Born into a wealthy family in 1854, Tom L. Johnson did not originally have political intentions or aspirations. Instead, he started off as an inventor and street railway magnate with holdings in companies in Indianapolis, St. Louis, Missouri, Brooklyn, New York, and Cleveland.
In the 1880s, Johnson became involved in politics after being influenced by the progressive ideas of Henry George. He became an advocate of free trade and the single land tax. These values were often seen as a contradiction to the ideas and practices that made Johnson rich in the past. Some opponent claimed that his past thus made his new-found ideals and claims hard to trust. Even so, Johnson was elected to the US House of Representatives in 1890 and won the mayoral race in Cleveland in 1901.
As mayor of Cleveland, Johnson represented the ideals of the Progressive movement, seeking to use government to counter the strength of big businesses and bring relief to those struggling to make ends meet. He fought against monopolies by supporting the municipal ownership of public utilities. He also fought against the city's streetcar companies in a long struggle to lower the fare to 3 cents. He supported efforts to aid Cleveland's poor residents by building public bathhouses, expanding the city's park system (as well as removing all "keep off the grass" signs), and improving public services. Under his leadership, the Group Plan Commission was formed and developed an ambitious plan to reshape the city.
Tom Johnson was re-elected for three terms. His defeat in 1909 ended what some historians have regarded as one of the greatest mayoralties in American history. In many ways, Johnson revitalized Cleveland and made the city into a lively, popular American city as concerned for the well-being of its citizens as it was for its industry. Four years after his death, an immortalized bronze likeness took his seat on Public Square in 1915.
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]]>The Cleveland Plain Dealer was founded as a weekly newspaper on January 7, 1842 by Joseph Gray. By 1845 it had transitioned to an evening daily. Joseph Gray died in 1862, and his paper was controlled by a series of editors until Liberty Holden purchased the paper in 1885. Holden introduced a number of changes to the paper, such as adding a morning and Sunday edition, and by 1905 had abandoned the evening edition. He also took the paper in a completely different editorial direction, ignoring Gray's politically slanted coverage (the paper had been an ardent supporter of the Democratic Party) and instead assuring readers that "We shall at all times be watchful of the right man, holding that man is superior to party and that all government should be for the good of the governed."
Liberty Holden was born in Maine and began his career as a teacher at the age of 16. In 1856, Holden began attending the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. After completing his education he became a professor of literature at Kalamazoo College where he met his wife, Delia, and married in 1860. He moved to Cleveland in 1862 to study law and also began investing in mining interests around the country. Holden purchased the Plain Dealer in 1885, and his heirs owned the paper until the late 1960s.
Holden also owned the Hollenden Hotel, one of the most glamorous hotels in Cleveland. The 8-story hotel at Superior and East 6th Street opened in 1885 and featured electric lights, 100 private baths, fireproof construction, and a lavish interior with crystal chandeliers. Holden, as president of Cleveland's building committee, also played an important role in the construction of Wade Park, Rockefeller Park and the Cleveland Museum of Art. He served as Mayor of Bratenahl for a time, too. Liberty Holden died in 1913.
Upon Holden's death in 1913 the Plain Dealer was transferred to his heirs. In 1933, the Plain Dealer purchased the Cleveland News and became the largest newspaper in Cleveland, although it continued to operate the two papers independently. In 1960 the Cleveland News was sold to the Cleveland Press, and The Plain Dealer moved to its present location, the Cleveland News building, at E. 18th and Superior.
Following the demise of the Cleveland Press in 1982, the Plain Dealer became Cleveland's only major daily newspaper.
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