Where the river burned: Carl Stokes and the struggle to save Cleveland

In the 1960s, Cleveland suffered through racial violence, spiking crime rates, and a shrinking tax base, as the city lost jobs and population.

Rats infested an expanding and decaying ghetto, Lake Erie appeared to be dying, and dangerous air pollution hung over the city.

When the Cuyahoga River caught fire in the summer of 1969, the city was polluted and impoverished.

Carl Stokes, the first African American mayor of a major US city, had come into office in Cleveland a year earlier.

He surrounded himself with a talented staff, and his administration set new policies to combat pollution, improve housing, provide recreational opportunities, and spark downtown development.

In 'Where the River Burned', the authors describe Cleveland's nascent transition from polluted industrial city to viable service city during the Stokes administration.