Chester Gillespie Explained

Chester K. Gillespie (1897–1985) was a lawyer and politician who worked for civil rights in Cleveland, Ohio.^[1]

Biography

Gillespie was born in Home City, Ohio^[2] to Warren and Lulu Trail Gillespie. He graduated from Ohio State University and then from Baldwin-Wallace College Law School in 1920. He served three terms in the Ohio General Assembly in 1933–34, 1939–40, and 1943–44. He was a Republican.^[3]

He served in the U.S. Army during World War II.^[2] He and fellow attorney Clayborne George were denied office space in buildings in downtown Cleveland because they were African American.^[4]

Gillespie served as president of the Cleveland Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1936 and 1937.^[4]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Chester K. Gillespie. cplorg.contentdm.oclc.org.
2. Web site: Chester K. Gillespie | Ohio Statehouse. ohiostatehouse.org.
3. Web site: GILLESPIE, CHESTER K.. November 18, 2019. Encyclopedia of Cleveland History | Case Western Reserve University.
4. Web site: Chester K. Gillespie - The Struggle to End "Jim Crow" in Downtown Cleveland. Rhianna. Gordon. Cleveland Historical.