Robert Reed Church Jr. (October 26, 1885 – April 17, 1952) was a prominent businessman and political organizer in

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. His father was the successful businessman Robert Reed Church, and Church Jr. succeeded his father as president of the Solvent Savings Bank and Trust Company after his father's death. An African American, he organized the first

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

branch in Tennessee and was a member of the NAACP national board of directors. From the 1910s to 1940s, he was one of the most powerful political figures in his hometown of

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

. Church moved to

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

in 1940, where he became a member of the board of directors of the

Fair Employment Practice Committee The Fair Employment Practice Committee (FEPC) was created in 1941 in the United States to implement Executive Order 8802 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt "banning discriminatory employment practices by Federal agencies and all unions and com ...

. Church's half sister was the activist

Mary Church Terrell Mary Church Terrell (born Mary Eliza Church; September 23, 1863 – July 24, 1954) was one of the first African-American women to earn a college degree, and became known as a national activist for civil rights and suffrage. She taught in the Lati ...

Personal life

Church was born on October 26, 1885 to Robert Reed Church and Anna Susan Wright. He had one sister, Annette Elaine.

, the well-known civil rights activist and suffragist, was his half-sister, born from his father's first marriage to Louisa Ayres. Church was educated at parochial schools in Memphis and by private tutors. He later attended

Morgan Park Military Academy Morgan Park Academy (MPA) is a coeducational, college preparatory, independent day school serving pre-kindergarten through 12th grade . It is located in the Morgan Park neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1873, Morg ...

in Morgan Park, Illinois and at the Berlin and Parkard School of Business in

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 * '' ...

. After schooling, he worked for two years on

Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...

.Roberta Church and Ronald Walter,
Robert Reed Church, Jr. (1885-1952)
' in African-American Members of the Tennessee General Assembly, 1873-1995, eds Bobby Lovett & Linda Wynn, Annual Local Conference on Afro-American Culture and History, 1995. Church married Sara P. Johnson of

Washington DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

in DC on July 26, 1911. They had one child, daughter Sara Roberta Church. Church died of a heart attack on April 17, 1952.

Career

Church's career in Memphis began as a cashier at his father's Solvent Savings Bank and Trust Company. When his father died in 1912, he succeeded him as president. He later resigned to manage extensive real-estate holdings. In 1916, Church founded the Lincoln League in Memphis to organize African-American political power, helping to organize voter registration drives, voting schools, and paying poll taxes. The League sponsored a ticket in the 1916 election in Memphis, losing at the ballot box but establishing the importance of the group. Church's national political reputation also grew. Church was a delegate to the Republican National Convention eight times, starting in 1912.Roberts, Stanley. Roberta Church Follows in Footsteps of Father, The Pittsburgh Courier (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) 25 Jul 1958, pag
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accessed via

Newspapers.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. In November 2018, ...

Berry, D. Wellington.
R. R. Church, Jr
' The Tennessean (Nashville, Tennessee) 7 May 1916, page 7, accessed via

In 1917, Church organized a Memphis branch of the NAACP, the first branch in Tennessee. Church became a member of the national board of directors of the organization in 1919, representing fourteen southern states. At the peak of his career, Church was known as the "Colossus of

Beale Street Beale Street is a street in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee, which runs from the Mississippi River to East Street, a distance of approximately . It is a significant location in the city's history, as well as in the history of blues music. Today, th ...

". He assisted in directing presidential campaigns for Republican party candidates in 1920, 1924, 1928, and 1936. As his activities were central in the Republican vote in Tennessee, he became an important figure in patronage appointments in West Tennessee during the presidential administrations of

Warren G. Harding Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party, he was one of the most popular sitting U.S. presidents. A ...

Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States from 1923 to 1929. Born in Vermont, Coolidge was a History of the Republican Party (United States), Republican lawyer ...

, and

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...

. Church was credited with putting

Harry S. New Harry Stewart New (December 31, 1858 – May 9, 1937) was a U.S. politician, journalist, and Spanish–American War veteran. He served as Chairman of the Republican National Committee, a United States senator from Indiana, and United States P ...

into the cabinet of

as postmaster general in 1923.Noted Mansion Loses Prestige
The Times (Munster, Indiana) 18 Dec 1941, page 9, accessed via

By 1920, Church's power was increasingly being challenged by Memphis Democratic leader

E. H. Crump Edward Hull "Boss" Crump Jr. (October 2, 1874 – October 16, 1954) was an American politician from Memphis, Tennessee. Representing the Democratic Party, he was the dominant force in the city's politics for most of the first half of the 20t ...

. The two became leaders of opposing factions in Memphis, with Josiah T. Settle, Jr, George Klepper, and Baily Walsh being Church's chief assistants. Church also saw opposition within the Republican Party in Tennessee. For example, Church's attendance at the

1928 Republican National Convention The 1928 Republican National Convention was held at Convention Hall in Kansas City, Missouri, from June 12 to June 15, 1928. Because President Coolidge had announced unexpectedly he would not run for re-election in 1928, Commerce Secretary Her ...

in Chicago was strongly opposed, but he eventually was seated. Church's faction occasionally supported Democrats in Memphis politics, as the Republican Party was increasingly unable to succeed in city-wide elections. One noted example was family friend Watkins Overton, who was Memphis's mayor from 1928-1939. Other key allies in Western Tennessee included Perry Howard,

Roscoe Simmons Roscoe Conkling Simmons (June 20, 1881 – April 27, 1951) was an American orator, journalist, and political activist. The nephew of Booker T. Washington, he wrote a column from Washington, D.C. about African-American issues for the ''Chicago Tri ...

, Emmett Scott, John R. Hawkins, James A. Cobb, and L. K. Williams. In 1940, Church's economic and political power in Memphis was greatly reduced when the city administration seized Church's real-estate holdings and instituted a campaign of harassment against businesses allied with Church. As a result, Church moved to Washington, DC, where he continued to work for civil rights and the Republican Party. After Church moved to DC, his real-estate office on Beale Street was occupied by

Atlanta Life Insurance Company The Atlanta Life Financial Group was founded by Alonzo Herndon in Atlanta, Georgia. Born into slavery, he started in Atlanta as a young barber, eventually owning three shops. He became Atlanta's richest African American and a highly successful ...

managed by Church ally

George W. Lee George Wesley Lee (December 25, 1903 – May 7, 1955) was an African-American civil rights leader, minister, and entrepreneur. He was a vice president of the Regional Council of Negro Leadership and head of the Belzoni, Mississippi, branch of ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Church, Robert 1885 births 1952 deaths African-American businesspeople Businesspeople from Tennessee Tennessee Republicans 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century African-American people Washington, D.C., Republicans