Robert C. Henry

Infobox Mayor
name = Robert C. Henry

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image_size = 150px
birth_name = "Robert Clayton Henry"
birth_date = birth date|1921|7|16
birth_place = Springfield, Ohio, U.S.A
death_date = death date and age|1981|9|8|1921|7|16
death_place = Good Shepherd Village,
Springfield, Ohio, U.S.A
death_cause = Cancer
resting_place = Ferncliff Cemetery
Springfield, Ohio, U.S.A
spouse = Betty Jane Scott
children = Robert C. Henry II, Alan Henry, Lisa Henry
education = Wittenberg University (Springfield, Ohio), Cleveland College of Mortuary Science (Cleveland, Ohio)
occupation = Politician, funeral director
term = 1966-1968
predecessor = Maurice K. Baach
successor = Betty Brunk
party = Republican

Robert Clayton Henry (July 16, 1921 - September 8, 1981) was mayor of Springfield, Ohio from 1966 to 1968. He was the first African-American mayor of an American city of any size, though this achievement is frequently overshadowed by fellow African American mayor Carl B. Stokes, who was elected mayor of Cleveland in 1967. [ [http://www.news-reporter.com/news/2007/0201/front_page/005.html Black History Month salutes black leaders, astronauts, billionaires] ]

Henry was born in Springfield, a son of Guy Henry and Nellie Reed. He attended Wittenberg University in Springfield and the Cleveland College of Mortuary Science in Cleveland, Ohio for his degree in mortuary studies. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Central State University in 1968. [ [http://www.spr.k12.oh.us/ourDistrict/pdfs/AAODNewsRelease2-07.pdf Springfield City SchoolsAlumni Of Distinction Award Program NEWS RELEASE] ]

Henry was elected to Springfield's city commission in 1961, and began his term in January 1962. The commission then appointed him as the city's mayor in 1966, succeeding Maurice K. Baach, the city's first Jewish mayor. In 1968, he refused to run for re-election (his successor, Betty Brunk, was Springfield's first female mayor), but remained on the city commission. After finishing his term as mayor, Henry was selected as a member of a fact-finding commission to Vietnam by order of then-president, Lyndon Johnson, and later returned in 1970 under Richard M. Nixon to inspect non-military activities. In 1972, he was the Republican Party nominee for the 60th District seat in the Ohio House of Representatives, but lost in the general election.

. A fountain in downtown Springfield was dedicated to his memory, and a retirement home complex also bears his name.

Henry died in 1981 after a battle with cancer. His remains are interred in Ferncliff Cemetery Mausoleum.

Henry's former son-in-law, Tim Ayers, was also a member of Springfield's city commission, and later, mayor. All three of Henry's children currently reside in Springfield, where they continue to operate the funeral home that bears his name. It is one of, if not the only, second-generation African-American owned and operated businesses in Springfield.

References

External links

* [http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1811 Robert C. Henry - Ohio History Central]
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,834982,00.html Careers Beginning & Ending] , Time Magazine