Hulan Edwin Jack (December 29, 1906 – December 19, 1986) was a prominent

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerindian ...

n-born

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

politician who in 1954 became the highest ranking Caribbean American municipal official up until that time, when he was elected Borough President of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

Early life

Jack was born on December 29, 1906, in

, and spent his early years in

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies, which resides on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first European to encounter Guiana was S ...

before emigrating to the United States.Biography at BlackPast.org
/ref> His father was a minister in the

African Orthodox Church The African Orthodox Church (AOC), registered as the Holy African Orthodox Church, is an Episcopalian, primarily African-American denomination which was founded in the United States in 1918 by the joint collaboration of its first Patriarch George ...

. The young Hulan worked as a janitor at a paper box factory, eventually rising to become a vice president of the firm. He went on to become active in politics with

Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York City political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society. It became the main loc ...

, winning several elections to the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

, representing parts of

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

in the 163rd, 164th, 165th, 166th, 167th, 168th and

169th New York State Legislature The 169th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 7, 1953, to June 10, 1954, during the eleventh and twelfth years of Thomas E. Dewey's governorship, in Albany. Back ...

s from 1941 to 1953. As a legislator, he attempted unsuccessfully to pass legislation that would block the racial segregation in New York State public schools and in the sale of property.

Borough President

In November 1953, Jack was elected Borough President of Manhattan, making him one of the nation's most important African-American elected officials. In 1956, Jack was the featured speaker at an event called "Interracial Sunday" at

Loyola University New Orleans Loyola University New Orleans is a Private university, private Jesuit university in New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana. Originally established as Loyola College in 1904, the institution was chartered as a university in 1912. It bears the name o ...

. This caused a major controversy, and Emile Wagner, one of the founders of the New Orleans

White Citizens Council The Citizens' Councils (commonly referred to as the White Citizens' Councils) were an associated network of white supremacist, segregationist organizations in the United States, concentrated in the South and created as part of a white backlash ...

, obtained material from the

House Unamerican Activities Committee The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloy ...

which suggested that Jack was a former member of subversive organizations. Jack denied the charges, accusing the White Citizens Council of a "rearguard action to disobey the decision handed-down by the Supreme Court on desegregation in schools." New York City Mayor Robert F. Wagner defended Jack, calling him "the highest grade of American that I know of." In 1959, Jack was indicted for allowing a friend, Sidney Ungar, to pay a $4,400 bill for the remodeling of his apartment. It was charged that Ungar, a real estate developer, hoped to obtain a contract from the city in return for the favor, even though Jack voted against granting Ungar the contract. Jack was tried twice; the first trial ended with a hung jury, and in the second trial, the jury found him guilty of accepting the gift and of then conspiring to hide it. On January 16, 1961, Jack was sentenced to a suspended one-year term in prison, which had the effect of automatically removing him from the office of Borough President.

Charles Rangel Charles Bernard Rangel (, ; born June 11, 1930) is an American politician who was a U.S. representative for districts in New York from 1971 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the second-longest serving incumbent member of the Ho ...

later stated, “He got screwed. He went to Mass every morning, and Jesus left his ass holding the bag.” He was succeeded in the Borough Presidents office by Edward R. Dudley.

Return to Assembly

Jack was elected a member of the State Assembly from 1968 to 1972, representing the 70th District in the 177th, 178th and

179th New York State Legislature The 179th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 6, 1971, to May 12, 1972, during the thirteenth and fourteenth years of Nelson Rockefeller's governorship, in Albany ...

s. In 1972, Jack was convicted of extortion, along with five others. They were trying to force shop owners to carry a line of products manufactured by a company owned by Jack. He received a three-month prison term and a $5,000 fine. He appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which denied his appeal. He was later pardoned by President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

according to his daughter.

LaRouche movement

Jack became involved with the

LaRouche movement The LaRouche movement is a political and cultural network promoting the late Lyndon LaRouche and his ideas. It has included many organizations and companies around the world, which campaign, gather information and publish books and periodicals. ...

, acting as a consultant to the 1980 presidential campaign of

Lyndon LaRouche Lyndon Hermyle LaRouche Jr. (September 8, 1922 – February 12, 2019) was an American political activist who founded the LaRouche movement and its main organization the National Caucus of Labor Committees (NCLC). He was a prominent conspiracy ...

.Biondi, Martha, ''To Stand And Fight: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Postwar New York City'', Harvard University Press (2003), p. 324. The LaRouche publishing house, New Benjamin Franklin House, published Jack's autobiography, ''Fifty Years a Democrat''. Jack and LaRouche founded the Committee for a New Africa Policy, which lobbied for short term aid and long-term infrastructure development for

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. In 1984, Jack became a founding member and board member of the LaRouche-affiliated

Schiller Institute The Schiller Institute is a German based political and economic think tank founded by Helga Zepp-LaRouche, with stated members in 50 countries. It is among the principal organizations of the LaRouche movement. The institute's stated aim is to app ...

. His daughter said the association was "unfortunate".

Death

Jack died of cancer on December 19, 1986, in St. Luke's Hospital in

. He belonged to the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church. He was 79.

Works

* Jack, Hulan ''Fifty Years a Democrat:The Autobiography of Hulan Jack'' New Benjamin Franklin House New York, NY 1983

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jack, Hulan 1906 births 1986 deaths Saint Lucian emigrants to the United States Manhattan borough presidents People convicted of obstruction of justice New York (state) politicians convicted of corruption New York (state) politicians convicted of crimes Recipients of American presidential pardons Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly African-American state legislators in New York (state) 20th-century American politicians Janitors African-American Catholics 20th-century African-American politicians African-American men in politics