9/23/13
Richard Gunn: A Servant Heart
Richard Gunn was a man that grew up in Kansas City, Kansas but after passing the BAR exam moved to Cleveland, Ohio in 1948 to practice law as an attorney, there he became well ingrained in the Cleveland community and saw the Negros around the area go up and down with the jobs and positions that were being held by these people. It was a trying time for these people as they were trying to get their civil rights more established in American society and not just words on a paper. Gunn wanted to help these people that could not fend for themselves and through that he became involved in the educational change in the Cleveland school district trying to get Negro teachers to be allowed to teach at private schools, get young negro students into private schools, that quality education not just be given to the white people, and then getting into the business world of Negros starting their own companies. Richard Gunn was a driven man that fostered changes in how the school system works in Cleveland and along with helping Negro business owners succeed; he did this through his work with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Congress of Racial Equality.
With that being said, Dunn gave up his job as an attorney to help the civil right movement in Cleveland. He had a passion for education and was set on making all education equal for everyone and not just the privileged. The way that he helped do this was by helping several different movements in particular the United Freedom Movement. This was an organization that’s goal was to “examine the areas of education, housing, employment, health and welfare, and voting and political participation, as they related to blacks in Cleveland.” (Encyclopedia of Cleveland History) This group was key in the Freedom March on 14 July 1963 and its success. That march drew of 20,000 people to Cleveland Stadium. Not everything was so peaceful during these