Racial Discrimination At Euclid Beach

After the park closed for the season, the action shifted to the chambers of the Cleveland City Council, as debate opened on an emergency ordinance to ban discrimination at amusement parks.

 Charles V. Carr wrote the ordinance which would eventually become law in February 1947.  A civil rights lawyer, he crafted the ordinance in conjunction with members of the Cleveland Community Relations Board and the NAACP. City Council created the Community Relations Board in March 1945 to improve relations among Clevelanders and ease the transition to peacetime as black and white soldiers returned from the War.  Mayor Thomas Burke’s steady - if not always outspoken - support played a key role in the passage of the ordinance, which gave the city the right to revoke an amusement park's license if it practiced any type of discrimination. This broad base of support - coming from blacks, whites, government institutions, and civil rights organizations alike - was an  encouraging example of postwar interracial unity in the city.