George Roby Dempster (September 16, 1887 – September 18, 1964) was an American businessman, inventor, and politician, active primarily in
Knoxville, Tennessee
Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state' ...
, during the first half of the 20th century. Dempster is known for the invention of the Dempster-
Dumpster
A dumpster is a movable waste container designed to be brought and taken away by a special collection vehicle, or to a bin that a specially designed garbage truck lifts, empties into its hopper, and lowers, on the spot. The word is a generic t ...
, a now-commonly-used
trash receptacle that can be mechanically emptied into garbage trucks. During the 1910s and 1920s, the Dempster Brothers Construction Company, operated by Dempster and his brothers, built a number of roads and railroads across the Southern
Appalachian region.
[East Tennessee Historical Society, Lucile Deaderick (ed.), ''Heart of the Valley: A History of Knoxville, Tennessee'' (Knoxville, Tenn.: East Tennessee Historical Society, 1976), pp. 519-521.] Dempster also served as a
city manager and mayor of Knoxville, where he became known for his political battles with eccentric Knoxville businessman
Cas Walker and ''
Knoxville Journal'' editor
Guy Smith Jr.[Bruce Wheeler, ''Knoxville, Tennessee: A Mountain City in the New South'' (Knoxville, Tenn.: University of Tennessee Press, 2005), pp. 73-82, 111-113, 122.]
Biography
Early life
Dempster was born in 1887, the ninth child of
Scottish immigrant John Dempster and Irish immigrant Ann Doherty. John Dempster co-managed Scott, Dempster and Company, a
gristmill
A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separat ...
ing firm that operated a mill on First Creek. As a teenager, George Dempster travelled around the country working odd jobs for various companies, including the
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, the Atlanta, Birmingham and Atlantic Railroad, and the
Ward Line shipping company. A railroad strike in 1903 left him briefly stranded in a
hobo colony in
Iowa
Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...
.
Dempster graduated from the Girls High School in Knoxville in 1906, having served as the school's class president.
After high school, Dempster worked as a
steam shovel operator on the
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a condui ...
project, excavating the canal's
Miraflores and Pedro Miguel
locks
Lock(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
*Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance
*Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal
Arts and entertainment
* ''Lock ...
.
During the project, Dempster nearly lost his life on several occasions when rock slides caused his steam shovel to flip over. He also contracted
typhoid fever
Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...
, and bickered with famed physician
William C. Gorgas over the most effective treatment.
One of Dempster's earliest innovations was a device that allowed his shovel's dipper to mechanically empty its load.
Business career
After returning to Knoxville, Dempster, along with his brothers, Thomas and John, formed the Dempster Brothers Construction Company, which built roads, railroads, and small dams in Tennessee,
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...
,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
,
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
, and
Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...
.
While initially lucrative, the company was forced into bankruptcy at the onset of the
Great Depression. Dempster's
Fountain City home (still standing at the corner of Broadway and Gibbs) was auctioned off to pay his debts.
In spite of these setbacks, Dempster and his brothers reorganized their remaining resources to form
Dempster Brothers Dempster Brothers, Inc. of Knoxville, Tennessee, was an industrial firm that made waste handling vehicles including the Dempster Dumpmaster and Dempster Dinosaur. The firm was originally established by George Roby Dempster with his brothers Thomas ...
, Inc., which focused on heavy machinery.
In 1935, the company introduced the "Dempster-Dumpster," the first large-scale waste container that could be mechanically emptied into a garbage truck. As orders for this product arrived from around the world, the company devoted all of its resources to the production of Dempster-Dumpsters.
In 1939, the company introduced the Dempster-Balester, which crushed and baled automobiles.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, the company produced
pontoon boat
A pleasure boat with two lengthwise pontoons
A pontoon boat is a flattish boat that relies on floats to remain buoyant. These pontoons (also called ''tubes'') contain much reserve buoyancy and allow designers to create large deck plans fitted w ...
s and other equipment for the US Navy.
The company introduced the
Dempster Dumpmaster Dempster Brothers, Inc. of Knoxville, Tennessee, was an industrial firm that made waste handling vehicles including the Dempster Dumpmaster and Dempster Dinosaur. The firm was originally established by George Roby Dempster with his brothers Thomas ...
, the first front-loading garbage truck, in the 1950s.
The Dempster Brothers plant on Springdale Avenue in Knoxville consisted of eleven buildings on , and employed 450 workers.
For humanitarian purposes, the plant employed a large number of handicapped workers. The plant served as a training ground of sorts for welders and machinists who would later work on nearby
Tennessee Valley Authority
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolin ...
and
Atomic Energy Commission projects.
Knoxville politics
Dempster, a lifelong
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
, became actively involved in Knoxville politics during the 1920s. In 1929, he was named city manager, a position created earlier in the decade. After his appointment, he convinced the state legislature to merge the offices of city manager and mayor. This move proved unpopular, and Dempster was defeated by W. W. Mynatt in the mayoral election of 1937. Dempster continued to lead the opposition to Mynatt, forming an alliance with Knoxville businessman Cas Walker, who had a strong populist backing in the city.
During the 1930s, while city manager, Dempster began to clash with Guy Smith, Jr., editor of the
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
-leaning ''Knoxville Journal''. Smith once stated that Dempster should be "relegated to the political ash heap and buried so deeply that one of his own Dumpsters can't dig him out."
Dempster, likewise, quietly ordered the police to scour the city for Smith's car, and tow it away if it was illegally parked (which it often was). Smith ordered ''Journal'' photographers to crop Dempster from favorable group shots, and Dempster organized a raid that caught ''Journal'' owner Roy Lotspeich with a large supply of
illegal whiskey.
Running on an anti-tax platform, Dempster's allies managed to recapture the mayor's office in 1945, and Dempster was again appointed city manager. Dempster broke his campaign pledge, and proposed new city property taxes. This provoked the ire of Walker, who immediately mounted a campaign against Dempster. Walker blasted Dempster's new taxes, and claimed that "gambling, whiskey and prostitution" flourished when Dempster was in power.
After Walker was elected mayor in 1946, Dempster resigned as city manager. Walker's new city manager, Paul Morton, accused Dempster of
cronyism
Cronyism is the spoils system practice of Impartiality, partiality in awarding jobs and other advantages to friends or trusted colleagues, especially in politics and between politicians and supportive organizations. For example, cronyism occurs ...
, and undid most of Dempster's contracts and pay raises.
Walker's term as mayor proved tumultuous, and Dempster's allies managed to oust Walker in a
recall election
A recall election (also called a recall referendum, recall petition or representative recall) is a procedure by which, in certain polities, voters can remove an elected official from office through a referendum before that official's term of of ...
in 1947. Dempster was elected mayor in 1951. His tenure was largely stagnant, as two major textile mills closed, and the downtown area declined with the rise of suburban shopping centers. After he proposed a modest tax increase, Knoxvillians revolted, and voted him out of office in 1955.
State politics
Dempster served as the campaign manager for
Henry Horton's gubernatorial campaign in 1928, and was subsequently appointed the state's commissioner of finance and taxation. In 1932, he was appointed to the
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is an American national park in the southeastern United States, with parts in North Carolina and Tennessee. The park straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, w ...
Commission, which was responsible for buying land for the national park. Dempster ran for governor in 1940, and lost in the primaries to
Prentice Cooper
William Prentice Cooper Jr. (September 28, 1895May 18, 1969) was an American politician and diplomat who served as the 39th governor of Tennessee from 1939 to 1945. He led the state's mobilization efforts for World War II, when over 300,000 Ten ...
.
Later life
Dempster was named a delegate to the
1956 Democratic National Convention
The 1956 Democratic National Convention nominated former Governor Adlai Stevenson of Illinois for president and Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee for vice president. It was held in the International Amphitheatre on the South Side of Chic ...
in Chicago, although he largely retired from city politics after his defeat in 1955.
He later rejoined his old nemesis Cas Walker in a successful attempt to thwart city-county consolidation, which was soundly rejected by Knoxville and Knox County voters in a 1959 referendum.
Dempster died of a heart attack on September 18, 1964. Over 1,000 mourners, among them US senators
Al Gore, Sr., and
Herbert S. Walters, crowded into the St. James Episcopal Church for Dempster's funeral.
He was buried next to his wife in Greenwood Cemetery.
Legacy
Buildings constructed during Dempster's tenures as city manager and mayor include the
Henley Street Bridge
The Henley Bridge, sometimes referred to as Henley Street Bridge, is a vehicle bridge that crosses the Tennessee River in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. Completed in 1931, the bridgeMartha Carver, ''Tennessee's Survey Report for Historic H ...
, the Church Avenue and Fifth Avenue
viaducts, four public library branches, and
Bill Meyer Stadium
Bill Meyer Stadium was a baseball field located in Knoxville, Tennessee. Originally known as Knoxville Municipal Stadium when it opened in 1953, it was later renamed after Billy Meyer (1892–1957), a Knoxville native who was a catcher and manag ...
. He also convinced the city to buy
Chilhowee Park and Tyson Park.
[Jim Tumblin,]
Fountain Citians Who Made a Difference – George R. Dempster
2002. Retrieved: August 3, 2010. Dempster built several houses in Knoxville, some of which still stand in Fountain City and
Old North Knoxville.
[Ann Bennett, National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form for Old North Knoxville Historic District, August 9, 1991.]
Dempster hired the city's first African-American civil service secretary, and supported desegregation in the 1950s and 1960s.
He championed a number of causes in support of the handicapped and the blind, including a radio program that featured blind pianists.
He was given the Father Abram Ryan Award by the
Knights of Columbus
The Knights of Columbus (K of C) is a global Catholic fraternal service order founded by Michael J. McGivney on March 29, 1882. Membership is limited to practicing Catholic men. It is led by Patrick E. Kelly, the order's 14th Supreme Knight. ...
in recognition of his civil service shortly before his death.
References
External links
Classic Refuse Trucks – Dempster Brothers— collection of circa-1950s and 1960s photographs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dempster, George Roby
Waste managers
1887 births
1964 deaths
Mayors of Knoxville, Tennessee
Businesspeople from Tennessee
American people of Scottish descent
American people of Irish descent
20th-century American politicians
20th-century American inventors
20th-century American businesspeople