Edward Crump
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Edward Hull "Boss" Crump Jr. (October 2, 1874 – October 16, 1954) was an American politician from
Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...
. Representing the
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, he was the dominant force in the city's politics for most of the first half of the 20th century, during which the city had a commission form of government. He also usually dominated
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politics from the 1920s to the 1940s. He was elected and served as
mayor of Memphis This is a list of mayors of Memphis, Tennessee. See also * Timeline of Memphis, Tennessee References External linksMemphis Mayor's Office - MemphisTN.gov {{Memphis, Tennessee Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of ...
from 1910 to 1915 and again briefly in 1940. However, he effectively appointed every mayor who was elected from 1915 to 1954.


Career

A native of Holly Springs in northern
Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
, nineteen-year-old Crump moved to Memphis, Tennessee, on September 21, 1893, according to the ''Holly Springs Reporter''. When he first arrived in Memphis, the ongoing
Panic of 1893 The Panic of 1893 was an economic depression in the United States that began in 1893 and ended in 1897. It deeply affected every sector of the economy, and produced political upheaval that led to the political realignment of 1896 and the pres ...
, possibly the worst recession in the United States to that time, made it hard for Crump to find work. Eventually, he obtained a clerical position with the Walter Goodman Cotton Company, on Front Street in downtown Memphis. This was the start of his successful business career as a broker and trader. Early in 1901, Crump began seriously courting 23-year-old Bessie Byrd McLean. Bessie (or "Betty") McLean, the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Robert McLean (Mr. McLean was then the vice president of the William R. Moore Dry Goods Company), was a prominent Memphis
socialite A socialite is a person from a wealthy and (possibly) aristocratic background, who is prominent in high society. A socialite generally spends a significant amount of time attending various fashionable social gatherings, instead of having traditio ...
and considered "one of the city's most beautiful and most sought after women."William D. Miller, ''Mr. Crump of Memphis'', p. 38. Crump and McLean were married on January 22, 1902, at the Calvary Episcopal Church.


Politics

Alongside his rising business career, Crump began to make the political connections that served him for the rest of his life. He was a delegate to the Tennessee Democratic State Convention in 1902 and 1904. In 1905, he was named to the municipal Board of Public Works, and was elected to the powerful position of Commissioner of Fire and Police in 1907, among three commissioners who governed the city. Starting in the 1910s, Crump began to build a
political machine In the politics of Representative democracy, representative democracies, a political machine is a party organization that recruits its members by the use of tangible incentives (such as money or political jobs) and that is characterized by a hig ...
which came to have statewide influence. He was particularly adept in his use of what were at the time two politically weak minority groups in Tennessee:
blacks Black is a racialized classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin; in certain countries, often in ...
and Republicans. Unlike most
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Democrats of his era, Crump was not opposed to blacks voting; Memphis blacks were reliable Crump machine voters for the most part. The party often paid the
poll taxes A poll tax, also known as head tax or capitation, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources. Head taxes were important sources of revenue for many governments fr ...
required by state law since the late 1880s; otherwise this requirement resulted in disenfranchising many poor blacks. One of Crump's lieutenants in the black community was
funeral director A funeral director, also known as an undertaker (British English) or mortician (American English), is a professional involved in the business of funeral rites. These tasks often entail the embalming and burial or cremation of the dead, as w ...
N. J. Ford, whose family (in the persons of several sons, including Harold Sr. and
John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...
, daughter
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, and grandson Harold, Jr.) became influential in Memphis, state and national politics, continuing to be so today. A
symbiotic Symbiosis (from Greek , , "living together", from , , "together", and , bíōsis, "living") is any type of a close and long-term biological interaction between two different biological organisms, be it mutualistic, commensalistic, or parasit ...
relationship developed in which blacks aided Crump, and he aided them, as was usual in politics. Crump also skillfully manipulated Republicans, who were numerically very weak in the western two-thirds of the state due to the disenfranchisement of blacks, but dominated politics in
East Tennessee East Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. Geographically and socioculturally distinct, it comprises approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee. East Tennessee consists of 33 count ...
. Frequently, they found it necessary to align with Crump in order to accomplish any of their goals in the state government. Crump was influential for nearly half a century. He usually preferred to work behind the scenes and served only three two-year terms as mayor of Memphis (1910–1915) at the beginning of his career. He essentially named the next several mayors. His rise to prominence disturbed many of the state political leaders in
Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...
. The "Ouster Law", designed to remove officials who refused to enforce state laws, was passed primarily with Crump and his lax enforcement of state
Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...
in mind. He was county treasurer of Shelby County from 1917 to 1923. He was elected seven times as a delegate to the
Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 ...
. Crump became involved in earnest in state politics during the 1928 gubernatorial election when Henry Horton was seeking election in his own right. Horton had earlier been
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of the
state senate A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U.S. states. The formal name varies from state to state. In 27 states, the legislature is simply called the ''Legislature'' or the ''State Legislature'', whil ...
and succeeded to the position of governor when
Austin Peay Austin Peay (June 1, 1876 – October 2, 1927) was an American politician who served as the 35th governor of Tennessee from 1923 to 1927. He was the state's first governor since the Civil War to win three consecutive terms and the first to die ...
died in office. Crump supported
Hill McAlister Harry Hill McAlister (July 15, 1875 – October 30, 1959) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 37th governor of Tennessee from 1933 to 1937. He also served as Nashville's city attorney in the early 1900s, and as Tennessee's sta ...
in the Democratic primary, while the Nashville machine of Luke Lea supported Governor Horton. Horton won the primary despite the strong vote for McAlister in populous Shelby County. When Horton ran for reelection in 1930, Crump and Lea cut a deal, and Crump swung his formidable political machine behind Horton. Horton defeated independent Democrat L. E. Gwinn in the primary and Republican C. Arthur Bruce in the general election. After years of working behind the scenes, Crump decided to run for
U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
in 1930. He was easily elected to the Tenth District, which was then co-extensive with Shelby County (it became the
Ninth In music, a ninth is a compound interval consisting of an octave plus a second. Like the second, the interval of a ninth is classified as a dissonance in common practice tonality. Since a ninth is an octave larger than a second, its ...
in 1932). He served two terms: from March 4, 1931, to January 3, 1935. (The Twentieth Amendment was enacted in 1933, shifting the starting date of Congressional terms.) During this time, he was also a regent of the
Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
. He remained hugely influential in Memphis as well. He was in constant communication with his operatives there and visited during each congressional recess. In 1936, Crump was named to the
Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the governing body of the United States Democratic Party. The committee coordinates strategy to support Democratic Party candidates throughout the country for local, state, and national office, as well a ...
, serving on that body until 1945. In 1939, he was elected a final time as mayor, although that term was officially served by
Walter Chandler Walter "Clift" Chandler (October 5, 1887 – October 1, 1967) was an American politician from Tennessee and a Representative for the ninth district of Tennessee. He served as mayor of Memphis, Tennessee from 1940 to 1946 and in 1955. Biography ...
. Chandler was U.S. Representative for the Ninth District, and Crump thought that Chandler's time was better spent tending to congressional matters in Washington than campaigning for mayor in Memphis. So, without a platform, without a speech, and without opposition, Crump was elected mayor of Memphis. Crump was sworn in at a few minutes past midnight on January 1, 1940, in a snowstorm on the platform of the railroad station, just before leaving for
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Merriam-Webster.
; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...
to attend the
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football game. In high humor, he resigned immediately. Vice Mayor Joseph Boyle became Mayor until the next day, when the faithful City Commission met and elected Chandler. Watkins Overton's term had ended at midnight, and thus Memphis had four mayors in less than twenty-four hours. Crump's statewide influence began to wane in the late 1940s.
Edward J. Meeman Edward John Meeman (October 2, 1889 – November 15, 1966) was an American journalist and editor. Biography Meeman was born in Evansville, Indiana.Ed FrankEdward John Meeman Tennessee Encyclopedia. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War I, a ...
, editor of the ''
Memphis Press-Scimitar The ''Memphis Press-Scimitar'' was an afternoon newspaper based in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, and owned by the E. W. Scripps Company. Created from a merger in 1926 between the ''Memphis Press'' and the ''Memphis News-Scimitar'', the new ...
'', opposed Crump's initiatives and called for a
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government and abolition of the
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to weaken the power of the machine. He also worked to unseat U. S. Senator
Tom Stewart Thomas Stewart may refer to: Politicians and nobility * Thomas A. Stewart (politician) (1849–1920), member of the Wisconsin State Assembly * Thomas E. Stewart (1824–1904), U.S. Representative from New York *Thomas Joseph Stewart (1848–1926), ...
, whom Crump supported in the 1948 Democratic primary against his intra-party challenger, U.S. Representative
Estes Kefauver Carey Estes Kefauver (; July 26, 1903 – August 10, 1963) was an American politician from Tennessee. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1939 to 1949 and in the Senate from 1949 until his d ...
.
Gordon Browning Gordon Weaver Browning (November 22, 1889May 23, 1976) was an American politician who served as the 38th governor of Tennessee from 1937 to 1939, and again from 1949 to 1953. He also served six terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, from 19 ...
, a one-time protégé whom Crump had helped elect
governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
in 1936, was elected governor again in 1948, this time over Crump's opposition. For the rest of his life, Crump's influence was largely limited to Memphis. In 1952, his longtime associate, Senator Kenneth McKellar, was defeated in the Democratic primary — in those days with a practically powerless state Republican party, the real contest in Tennessee — by Congressman Albert Gore, Sr. A final triumph for Crump was the victory in 1952 of his chosen candidate,
Frank G. Clement Frank Goad Clement (June 2, 1920 – November 4, 1969) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 41st Governor of Tennessee from 1953 to 1959 and from 1963 to 1967. Inaugurated for the first time at age 32, he was the state's younge ...
in the gubernatorial primary over Browning. Crump died less than two years later. He is interred at Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis.


Political machine

From the 1910s to the 1950s, Memphis was a locus of
machine politics In the politics of representative democracies, a political machine is a party organization that recruits its members by the use of tangible incentives (such as money or political jobs) and that is characterized by a high degree of leadership con ...
under the direction of "Boss" Crump, a Democrat. He obtained a state law in 1911 to establish a small commission to manage the city. The city retained a form of commission government until 1967, but Crump was in full control at all times. He used all of the familiar techniques of the big city boss: ballot manipulation, patronage for friends, and frustrating bureaucratic obstacles for the opposition. Crump built a complex alliance with established power figures at the local, state, and national levels. He ensured that dissidents had little or no voice. At the center of his network was "Cotton Row," the business elite that dominated the cotton industry. Secondly, he included the modernizers: business-oriented progressives who were most concerned with upgrading the city's waterfront, parks, highways, and skyscrapers, as well as a moderately good school system. Working-class whites got their share of jobs, but labor unions had marginal influence. Roger Biles argues that the political system was virtually unchanged from 1910 into the 1950s and 1960s, thanks to Crump's wire-pulling. Crump was the leading Tennessee supporter of
Franklin Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
and the
New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...
. In return, the city received ample relief programs, which provided jobs for the unemployed, as selected by machine lieutenants. The city also got major federal building projects, which helped to fund the business community. Crump incorporated the black leadership in his outer circle by dispensing patronage in return for the black vote. Memphis was one of the largest southern cities in which blacks could vote, although segregation was as rigid as elsewhere in the South.


Legacy

*Crump was a strong supporter of fire service and for many years the Memphis Fire Department was considered one of the best in the country; it still has a high reputation. *He believed that separate operations for each municipal utility were inherently inefficient and combined them; in the early 21st century,
Memphis Light, Gas and Water The Memphis Light Gas and Water Division (MLGW) is a municipal public utility serving the city of Memphis and Shelby County, Tennessee, United States. Description MLGW is the largest three-service municipal utility in the U.S. with more than 420 ...
is one of the largest combined municipal utilities in the United States. *Crump thought that cities should not be too noisy; Memphis has strong noise ordinances that are more aggressively enforced than those of many other jurisdictions. *He was an early supporter of requiring automobile safety inspections; all of Memphis-registered vehicles were inspected annually (twice a year until the 1990s), until June 28, 2013, when all city inspections ceased after a de-funding of the department by the Memphis City Council. *The city's
Crump Stadium Crump Stadium is a sports stadium in Memphis, Tennessee, built in 1934 and significantly downsized in 2006. It was built as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project with a capacity of 7,500. In 1939 it was enlarged to hold 25,000 spectators. ...
, E. H. Crump Memorial Hospital, and Crump Boulevard are named after him. He also chaired the joint Memphis-Arkansas commission that oversaw the construction of the
Memphis & Arkansas Bridge The Memphis & Arkansas Bridge, also known as the Memphis–Arkansas Bridge or inaccurately as the Memphis–Arkansas Memorial Bridge, is a Cantilever bridge, cantilevered through truss bridge carrying Interstate 55 across the Mississippi River b ...
, originally (1949) at the end of Crump Boulevard but now part of
Interstate 55 Interstate 55 (I-55) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, connecting the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes. The h ...
. *The lyrics to "
The Memphis Blues "The Memphis Blues" is a song described by its composer, W. C. Handy, as a "southern rag". It was self-published by Handy in September 1912 and has been recorded by many artists over the years. "Mr. Crump" Subtitled "Mr. Crump", "The Memphis Blu ...
" by composer and bandleader
W. C. Handy William Christopher Handy (November 16, 1873 – March 28, 1958) was an American composer and musician who referred to himself as the Father of the Blues. Handy was one of the most influential songwriters in the United States. One of many musici ...
mention "Mr. Crump." The song was published in 1912, but may have originated during Crump's 1909 mayoral campaign. *The lyrics to "Motel in Memphis" by Old Crow Medicine Show also mention "Mr. Crump" and his involvement in the political machine that shaped the city. *Crump appointed
Lloyd Binford Lloyd Tilghman Binford (December 16, 1866 – August 27, 1956) was an American insurance executive and film censorship, censor who was the head of the Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis Censor Board for 28 years. The son of an infantry colonel, Binford l ...
to be head of the Memphis Censor Board which governed approval and editing of movies, a position he maintained with Crump's support from 1928–1955. Binford imposed harsh and erratic censorship during his era, leading Memphis to have a different selection of movies available than any other part of America. Among Binford's objections included movies with train robberies, movies that showed blacks and whites together at any time, movies that included actors of whom he disapproved, and other quibbles. Theaters in nearby towns would advertise that their movies were "banned in Memphis". *One of Crump's Memphis society friends was
Georgia Tann Beulah George "Georgia" Tann (July 18, 1891 – September 15, 1950), was an American child trafficker who operated the Tennessee Children's Home Society, an adoption agency in Memphis, Tennessee. Tann used the unlicensed home as a front fo ...
, who served as head of the
Tennessee Children's Home Society Tennessee Children's Home Society was a chain of orphanages that operated in the state of Tennessee during the first half of the twentieth century. It is most often associated with Georgia Tann, its Memphis branch operator and child trafficker ...
. Historians generally believe that Crump saw Tann as most other respectable residents did - as a hard-working, dedicated social worker worthy of support and protection - but in reality, Tann performed unethical black market adoptions for fees, acquired many adoptees via misrepresentation and trickery to their birth parents, and let difficult-to-place orphans and wards simply die of malnutrition, conduct considered scandalous even for the era had it been more widely known.


See also

*
Battle of Athens (1946) The Battle of Athens (sometimes called the McMinn County War) was a rebellion led by citizens in Athens and Etowah, Tennessee, United States, against the local government in August 1946. The citizens, including some World War II vetera ...


References


Further reading

* Biles, Roger. (1986) ''Memphis In The Great Depression'' Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press. * Biles, Roger. "Ed Crump versus the unions: The labor movement in Memphis during the 1930s." ''Labor History'' 25.4 (1984): 533–552. *Dowdy, G. Wayne. (2006) ''Mayor Crump Don't Like It: Machine Politics in Memphis'' Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi. * Kitchens, Allen H. ''Ouster of Mayor Edward H. Crump, 1915-1916'' ''West Tennessee Historical Society Papers'' (1965) 19:105-120. * Kitchens, Allen H. "Political Upheaval in Tennessee: Boss Crump and the Senatorial Election of 1948". ''West Tennessee Historical Society Papers'' (1962). 16: 104-126 * Miller, William D. ''Mr. Crump of Memphis'' (Louisiana State University Press, 1964), the major scholarly biography * Miller, William D. ''Memphis during the Progressive Era, 1900-1917'' (1957
online
* Walker, Randolph Meade. "The Role of the Black Clergy in Memphis During the Crump Era." ''West Tennessee Historical Society Papers'' 1979. 33:29-47. {{DEFAULTSORT:Crump, E. H. 1874 births 1954 deaths Mayors of Memphis, Tennessee American political bosses Burials in Tennessee People from Holly Springs, Mississippi Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee Democratic National Committee people 20th-century American politicians