Mayor Goldthorpe Interview – Sept. 1968

One thing that really impresses me when I look through old Journal microfilm at the Lorain Public Library from the 60s and 70s is the number of great, full-page interviews conducted by its staff. These extensive discussions with local politicians, civic leaders and other personalities are rich with information and opinions that shed much light on what was going on in Lorain at that time.

Here’s one of those articles, published in the Journal on September 25, 1968. In it, staff writer Emory Anderson interviews former Lorain Mayor Paul J. Goldthorpe.

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Paul J. Goldthorpe
A Former Mayor 
Looks at Lorain

By EMORY ANDERSON
Staff Writer

PAUL J. GOLDTHORPE at 84 years of age is a quiet, soft-spoken man with a keen mind and the ability to remember past events and their possible relation to the future.

If many of the present readers of Lorain do not know Goldthorpe, there’s a good reason. He was mayor of Lorain in 1930 and 1931.

He was in the real estate business for years retiring to a quiet street in Amherst seven years ago. In retirement, Goldthorpe takes an active interest in civic affairs.

“I write letters to anyone I disagree with,” he said. “I have a letter to The Journal editor ready to mail right now.” And so, while the house at 157 Orchard Hill Dr. in Amherst looks like the picture of Early Americanness, inside lives a man who speaks out on many issues.

With the perspective of history, Goldthorpe feels very strongly about the location of Lorain’s new Civic Center.

“The Civic Center should not be located in the downtown Lorain area,” he said in a positive tone. “The Fourth Street location will serve only the selfish interests of a few and will ignore the best interests of the majority.”

“IT HAS LONG BEEN my feeling that Lorain will someday become a great and active seaport, and the present downtown area should be set aside for warehouses and other businesses of that type.”

“I took a walk down Broadway not long ago and interviewed some of the business owners there. Looking at the closed stores was enough to make me sick. They are suffering because of the natural growth of Lorain, geography, and short sightedness on the part of city officials years ago.”

Goldthorpe went on to point out that the growth of Lorain is away from the lake. Sections of the city to the west, south and east are growing, but to the north there is no more room.

He said that Lorain has changed from the days when he was mayor. In the 1930’s there were only a few large employers in Lorain, including the National Tube, now called U.S. Steel, Lorain Works, and American Shipbuilding Co. Lorain was then, and for many years after, only a city of working people. There were few executives and white collar workers.

“Now Lorain has become a city of middle class people,” he said. “There are many executives who now make Lorain or some of the smaller surrounding cities their home. These people have a tremendous influence for the good in the city.”

Goldthorpe pointed with evident pride to Lorain Products Co.

“THERE IS A COMPANY which started small and has grown,” he said. “There even the production workers are so highly skilled they cannot be called ‘workmen’ in the normal sense of the word.”

In a clipping from the Journal of December 1929, Goldthorpe was called “a different kind of mayor.” The article went on to say that “he talks little, and he defies all traditions and traits usually considered as a part of the average politician.

“Both friends and opponents of Mayor-elect Goldthorpe know him as a hard and persistent fighter and a conscientious  worker who has had a creditable career in public and business life in back of him.”

Talking with Goldthorpe today, it is obvious that he thrives on contact and discussion with people. Even this reporter was drawn into the discussion of civic affairs with the affable former mayor.

Goldthorpe was adamant in condemnation of short-sighted city officials in any city. “When the inter-urban was going out of business during the Depression,” Goldthorpe said, “Lorain could have easily purchased the right of way of the transit company and extended Reid Avenue. This would have greatly relieved traffic and made downtown Lorain much more accessible than it is today. But I lost that fight, and I believe that this failure is contributing to the problems businessmen along Broadway are facing today.”

“SHOPPING CENTERS HAVE really solved a problem for many Lorain people. When Sheffield Shopping Center was first opened it was wonderful to be able to shop so conveniently. Now Midway Mall has come along and the impact on Sheffield has caused a few stores to close. But mark my words, they’ll open again.”

Goldthorpe went on to point out that if growth continues for the next ten years like it has during the past decade, there will be thousands more families living in the immediate area and there will have to be hundreds more stores just to serve their everyday needs.

What about demonstrations and riots?

“It’s the parents fault,” he said with typical Goldthorpe emphasis. “If a child does not obey parents, he does not obey his teachers and he does not obey the law.”

“You know the thing on television at 11 p.m. that says, 'Do you know where your children are?’ I think it should read, ‘do you know where your parents are?’ Chances are the kids are home watching television and the parents are missing.”

At 84, Goldthorpe’s favorite subject is still the future. “I can see nothing but growth ahead for Lorain,” he said. “The new freeways being built have a unifying effect that will benefit everyone.”

A statement by Mrs Goldthorpe, who had been a listener through most of the interview, seemed to sum up her husband’s ideas.

“We’re always so happy when something good happens for Lorain,” she said.

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Former Mayor Goldthorpe makes some good points that are still applicable today. But who would have guessed in 1968 that fifty years later, Lorain would be in the shape that it is now, having lost just about all of its industries – and employers?