Tributes are pouring in for Louis Stokes who died Tuesday night at the age of 90. From his early days as a civil rights lawyer, through three decades in the U.S. Congress, Stokes built a quiet reputation with a far-reaching impact.
His career began as an unassuming attorney, defending civil rights workers in the 1960s. In a 2009 ideastream interview, Stokes said getting justice was even more important than getting paid.
"I didn't charge anybody a dime," he recalled. "This is what I wanted to do. It was my way of being a part of the civil rights movement."
Friends say that humble attitude carried through his entire working life. His brother Carl had a much more high profile personality, which helped him get elected as the country's first black mayor of a major American city in 1967. But the more low-key Lou would win his own piece of history the following year with his election as Ohio's first African American member of Congress. He would go on to be a founding member and chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, Stokes championed funding for education, public housing and affirmative action. University of Texas Historian, Louis Moore says, Stokes' impact hasn't been fully recognized.
"Louis Stokes, at the federal level, in many ways, becomes the nation's largest spokesperson on urban issues."
Towards the end of his life, Stokes went into private practice, but still quietly gave his time to public causes. He finally succumbed to cancer Tuesday after being diagnosed in June. His death has brought an outpouring of praise from former colleagues and friends --- everyone from his Congressional heir, Marcia Fudge, to President Obama. Funeral services will be open to the public and are scheduled for early next week.
