Murray Seasongood (October 27, 1878 – February 21, 1983) was an American lawyer and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. He led a government reform movement in Cincinnati, founding the

Charter Party A charterparty (sometimes charter-party) is a maritime contract between a shipowner and a "charterer" for the hire of either a ship for the carriage of passengers or cargo, or a yacht for pleasure purposes. Charter party is a contract of carriage ...

and served as the

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

from 1926 to 1930. He was the first mayor under the city’s 1925 charter.

Early life and career

He was born in Cincinnati on October 27, 1878, the son of Emily (née Fechheimer) and Alfred Seasongood. He had three siblings, Martha, Rose, and Edwin. His father was a wealthy clothing merchant who worked for ''Heidelbach, Seasongood & Co.'', co-founded by his great-uncle Jacob Seasongood and Philip Heidelbach (later ''J. & L. Seasongood'' after the departure of Heidelbach and then ''Seasongood, Menderson & Co'' after the retirement of Jacob). He graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

and

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

and began a career in the law with Warrington & Paxton.

Mayor of Cincinnati

Cincinnati had a notoriously corrupt government under George B. Cox, also known as “Boss” Cox.

Lincoln Steffens Lincoln Austin Steffens (April 6, 1866 – August 9, 1936) was an American investigative journalist and one of the leading muckrakers of the Progressive Era in the early 20th century. He launched a series of articles in ''McClure's'', called "Twe ...

called Cincinnati of the two worst governed cities in the United States. In 1905, then-Secretary of War

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...

delivered a speech in Akron that attacked the corruption under Cox. Although Cox’s candidate was defeated in that election, his political machine continued to dominate the city. In 1921, Republicans controlled 31 out of 32 seats on the city council. Seasongood, himself a Republican, founded the City Charter Committee and placed a reform agenda to break the bosses' control of city politics. The new Charter passed in 1924 and reorganized the city council from 32 members to nine with non-partisan elections. It created a

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

system to eliminate political patronage and made Cincinnati the first large city with a council-manager administration. With the new charter in place, Seasongood was elected to the

Cincinnati City Council The Cincinnati City Council is the lawmaking body of Cincinnati, Ohio. The nine-member city council is elected at-large in a single election in which each voter chooses nine candidates from the field. The nine top vote-getters win seats on the cou ...

. His colleagues on the council elected him as the first mayor under the new system. As Mayor, Seasongood was instrumental in the establishment of a county park board, after visiting and admiring the Emerald Necklace that is

Cleveland Metroparks Cleveland Metroparks is an extensive system of nature preserves in Greater Cleveland, Ohio. Eighteen reservations, which largely encircle the city of Cleveland, follow along the shore of Lake Erie and the rivers and creeks that flow through the ...

. He is the namesake of the Murray Seasongood Pavilion in

Eden Park, Cincinnati Eden Park is an urban park located in the Walnut Hills neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. The hilltop park occupies , and offers numerous overlooks of the Ohio River valley. History The park's acreage was purchased by the city in 1869 from Jos ...

Later life

After leaving the mayor’s office, he continued his legal practice and was appointed as a law professor at Harvard Law School. In the 1930s he founded a committee to end Republican control of Hamilton County. He fought against attempts to reverse his reforms and wrote articles on municipal governance. When once asked what his hobby was, he responded by saying, "Good government." He maintain his legal practice at Paxton & Seasongood even at the age of 100. Seasongood died February 21, 1983 at the age of 104. He was survived by his wife, Agnes Senior, whom he married in 1912 and their daughter, Janet Seasongood Hoffheimer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seasongood, Murray Mayors of Cincinnati Jewish mayors of places in the United States Harvard University alumni Harvard Law School alumni Harvard Law School faculty American centenarians Men centenarians 1878 births 1983 deaths Jewish American people in Ohio politics