William Benjamin Harrison (July 28, 1889July 13, 1948) was the 41st mayor of

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

from 1927 to 1933.

Life

He graduated from

Louisville Male High School Louisville Male Traditional High School is a public co-ed secondary school serving students in grades 9 through 12 in the southside of Louisville, Kentucky, USA. It is part of the Jefferson County Public School District. History Ninth and Ches ...

in 1907 and the

University of Virginia School of Law The University of Virginia School of Law (Virginia Law or UVA Law) is the law school of the University of Virginia, a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson as part of his "academical v ...

in 1910. He served as a captain in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. From 1922 to 1929, he was president of the Kentucky Refrigerating Company. He was elected mayor in 1927 after the

Kentucky Court of Appeals The Kentucky Court of Appeals is the lower of Kentucky's two appellate courts, under the Kentucky Supreme Court. Prior to a 1975 amendment to the Kentucky Constitution the Kentucky Court of Appeals was the only appellate court in Kentucky. The ...

threw out the election of Arthur A. Will. He was re-elected to a full term in 1929. As mayor, Harrison arranged the finances for the construction of the Municipal Bridge (later renamed

George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge The George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge, known locally as the Second Street Bridge, is a four-lane cantilevered truss bridge crossing the Ohio River between Louisville, Kentucky and Jeffersonville, Indiana, that carries US 31. History Debate ...

), securing private financing after a bond initiative failed. He also supported the purchase of the Von Zedtwitz estate, with the goal of establishing Bowman Field, the city's first airport. Numerous suburbs surrounding the airport were also carved out of the property. Harrison ran for

Governor of Kentucky The governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky is the head of government of Kentucky. Sixty-two men and one woman have served as governor of Kentucky. The governor's term is four years in length; since 1992, incumbents have been able to seek re-el ...

in 1931 but was defeated by

Ruby Laffoon Ruby Laffoon (January 15, 1869March 1, 1941) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 43rd Governor of Kentucky from 1931 to 1935. A Kentucky native, at age 17 Laffoon moved to Washington, D.C., to live with his uncle, U.S. Rep ...

. After his term as Mayor, Harrison served as chairman of the Louisville Industrial Foundation for 14 years. He died in 1948 and was buried in

Cave Hill Cemetery Cave Hill Cemetery is a Victorian era National Cemetery and arboretum located at Louisville, Kentucky. Its main entrance is on Baxter Avenue and there is a secondary one on Grinstead Drive. It is the largest cemetery by area and number of buria ...

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, William B. 1889 births 1948 deaths Mayors of Louisville, Kentucky Burials at Cave Hill Cemetery Kentucky Republicans Louisville Male High School alumni 20th-century Kentucky politicians