FOUNDER
WILLIAM L. MALLORY
A native of Cincinnati's West End, Representative William L. Mallory was born in 1931. The son of a casual laborer and a domestic, his desire to be successful and his interest in politics propelled him to the Ohio House of Representatives and to years of service to the community.
Mallory attended Bloom Junior High School from 1944 to 1947. In addition to politics, he enjoyed sports, including softball and track. Mallory dropped out of school, but later graduated from East Vocational High School and entered Central State University in 1951. Following his graduation from Central State, William Mallory worked the juvenile court, as a case worker for the Hamilton County Welfare Department and as a highway inspector. He also taught elementary school for eight years in the Cincinnati Public Schools. In 1965, he was elected president of the West End Community Council. In 1966, William Mallory was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives, the beginning of a 28 year career in the Ohio legislature. Eight years later, he was elected Majority Floor Leader, the first African-American to hold that position. He retired in 1994 holding the record of being the longest serving majority leader in Ohio's history and the longest serving Ohio representative from Hamilton County.
During his service in the General Assembly, William L. Mallory sponsored or co-sponsored over 600 pieces of legislation. Highlights include legislation creating the first state-wide drug prevention program, the Urban Minority Alcohol Drug Outreach Program. His legislation also helped to finance the Riverfront Stadium and Fountain Square South in Cincinnati and created the home furlough program for non-violent prisoners upon their release from prison.
In 1986, Mallory filed a lawsuit charging discrimination in the election of judges on a countywide basis. As a result, 14 judicial districts were established, making it easier for African-American candidates to win seats in the Hamilton County Municipal Court.
In Cincinnati, Mallory played a major role in the creation of a publicly owned transit system, now known as Metro, by serving as co-chairman of the Citizen's Transportation Committee. Later during a 36 day bus strike, he and his wife organized a carpool to transport workers and students in the West End to their jobs and schools throughout the city. He also worked to create the Cincinnati Human Relations Commission which replaced the Mayor's Friendly Relations Committee. William Mallory was influential in locating the Queen City Vocational School in the West End and for creating the first community housing development corporation which built Uptown Towers.
On the national level, Representative Mallory was appointed to the National Highway Safety Advisory Committee by President Carter and to the Intergovernmental Policy Advisory Committee by President Clinton.
Mallory over his illustrious career has won many awards for his support of education, senior citizens, drug prevention and treatment, and reentry issues. Several of his awards include the City Manager's award for his contributions to the City of Cincinnati, the Martin Luther King Dream Keeper award. Central State University, awarded him an honorary doctorate of law in 1972, the first one given to an alumnus. He was also inducted into Central States University’s hall of fame and has a street named in his honor on the campus. In 2003, Mallory was chosen in a survey by WCIN as one of the 50 most influential African Americans in the last fifty years, and he received an award from the Department of Aging honoring his work establishing the Commission on Aging.. In 2008, Mallory was honored by the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber as a Great Living Cincinnatian, and in 2009 he received the Triumph Award from the Emanuel Community Center. The Mallory family was honored by the Visiting Nurse Association of Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky in 2010.
In his political career, Mallory's accomplishments included serving as chairman of the House Select Committee on Technology and as vice-chairman of the House Committee on Health Care Reform. He was co-chairman of the Hamilton County Democratic Party and president of the Black Elected Democrats of Ohio.
Since his retirement, Mallory has been engaged in numerous causes. He founded the Mallory Center for Community Development, a non-profit agency in Cincinnati, as well as the African American Historical Ball, an annual event honoring great African Americans.
Mallory has produce many great results in his public life, but none can compare to what he and his wife as produces as strong committed African American family. While in college he met his wife, Fannie. They married in 1955 and have six children, all successful in the community. William Mallory, Jr. is an Appeals District Court judge for the 1st District. Mark Mallory is Mayor of the City of Cincinnati, while Joe Mallory is an elections administrator at the Hamilton County Board of Elections. Dwayne Mallory is a Municipal Court judge in Hamilton County, and Dale Mallory serves in the Ohio General Assembly representing the 32nd Ohio House District. Leslie Denise Mallory is a sales representative for the Ohio Lottery.