Famous Ohioans: Clarence Seavers

Pick up a copy of this Weekender (Feb. 19-20) newspaper that includes a special section containing profiles of Famous Ohioans. Clarence Seavers Sandusky civil rights advocate Vitals Birthdate: Aug. 13, 1919 Birthplace: Sandusky, Ohio Death date: April 1, 2008 Age at death: 88 Burial Location: Meadow Green Memorial Park Cemetery, Huron Spouse: Juanita (Jackson) Seavers Quote: "I was the first Black clerk in the Sandusky Post Office. I worked there for 28 years before I retired." – Clarence Seavers Roles • First Black clerk at the Sandusky Post Office. • Prominent Democratic Party activist known by top politicians across Ohio. Education Seavers was a 1937 graduate of Sandusky High School and attended Bowling Green State University for one year. Important Events • During World War II, Seavers was drafted and served in the 811th Aviation Engineer Battalion during World War II, building airports in the Pacific. He was sent to Missouri, New York, Panama and then various islands in the Pacific. Seavers' unit built the airstrip on Iwo Jima used by the B-29 bombers which brought the war to a close by dropping two atomic bombs on Japan. Seavers told the Register in a 2007 interview that Black people loyally served during World War II, despite not being treated fairly in the U.S. "The future of the country was at stake. They felt they had to do their part like everybody else," he said. • Seavers was a prominent member of the Democratic Party. When a dinner was organized in his honor in 1987, Gov. Ted Strickland and U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown came to Erie County to participate in honoring Seavers. Seavers explained that the Democratic Party has been a key ally in helping Black people overcome discrimination. "My dad told me you have only two ways to get in the mainstream — to have money or go into politics," Seavers said. Seavers said his whole family "didn't have $2 between them," so that left politics. • Describing what it was like growing up Black in Sandusky, Seavers said that while Sandusky's public school system was integrated, Blacks ran into unfair treatment in many ways. For example, at most movie theaters, Black people had to sit in the balcony. "At the State Theater, you could go, but you had to sit upstairs. At the Ohio Theater, you could go, but you had to sit upstairs," Seavers said. The Plaza Theater had the same rules. Only the worst theater in town, the Sandusky, allowed Black people to sit anywhere they wanted.