Arthur John Holland (October 24, 1918 – November 9, 1989) was Mayor of Trenton, New Jersey for twenty-six years and president of the

United States Conference of Mayors The United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) is the official non-partisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. The cities are each represented by their mayors or other chief elected officials. The organization was founded i ...

Biography

He was born in

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.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 let ...

and considered becoming a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

early in life. Although he studied for the priesthood, he opted against this path and instead attended

Saint Francis College , mottoeng = My God, My All , established = , type = Private college , chancellor = , president = Miguel Martinez-Saenz , provost = Jennifer Lancas ...

and, after graduation, earned an advanced degree from

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

. In 1951 Holland became deputy director of public affairs for Trenton, and in 1955 he was elected as a

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 ...

to Trenton's City Council. He became Mayor of Trenton, New Jersey in 1959, and soon after married his wife Betty. In 1964 he publicly moved into the Mill Hill neighborhood of Trenton, a majority black neighborhood, attempting to lead the way in his city's racial integration. Holland received national attention for the move, much of it negative, but the area thereafter became less racially segregated. In 1966, Holland lost the Democratic Primary to Carmen J. Armenti, and served as a teacher at

for four years. In 1970 he ran for mayor again, and was reelected. He was president of the

from 1988 to 1989, and remained mayor of Trenton until he died. In 1975, Holland ran for the newly created office of Mercer County Executive. He lost the Democratic primary to Arthur Sypek. He died of cancer at St. Francis Medical Center (Trenton, New Jersey) on November 9, 1989.

References

External links

* Mayors of Trenton, New Jersey St. Francis College alumni Rutgers University alumni Rutgers University faculty 1918 births 1989 deaths Catholics from New Jersey Presidents of the United States Conference of Mayors {{TrentonNJ-stub