasted until 1970. It was much larger and of a different character than the first Great Migration...
North and settled in Detroit. As with millions of other black families lining up for the tremendous exodus and Northward flow toward freedom, the Southern States reaction to the May 17 decision of Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 , was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students unconstitutional. The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896 which...
clearly demonstrated that there would be on-going and widespread resistance to the High Court’s ruling, another pilgrimage and escape from racial oppression was underway. In Northern cities all over the country, recently transplanted Southern Negros were settling into the complacency of the post WW-II era and newly discovered opportunities. Winston's father's years of experience as a carpet installer for the Montgomery Fair department store enabled him to find suitable employment and settle his family into a quiet neighborhood on the West side near Dearborn
Dearborn
-Places:In the United States, all named after Henry Dearborn :* Dearborn, Michigan* Dearborn, Missouri* Dearborn County, Indiana* Fort Dearborn * Fort Dearborn , in present-day Odiorne State Park...
. There, Winston created, published and delivered his own neighborhood advertising newspaper, the Western Detroit Shopping News. His high school career at Chadsey High School
Chadsey High School
Chadsey Senior High School was a public secondary school in Detroit, Michigan.-History:Chadsey Senior High School was named in honor of Charles E. Chadsey - Superintendent of the Detroit Public Schools, 1912–1919; Chadsey High was constructed and organized in 1931...
was uneventful – and brief. Before long, his daily walks to school gave way to the enticing pull of the local billiards parlor he passed on the way and where he discovered a hidden talent. Soon he was impressing local notorious pool hall denizens with his skills, until his father discovered his extracurricular interest and began pulling him out of the pool hall on a regular basis. But despite his stern and straight-laced parents determined efforts to keep him out of that environment, he had had a glimpse of possibilities outside of the sheltered world of academia they had in mind for him.
Early Business Ventures
Winston’s restless entrepreneurial spirit kept him in perpetual motion, in a universe of his own ideas. He then sold Collier's Encyclopedias door-to-door. The latter venture got him arrested on a regular basis “for loitering” (in a suit and tie) in affluent white neighborhoods. Later, his knowledge of the floor covering trade, which he learned at his father’s side, led him to be hired on at an East side Detroit retail tile store, and within a very short time, he had advanced to manager. With such promise he was expected to continue to establish a stronghold locally, but he knew that the success and kind of life he wanted lay outside the boundaries of Detroit. His plan was to head for Hollywood, where he would become the first successful black movie producer. But shortly before setting out on this odyssey with a neighborhood buddy, he took a brief side trip to Cleveland (at his mother’s insistence) for a short visit with relatives.Business Career (1958–1963)
Arriving in Cleveland in 1958 for what was to be a brief stop-over turned out to be a detour of unexpected fortuity. Following a four-day junket with his lucky pool cue and a few games of One-Pocket, which netted the pair several thousand dollars, they decided to stay a few weeks, picking up games where ever they could to finance the planned trip to the West coast. During this time, he met and became friends with another pool-hall devotee, Carl Stokes, who later was elected mayor.Parlaying his winnings into capital, Willis reconsidered his original plans and decided to postpone his trip out West. The acquired experience of having operated several successful small businesses led to a quick assessment of the local college community that would prove to have been very shrewd. After securing a lease on a building that was previously an automobile dealership showroom, 19-year-old Willis opened The Jazz Temple
The Jazz Temple
The Jazz Temple was a coffeehouse/nightclub located in the University Circle area of Cleveland, Ohio. The club’s name was chosen by the owner, Winston E. Willis, to symbolize a devout gathering place dedicated to the icons of the jazz world where these artists would be collectively enjoyed and...
, a liquor-less coffeehouse/night club, to immediate success. Situated on a small triangular lot on Mayfield Road near Euclid Avenue and adjacent to the Western Reserve University campus, his institutional neighbors were the Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland Museum of Art
The Cleveland Museum of Art is an art museum situated in the Wade Park District, in the University Circle neighborhood on Cleveland's east side. Internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian and Egyptian art, the museum houses a diverse permanent collection of more than 43,000...
, University Hospital
University Hospitals of Cleveland
University Hospitals is a major not-for-profit medical center in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Case Medical Center is the primary affiliate hospital of Case Western Reserve University - a relationship that was first established in 1896...
, and Severance Hall
Severance Hall
Severance Hall is a concert hall located in the University Circle neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio. The hall has been the home of the Cleveland Orchestra since its opening on February 5, 1931...
, home of the Cleveland Orchestra
Cleveland Orchestra
The Cleveland Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. It is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1918, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Severance Hall...
. The club also bordered the ethnic enclave known as Murray Hill/Little Italy
Little Italy
Little Italy is a general name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an urban neighborhood.-Canada:*Little Italy, Edmonton, in Alberta*Little Italy, Montreal, in Quebec...
.
Willis approached such legendary jazz artists as Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
, John Coltrane
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
, Dizzie Gillespie, Herbie Hancock
Herbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
, Cannonball Adderley, The Ramsey Lewis Trio, and Dinah Washington
Dinah Washington
Dinah Washington, born Ruth Lee Jones , was an American blues, R&B and jazz singer. She has been cited as "the most popular black female recording artist of the '50s", and called "The Queen of the Blues"...
and convinced them to come to Cleveland to appear at his club. Not only did they appear and perform before standing-room-only crowds, but such notable acts at the trendy establishment also attracted visits from Malcolm X
Malcolm X
Malcolm X , born Malcolm Little and also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz , was an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate for the rights of African Americans, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its...
, and Stokely Carmichael
Stokely Carmichael
Kwame Ture , also known as Stokely Carmichael, was a Trinidadian-American black activist active in the 1960s American Civil Rights Movement. He rose to prominence first as a leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and later as the "Honorary Prime Minister" of the Black Panther Party...
, and booked performances from other notables such as comedians Red Foxx, Bill Cosby
Bill Cosby
William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show, I Spy. He later starred in his own series, the...
, Richard Pryor
Richard Pryor
Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor was an American stand-up comedian, actor, social critic, writer and MC. Pryor was known for uncompromising examinations of racism and topical contemporary issues, which employed colorful vulgarities, and profanity, as well as racial epithets...
and Dick Gregory
Dick Gregory
Richard Claxton "Dick" Gregory is an American comedian, social activist, social critic, writer, and entrepreneur....
. The popular night spot, frequently referred to as “the Jazz Mecca”, was hugely successful and became a regular hang-out for college students from throughout and around the State of Ohio. But that success was short lived. As is typical of jazz establishments – there was much race-mixing and numerous interracial couples in attendance. This triggered community wide resentment in the racially polarized community, and after months of threats and intimidation, a vanguard of vengeful racists planted a bomb in the club, thereby ending the brief history of one of the most successful jazz spots of the region.
After The Jazz Temple
The Jazz Temple
The Jazz Temple was a coffeehouse/nightclub located in the University Circle area of Cleveland, Ohio. The club’s name was chosen by the owner, Winston E. Willis, to symbolize a devout gathering place dedicated to the icons of the jazz world where these artists would be collectively enjoyed and...
was gone, Winston Willis continued on his entrepreneurial path. His Hot Potato Restaurant was one of the most successful businesses on Cleveland’s lower East side. The small restaurant proved to be the cash cow that would provide the means for his next business venture.
Building An Empire (1968 - 1982)
Venturing into the racially-restricted never-land of University CircleUniversity Circle
University Circle, is a neighborhood located on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio. It is best known for its world-class cultural, educational and medical institutions, including the Cleveland Orchestra, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland Museum of Art, Lakeview Cemetery, and University...
- the city’s so-called “cultural oasis”, he went on to purchase multiple real estate holdings in the city of Cleveland and surrounding areas of Cuyahoga County, opening wildly successful businesses and employing hundreds of blacks. He then set his sights on an opportunity to continue acquiring property and begin building his own real estate empire, but with this attempt, he fell into official disfavor with Cleveland’s white establishment community. With increasing white flight exacerbating historically polarized Cleveland communities, business owners were exiting the inner-city at warp speed. The explosive Hough Riots
Hough Riots
The 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 and the notorious Glenville Shootout
Glenville Shootout
The Glenville Shootout was a series of events of violent acts that occurred in the Glenville section of Cleveland, Ohio, United States, from the dates of July 23–28, 1968...
triggered a mass exodus from the city and rapidly dwindling patronage of numerous businesses on Euclid Avenue.
Of particular interest to Willis was one large “strategic” parcel encompassing the old Doan’s Corner, at East 105th Street and Euclid Avenue, site of the Keith's East 105th Theater where comedian Bob Hope got his start in Vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
. Flanked on either side by University Circle and the Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland Clinic
The Cleveland Clinic is a multispecialty academic medical center located in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. The Cleveland Clinic is currently regarded as one of the top 4 hospitals in the United States as rated by U.S. News & World Report...
, this acquisition by Willis followed a long and contentious legal struggle with the former titleholder, The Cleveland Trust Company, at the time Ohio’s largest bank. Every imaginable obstacle was devised and implemented to prevent him from purchasing the properties. But in spite of the clearly racially motivated efforts, and through some self-taught legal gymnastics of his own, Willis prevailed. He then went on to open and operate numerous successful businesses on the Euclid Avenue strip. Shortly thereafter, he established University Circle Properties Development, Inc.
University Circle Properties Development, Inc.
University Circle Properties Development, Inc. was a commercial property development corporation established in 1968 in Cleveland Ohio. Located in the University Circle area at the famous intersection of Euclid Avenue and East 105th Street, the area came to be known colloquially during the '60s...
(UCPD, Inc.) a commercial property development corporation under whose auspices the strip of Euclid Avenue businesses were run. These included restaurants, movie theaters, clothing stores, taverns, a food market, a check cashing establishment, a penny arcade, a State liquor store, and an adult book store. With bright lights, music and 24-hour security, the newly revitalized East 105th St. and Euclid Avenue corner was a spark of life for the lower East side, and frequently referred to as “an inner-city Disneyland”. At one time there were 28 simultaneously thriving businesses in operation – all either owned or operated by Willis' UCPD, Inc.
A June 1, 1973 Cleveland Press
Cleveland Press
The Cleveland Press was a daily American newspaper published in Cleveland, Ohio from November 2, 1878, through June 17, 1982. From 1928 to 1966, the paper's editor was Louis Seltzer....
newspaper article heralded the strip’s success in a cover story entitled: “Winston Willis’ Miracle on East 105th Street…”. During this period of time, the turbulent riot-torn ‘60s, when minimal prospects for economic advancement existed for local blacks, Winston Willis employed over 400 of his fellow citizens, placing them securely on a road to more prosperity than they had ever known. All under the watchful and resentful eyes of the white establishment community and his institutional neighbors. Willis’ expanding business empire stood in the way of the city’s plans for creating a sprawling, mega-billion-dollar medical educational metropolis connecting Case Western Reserve University
Case Western Reserve University
Case Western Reserve University is a private research university located in Cleveland, Ohio, USA...
, University Hospitals, and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation
Cleveland Clinic
The Cleveland Clinic is a multispecialty academic medical center located in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. The Cleveland Clinic is currently regarded as one of the top 4 hospitals in the United States as rated by U.S. News & World Report...
. Having formed this alliance to become one of the most dominant medical facilities in the country, they were anxious to remove the only “temporary obstacle” to their master plan – several strategically located city blocks with 28 flourishing businesses sitting right in the middle of the proposed expansion development project. Having successfully handled such “obstacles” with little resistance in the past, the group’s expectation was for similar results. Tightening their grip on surrounding properties, methodically expanding and crowding Willis’ turf, every conceivable advantage was seemingly on their side. But Willis let it be known that he wasn’t about to let go of his toehold on this corner without a fight.
Legal Battles – Defending His Property Rights
As reported in the local press, “…Willis, who has made a battleground of the courts in his fight… is on the legal rampage again.” Other headlines followed, such as "Willis Alleges Land Squeeze In Area Around E. 105 and Euclid” alerting all concerned of his intentions to defend his property rights. It would prove to be a clash of titans. And as the enmity escalated, so did an endless course of harassment, police raids, bogus citations, arrests, bad faith criminal indictments, fires of suspicious origin, illegal break-ins and excessively frequent fire inspections. Whenever Willis challenged any of the unconstitutional conduct in the courts, the judicial authorities would repeatedly stay their hands, declining his requests for injunctive relief, and dismissing the action. The millions of dollars he was paying to the team of high-profile high-priced lawyers “…was like throwing money into the wind for all the good it did.” A July 13, 1977 front page Plain Dealer article reports: “Cleveland businessman, Winston E. Willis yesterday filed a $100 million dollar lawsuit charging that the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, University Circle Inc.,(UCI) and others are monopolizing real estate and violating antitrust laws. Willis, who owns a strip of shops and offices on Euclid Avenue between E. 105th and E. 107th Streets, said he and his tenants are being forced out of business.Willis and his lawyers filed numerous subsequent lawsuits in the local Federal District Court and the Ohio Court of Common Pleas in an attempt to prevent the illegal takings of his lands and the unconstitutional destruction of his investment-backed business operations. No court would put a stop to any of the conduct. Without exception, every single one of Willis’ lawsuits was dismissed on motions to dismiss or summary judgements. As was frequently reported in numerous local publications at the time, the ongoing fire inspections soon gained the notoriety of a sporting event. Unscheduled, unannounced and routinely taking place at the height of business hours while the restaurants and movie theaters and other businesses were teeming with customers. In response to the city’s constant targeting and harassment of Willis, newspaper publisher, W.O. Walker’s Call & Post
Call and Post
The Call and Post is an African American newspaper, based in Cleveland, Ohio. It was established in 1928 as a merger between the Cleveland Call and the Cleveland Post, two newspapers which had been serving the African American community since 1920. -Additional reading:*Ross, Felecia G. Jones...
ran a scathing editorial, "Fire Inspections as Weapons".
Controversy - The Billboards
With the unrelenting levying of these inspections, and with no access to justice or recourse in the civil courthouse, Willis realized that there was no legal remedy available to him in the State of Ohio. Exercising his First AmendmentFirst Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
privileges, he mounted a public forum. Utilizing his in-house construction crew and a talented artist, he erected a large, very visible billboard on the side of his building overlooking Euclid Avenue, the main thoroughfare for suburban commuters to Cleveland’s downtown financial center. Initially utilizing the newly erected structure as his own personal platform and bully pulpit, he exposed, protested and criticized what he had personally experienced as corruption and cronyism among Cuyahoga County officials, the local judiciary, and so-called philanthropic institutions, and what he believed to be the rampant practice of racism in his community. The "community billboard",as it came to be known colloquially, quickly became the featured attraction for neighborhood residents and patrons of Winston’s numerous business outlets on Euclid Avenue. The copy was changed every two weeks, and was soon elevated to folklore status. His initial posted statements were bold and provocative, exhibiting a sense of moral outrage. Soon the billboard became the talk of the town. A tourist attraction and "an embarrassment" to the establishment elite and the staid University Circle
University Circle
University Circle, is a neighborhood located on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio. It is best known for its world-class cultural, educational and medical institutions, including the Cleveland Orchestra, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland Museum of Art, Lakeview Cemetery, and University...
area.
As he continued to seize the opportunity to speak out against racist conditions, his words were labeled by some as “inflammatory propaganda” while attempts were made to discredit and silence him. At the time, Cleveland was “the second most racially polarized city in the nation” and blacks were being oppressed. As Willis himself said at the time: “I don’t hate whites for hating me…I just call them on it and make them admit it.” Prior to his death in 1981, Call & Post publisher and well respected force in the black community, W.O. Walker, gave the young Willis a dire warning: “Take those billboards down, son. These white people will crucify you.”
Walker, recognizing the city’s grand expansion agenda, had also attempted to use his considerable influence in the community to convince the city’s redevelopment planners that black businessmen should not be shut out of their plan, but he was unsuccessful.
From the time the Jazz Temple
The Jazz Temple
The Jazz Temple was a coffeehouse/nightclub located in the University Circle area of Cleveland, Ohio. The club’s name was chosen by the owner, Winston E. Willis, to symbolize a devout gathering place dedicated to the icons of the jazz world where these artists would be collectively enjoyed and...
was destroyed in the early ‘60s, there was an overt effort to remove Winston Willis and his businesses and employees from the University Circle area and return its so-called “cultural oasis” to its former “purity”. Rumblings of “…take back the block” reached City Hall and council meetings. City officials, the police department, and every mayoral administration (with one exception, Mayor Carl B. Stokes
Carl B. Stokes
Carl 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 the first African American mayor of a major U.S. city. Fellow Ohioan Robert C. Henry was the first African...
) were either bemused, enthusiastic observers or active participants in the plan. But to his credit, Mayor Stokes deflected every takeover attempt that came to his attention.
Writing about the corrupt nature of Cleveland City Hall and its police force in his 1973 autobiography, Promises of Power: A Political Autobiography, Carl B. Stokes described the rampant corruption he dealt with as mayor:
Gunpoint Seizures/Evictions
The warnings were ominous and frequent. But Willis ignored them, speaking out and demanding his constitutional rights in stentorian tones. In the end, however, the usual protective provisions of the law would not be applicable to him. The gunpoint seizure/evictions occurred and continued regularly over a period of years, in spite of Willis’ attempts in the courts to prevent them. During one episode in 1997, sixteen 22 feet (6.7 m) truckloads of business inventory and personal property was seized and removed from the 200000 square feet (18,580.6 m²) four building complex.Silenced
Finally, in spite of Willis’ defensive efforts, his politically powerful opponents, utilizing the city’s police powers and local judiciary, “framed a mischief and called it law.” Accused of having written “a $421 bad check” to a local lumber company, he was indicted by a grand jury and arrested on the charge that was later proven to be false. During his imprisonment at a ChillicotheChillicothe, Ohio
Chillicothe is a city in and the county seat of Ross County, Ohio, United States.Chillicothe was the first and third capital of Ohio and is located in southern Ohio along the Scioto River. The name comes from the Shawnee name Chalahgawtha, meaning "principal town", as it was a major settlement of...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, correctional facility he was held in solitary confinement for ten days without access to his attorneys while the taking and immediate demolition of all of his Euclid Avenue properties was executed. The entirety of these lands, buildings and business holdings were taken without payment of just compensation. After being released from prison Willis filed a legal complaint and sought the assistance of Professor Spencer Neth of Case Western Reserve University School of Law
Case Western Reserve University School of Law
Case Western Reserve University Franklin Thomas Backus School of Law is the law school at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. It opened in 1892, making it one of the oldest law schools in the country. It was one of the first schools accredited by the American Bar Association and was...
, who is an expert in the field of commercial transactions. Professor Neth concluded and stated in his written expert opinion that the check had been paid, “the transaction was closed” and there should not have been an indictment, trial or conviction. The judge hearing the case refused to allow him to present his findings.
Wrecking Ball – The Empire Falls - (1982)
With Willis isolated in solitary confinement 190 miles (305.8 km) away in ChillicotheChillicothe, Ohio
Chillicothe is a city in and the county seat of Ross County, Ohio, United States.Chillicothe was the first and third capital of Ohio and is located in southern Ohio along the Scioto River. The name comes from the Shawnee name Chalahgawtha, meaning "principal town", as it was a major settlement of...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, his Euclid Avenue business compound and buildings were cordoned off and surrounded by huge numbers of the Cleveland police department, and S.W.A.T. teams. During the entirety of the 10 days of his incarceration/isolation, members of the police department’s Intelligence unit kept the entire complex surrounded on an around-the-clock basis. Unmarked police cars were stationed at each intersection leading to and from the area. As reported by numerous eyewitnesses at the scene, “the wrecking ball swung quickly and unmercifully”, flattening tall, multi-story brick buildings into a barren empty dirt lot. Within a few days, not a trace of the Willis/UCPD,Inc. business empire remained.
As noted in the reporting of hundreds of cases documented in the 2001 Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
series, Torn From The Land, "...these property thefts are just the tip of one of the biggest crimes of this country's history." Dr.Raymond Winbush
Raymond Winbush
Raymond A. Winbush is an American-African, scholar/activist who is Director of the Institute for Urban Research at Morgan State University....
, scholar/activist, director of the Institute for Urban Research at Morgan State University
Morgan State University
Morgan State University, formerly Centenary Biblical Institute , Morgan College and Morgan State College , is a historically black college in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Morgan is Maryland's designated public urban university and the largest HBCU in the state of Maryland...
, and native Clevelander.
Willis maintains that the historic pattern of land takings from blacks in this country is a continuation of slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
.
Recent years
After decades in Cleveland courtrooms fighting to defend and protect his property rights, Willis has become somewhat of a legal scholar, living a quiet life in the shadow of his former empire, far removed from the life he once lived. Since the massive destruction of his large business empire in 1982, one singular obsession has occupied his mind to the exclusion of all else: “Payment for my lands and my federally guaranteed relocation benefits.” Most recently in his ongoing quest, he successfully prepared a Petition for Writ of Mandamus to the United States Supreme Court. His petition was accepted and docketed. A short time later however, he received word of the high Court’s denial. But rather than surrender to defeat and become another sad statistic among fellow African-American land theft victims, he continues to fight for his constitutionally guaranteed property rights. As noted in the reporting of hundreds of other cases documented in the 2001 Associated Press series Torn From The Land, "… these property thefts are just the tip of one of the biggest crimes of this country's history." - Dr. Raymond WinbushRaymond Winbush
Raymond A. Winbush is an American-African, scholar/activist who is Director of the Institute for Urban Research at Morgan State University....
, scholar/activist, director of the Institute for Urban Research at Morgan State University
Morgan State University
Morgan State University, formerly Centenary Biblical Institute , Morgan College and Morgan State College , is a historically black college in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Morgan is Maryland's designated public urban university and the largest HBCU in the state of Maryland...
.
Willis maintains that the historic pattern of land takings from blacks in this country is a continuation of slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
.
"To deny a person their right to own property is a form of slavery. I am a slave without bondage."
See also
- Parks, Rosa, (with Jim Haskins) (1992). My Story, (NY: Scholastic Inc.) ISBN 0-590-46538-4.
- Robinson, Jo Ann Gibson “The Montgomery Bus Boycott And The Women Who Started It”, University of Tennessee Press; 1ST edition (April 1987) ISBN 0870495275
- Mary Ruth Coffman, (1984). Build Me A City: The Life of Father Harold Purcell, Founder of the City of St. Jude, Montgomery, Alabama (Pioneer Press) ISBN 978-9996668463.
- Stokes, Carl B., (1973). Promises of Power: A Political Autobiography, (Simon & Schuster) 9 (131), 11;(171). ISBN 0671216023.
External links
- http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/civilrights/al5.htm
City of St. Jude Historic District
- http://www.cpprovince.org/archives/biographical/purcell-harold.php
Father Harold Purcell, C.P.
- http://home.att.net/~dawild/jcfh630900.htm
Coltrane First Hand: John Coltrane Quartet. ‘Jazz Temple’ Cleveland OH September 1963
- http://www.cleveland.oh.us/wmv_news/jazz20.htm
Jazzed In Cleveland: “Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers refused to be intimidated by bomb threat at the Jazz Temple...”
- http://www.cleveland.oh.us/wmv_news/jazz49.htm
Jazz Temple, 13141 Mayfield Road near Euclid Avenue. Opened in 1962 by Winston Willis who presented Art Blakey and his Jazz Messengers, Philly Joe Jones, Sonny Rollins, Horace Silver, John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Donald Byrd, Jimmy Heath, Miles Davis, Jimmy Smith, Stan Getz and Dinah Washington. Closed after a bomb explosion and a shooting incident in 1963. Singer Gloria Lynne was accidentally shot in the leg during an argument.
- http://law.case.edu/faculty/faculty_detail.asp?adj=0&id=140
Spencer Neth, Professor Case Western University School of Law
B.A. 1961 (Miami University), J.D. 1964, LL.M. 1966 (Harvard)
- http://www.scholarscorner.com/otheo/3.1.mischief.htm
O Theophilus: Mischief By Statute
The State is able to frame mischief (evil) into the very foundation and fabric of the law.
- http://www.theauthenticvoice.org/Torn_From_The_Land_Intro.html
Barclay, Dolores; Lewan, Todd; DeSilva, Bruce “Torn From The Land” Associated Press – 2001 Three-part series documenting largely untold chapter of America's violent racial history and how black Americans lost family land over the last 150-plus years.
- http://www.supremecourt.gov/
United States Supreme Court Docket (USSC No. 07-6132)
In Re: Winston E. Willis, Petitioner, Petition for a Writ of Mandamus and/or Prohibition.
Docketed: August 28, 2007
- http://clevelandsgs.com/blog/?p=826
ClevelandSGS Blog (January 2011)
“When we think of heavyweights in Cleveland history one name comes to mind…Winston Willis.”