Arthur Joseph O'Keefe, Sr. (November 8, 1876 – November 14, 1943) was

mayor of New Orleans The post of Mayor of the City of New Orleans () has been held by the following individuals since New Orleans came under American administration following the Louisiana Purchase — the 1803 acquisition by the U.S. of of the French province '' ...

from 1926 through 1929.

Life and career

Born in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, O'Keefe was the son of Arthur O'Keefe and the former Sarah Hanley. He was educated at the

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

St. Aloysius High School and later went into business, eventually running his own coffee import company. He was also vice-president of the American Bank and Trust Company and director of the Lafayette Fire Insurance Company and the Mutual Building and Loan Association. He married Mamie McDonald of New Orleans in 1901. Before becoming mayor, O'Keefe was a prominent member of the

Regular Democratic Organization The Regular Democratic Organization (RDO), also known as the Old Regulars or the New Orleans Ring, is a conservative political organization based in New Orleans. It has existed for 130 years and as of 2017 was still active. The symbol of the RDO ...

, the political machine that had dominated New Orleans for decades. He served as the RDO's Tenth Ward boss, the city's Commissioner for Public Finance from 1925 to 1926, and after long-time mayor

Martin Behrman Martin Behrman (October 14, 1864 – January 12, 1926), an American Democratic politician, was the longest-serving mayor in New Orleans history. Life and career Behrman was born in New York City, the son of Frederica and Henry Behrman. His pa ...

died in office O'Keefe was elevated to serve the remainder of Behrman's term. O'Keefe's term in office was marked by a controversy over whether two bridges over the

Rigolets Rigolets is a deepwater strait in Louisiana. "Rigolets" comes from the word ''rigole'', French for 'trench' or 'gutter'. The name is now locally pronounced "RIG-uh-leez". The strait begins at and follows a generally eastward course to Lake Bo ...

and

Chef Menteur Pass The Chef Menteur Pass is a narrow natural waterway which, along with the Rigolets, connects Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne in New Orleans, Louisiana. It begins at and follows a generally southeastward course. In the days of sailing ships, muc ...

would be toll-free bridges as advocated by Public Service Commissioner Huey Pierce Long, Jr., or toll bridges operated by a firm controlled by the mayor's political allies. O'Keefe also fought a bitter battle with Huey Long over piping cheap natural gas into New Orleans; an ally of the New Orleans energy monopoly NOPSI, O'Keefe unsuccessfully opposed the plan. Under O'Keefe's administration construction was begun on the Municipal Auditorium and plans for the Criminal District Court Building and Orleans Parish Prison were drawn up. He also served as president of the RDO's Choctaw Club. In July 1929, O'Keefe resigned as mayor for health reasons; he was succeeded by T. Semmes Walmsley. O'Keefe was

Irish Catholic Irish Catholics () are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland, defined by their adherence to Catholic Christianity and their shared Irish ethnic, linguistic, and cultural heritage.The term distinguishes Catholics of Irish descent, particul ...

. He is the grandfather of the former president of the

Louisiana State Senate The Louisiana State Senate (; ) is the upper house of Louisiana’s legislature. Senators serve four-year terms and participate in various committees. Composition The Louisiana State Senate has 39 members elected from single-member districts ...

Michael H. O'Keefe and the great-grandfather of former

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

Chancellor and former

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Administrator

Sean O'Keefe Sean Charles O'Keefe (born January 27, 1956) is a university professor at Syracuse University Maxwell School, former chairman of Airbus Group, Inc., former Secretary of the Navy, former Administrator of NASA, and former chancellor of Louisiana ...

. Sean O'Keefe is a nephew of Michael O'Keefe.

Sources

* ''Biographical Dictionary of American Mayors, 1820-1980''. Greenwood Press, 1981. * New Orleans Public Library, Louisiana Division. "Administration of Arthur J. O'Keefe." http://nutrias.org/~nopl/info/louinfo/admins/okeefe.htm * Glenn R. Conrad, ed. ''Dictionary of Louisiana Biography.'' Louisiana Historical Association, 1988. {{DEFAULTSORT:Okeefe, Arthur J. 1876 births 1943 deaths 20th-century mayors of places in Louisiana Mayors of New Orleans Brother Martin High School alumni Catholics from Louisiana American people of Irish descent