The Center tor Public Historv at the Universitv of Houston or more than twenty years, the Center for FPublic History at the University of Houston has trained students to apply the skills of the professional historian outside the university Our former students work throughout the region in jobs in government, business, historical societies, preservation groups, archives, libraries, professional asso­ ciations, and public interest groups. Under the direction of Martin Melosi and with the input of other faculty members, students at the Center have produced an array of studies of various aspects of Houston'.s history Much of what we know about our city's past has been a result of the Center's work. At the heart of the Center is the Houston History Project, which contains a number of projects ranging from a study of slavery in Texas to a soon to be published volume of essays on the environmental his­ tory of Houston. Current initiatives of the Center include the publication of The Houston Review of History and Culture, the organization of a comprehensive project on the oral history of Houston, and the expan­ sion of efforts to identify historical records for inclusion in archives. For more information about the Center for Public History, contact Martin Melosi at [email protected] or visit the website at www.class.uh.edu/publichistory

This issue is dedicated to the memory of J.H. Freeman (1916-2004), a friend who loved Houston and its history. 2 SF AND MANY MORE: Business and Civic Leadership in Modern Houston Joseph A. Pratt

OF HISTORY AND CUlTURE For a half century beginning in the 1920s, George R. and H erman Brown rented suite SF at the Lamar Hotel in downtown Houston. The phrase "the SF VOlUME 1. NUMBER 2 crowd," which referred to the Brown brothers and others who frequented the suite, became shorthand for the small business elite that dominated H ouston's political EDITORIAL STAFF and civic affairs. This article places the SF crowd in historical perspective by compar­ Joseph A. Pratt ing their power to that of business leaders who came before and after them. Editor Jenna Berger Managing Editor

Christine Womack Carter Wesley and the Making of Business Manager Houston's Civic Culture Katherine Pratt Ami/car Shabazz Copy Editor Houston lawyer/newspaperman Carter Wesley became one of the Cliff Gillock most prominent black businessmen in the Jim Crow South. Through Designer his newspaper, the Houston Informer, he asserted a strong voice against segregation. At times, he crossed swords with national and ErnmRIAL BoARD local officials of the NAACP over strategy and tactics, but he never wavered in his quest Audrey Crawford for justice and equality for the black population of Houston. Barbara Eaves Steven Fenberg Cliff Gillock Will Howard Harold Hyman f 4 Jesse Jones: A Conversation about "Mr. Houston" William Kellar Louis Marchiafava Steven Fenberg discusses his work in overseeing the making of the Martin Melosi award-winning documentary about the career of Jesse Jones. Fenberg Mary Schiflett offers insights into Jones' emergence as "Mr. Houston," as well as his Cary Wintz distinguished career as head of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation and the Department of Commerce in the New Deal. ErnmRIAL Pou CY The Houston Review of History and Culture is published twice a year by the Center for Public History at the University of Houston. We we lcome manuscripts, interviews, and photographic essays 2 f Parley of Prominence: The Houston Democratic on the history and culture of the H ouston region, National Convention of 192S broadly defined. All correspondence should be Jon L. Gillum sent to The Houston Review, University of Houston, Department of History, 524 Agnes By hosting the Democratic National Convention in 192S, Houston Arnold Hall, Houston, TX 77204-3003 announced its arrival as a young city on the move. In describing the (713-743-3088 or 713-743-3087). The web events surrounding the convention, this article shows how site is www.class.uh.edu/TheHoustonReview. We Houstonians took advantage of their moment in the national spotlight. also welcome ideas for topical issues; these can be sent to the above address or to [email protected].

Subscriptions are $10 per year for students, $1 5 per year for individuals, and $25 per year for institutions. Single issues and back issues are 24 In the Name of Decency and Progress: The available for $ 10. Response of Houston's Civic Leaders to the Lynching of Robert Powell in l 92S ©2004 by the Center for Public History. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this issue or any Dwight Watson i portion of it is expressly prohibited without writ­ ten permission of the publisher. The Center for On the eve of the 192S Democratic National Convention, Public History disclaims responsibility for state­ Houston experienced one of the only lynchings in its modern history. ments of fact and opinions of contributors. In response, the city's white civic leaders sought to limit the damage to the city's repu­ tation by moving quickly to arrest those involved in the lynching. This article com­ POSTMASTER: Send address changes to I I University of Houston, Center for Public History, pares the reactions of the city's black and white press while also noting the responses 5 24 Agnes Arnold Hall, Houston, TX of the national press. I 77204-3003 ..I Business and Civic Leadership in Modern Houston by Joseph Pratt*

In January 2001, Ken Lay was the poster the giant Houston-based construction boy for civic leadership in Houston. He firm Brown & Root) rented and used as a had built Enron into a leading company meeting place for a wide variety of like­ in a dynamic industry, bringing thou­ minded Houstonians in the boom decades sands of jobs to the city. He had helped after World War II. The New York Times' keep major league baseball in Houston by attitude toward the "city building" activi­ pushing through a new downtown stadi­ ties of this "8F Club" is captured in its use um aptly named Enron Field. He, his of a quote from Texas Monthly magazine: company, and his foundation led the "Maybe it's a classic Texas story to push league in corporate giving. He enjoyed things to the limit."2 easy access to political figures at all levels Or maybe not. "Especially blurry" of government, and rumors flew in 2000 lines dividing politics and business are of a cabinet office in the new Bush hardly unique to Houston. By acquiring administration or a run for mayor in economic power and wealth, businessmen Houston. Only a year later, Enron Jay in in all capitalist societies often become first ruins. Bad jokes about "Chapter 11 Field" among equals in civic and political affairs. tr1ade the rounds. His harshest critics Other less powerful citizens in Houston asked just whose money Lay had been and other American cities have never giving away to charities. Politicians asl

Professor of History and Business at the University Houston and the editor of Review. He has written and taught about the history of the oil industry and the history of Houston. 2 when business leaders have taken an lot. I thus faced a historian's dilemma. I War I. During these ye ars, Houston grew active and self-interested role in politics, had the key to all power and influence in from a raw, rowdy town of less than but we have expected the best among Houston, but the lock in which it fit, the 20,000 to a small, but bustling city of them to have a vision of the needs of the door opened by the loci<, the suite, and the about 130,000. When Captain Balwr city that extends beyond their immediate entire building no longer existed. What and his father, Judge BalWorld War I Cummings reached in his desk and gave Because of his broad involvement in the me his after I interviewed him in the mid- Despite the historical emphasis placed on life of Houston during those formative 19SOs. Cummings had been a regular vis­ the SF crowd, in my opinion, the single years, Captain Baker is a logical histori­ itor with his own key to SF, where he most powerful business/civic leader in the cal symbol of those who transformed a made l

Downtown Houston in the 1880s

The Houston Review-voln1ne ] , no. 2 page 3 booming national economy. Good local lawyers were needed to carve out legal space for giant railroads and nationally active industrial corporations in a Texas legal system designed for a rural society. The farmers and ranchers who had writ­ ten the laws of Texas had set numerous aptain Baker's father, Judge James Baker Botts and for the good of the city. legal traps for large corporations. The eA. Baker, who moved to Houston The original Baker, "Judge" (1821- big businesses that emerged in the north­ from Huntsville, Texas, in 1872, was a 1897), received his distinctive title eastern U nited States in the late nine­ railroad lawyer at Baker Botts, as were from his brief service as a judge in the teenth century could not function other prominent partners in the firm. Confederacy. He practiced with Baker smoothly under the restrictions imposed From the 1880s forward, the firm Botts from 1872-1897. His son, who by these Texas laws. As one of the largest managed the giant Southern Pacific remained at Baker Botts from 1877 to corporate law firms in one of the major Railroad's (SP) legal affairs in Texas, 1941, became known as "Captain" cities in Texas, Baker Botts represented smoothing the way for the railroad's Baker ( 18 5 7-1941) after service under many "foreign" (that is, non-Texan) unified operations throughout the state. that rank in the Houston Light Guard, a companies, rescuing them from these This line and others connected Houston ceremonial military organization that legal traps, repairing the damage if possi­ firmly into national markets, vaulting ultimately became a part of the Texas ble, and finding ways to remove other the city ahead of Galveston in the race National Guard. Ironically, Captain traps from the legal landscape. for regional preeminence and laying the Baker's son, who was a captain in the Captain Baker and other corporate foundation for the city's economic real army during World War I, spent his lawyers helped organize and manage the expansion. Baker Botts greatly benefited long, productive life in Houston (1892- local banks that solidified ties between from its growing reputation in railroad 1973) and at Baker Botts (1919- Houston and the national economy. law. One of its early partners, Robert 1973) known as "Junior." Although strictly enforced state unit Scott Lovett, embodied this tie. He grew An even greater irony came with banking laws restricted the growth of up in rural Texas north of Houston, the next generation, "Secretary" James Texas banks, Houston banks nonetheless took a job digging stumps out of the A. Bal.'er (1930-present). As one of the forged important correspondent relation­ right of way of the SP, moved on to most prominent Houstonians in the last ships with much larger "money center" become a lawyer at Baker Botts, and half of the twentieth century, Secretary banks in New York City and Chicago. went on to become the head of the Baker served two presidents as chief of Through these ties flowed capital critically . \ Southern Pacific. staff, Secretary of Treasury, and important to the region. The local After joining his father as a partner Secretary of State. Yet until his return bankers who directed this flow into the in Houston's major corporate law firm, from Washington in the 1990s, he city came to assert considerable influence. Captain Ba:ker became deeply involved could not serve at Baker Botts. The firm Captain Baker cemented his own connec­ in key sectors of the city's economy. As had passed a strict antinepotism rule in tions in the east by spending summers in a director and, for a time, president of the late 1930s, so Secretary Baker pur­ the New York area, tending to vital busi­ one of the city's largest banl~s, Captain sued his legal career as a partner in the ness connections as his family escaped the Baker was a lawyer or a banker for Houston-based firm of Andrews & Texas heat. many of city's businesses. He also was Kurth. When he returned to Houston New Yorl~ City figured into Baker's an officer in the local natural gas com­ after his distinguished career in govern­ involvement in one of the best examples of pany and numerous other local enter­ ment, the antinepotism rule still seemed city building in this era, the creation of a prises. As chairman of the Rice board, to block his hiring by "the family firm." major university in Houston. William Baker headed what amounted to Although his father had died years Marsh Rice had made a f orlune in another major Houston bank, earlier, his son "Jamie" (1954-pres­ Houston before returning to New York since the lnstitute's endowment ent) had begun wo rl~ing at Bal~ e r City in the late nineteenth century. To became an important source for Botts in 1985. Reason prevailed show his gratitude to his adopted home, real estate loans. Lawyer, banker, over rule, and in 1993, the fourth Rice provided a $200,000 endowment in and businessman, Captain Baker generation James A. Baker joined a will written in 1891 for the creation of remained one of the most visible the fifth as members of the firm of an institute of higher education in business/civic leaders in Houston the Judge, Captain, and Junior. Houston. From the original charter until for almost seventy years. -Source: J. H . Freeman, his death in 1941, Captain Baker served The People of Baker Botts The Baker family has as chairman of the Board of Trustees of {Houston: Bak Botts, 1992), 19. remained prominent in the Rice Institute. While planning the Houston since Judge opening of Rice, Baker had to go to New Baker arrived here in Captain Jam es A. Baker York City in 1900 to fight and win a (of the Houston Light 1872. Five gener­ highly publicized legal battle to void a sec­ Guard) in 1879 ations of James ond Rice will. In the twenty-one years Courtesy Houston Metropolitan Addison Bakers Research Center, Houston Pu blic Library from the chartering of Rice to its opening have worked for in 1912, Baker and the rest of the board page 4 Tl1e Houston Review- volume 1, no. 2 steadily built the Rice endowment. T his enabled them to create an institution with the resources to become a first-class uni­ versity, despite its location in a relatively small city far away from the traditional centers of academic excellence in the East. As a magnet attracting able and ambitious young people to Houston and a source of civic pride for Houstonians, Rice became a symbol of a city on the move. As such, it attracted broad support from the city's business community after its opening.4 Along with other lawyers such as Frank Andrews of Andrews & Kurth, Captain Baker prepared the way for the integration of H ouston into the national economy. They created legal, financial, and transportation connections to the national economy that could be used by others to build industry and trade. By World War I, such ties had enabled Houston to make important strides toward defining a profitable and distinctive iden­ tity for itself in the national economy. Making good use of the railroads and A young Jesse Jones reigns as King Nottoc at the annual No-Tsu-Oh carnival in 1902. the legal and financial networks they had Texas. After helping establish the new Farish, H arry Wiess, Robert Blaffer, and helped create, lumber, cotton, and oil cata­ Texas oil industry at Corsicana in the late Walter Fondren), established an influen­ pulted Houston forward after the turn of 1890s, he tool< a leading role in develop­ tial presence in the city. H ouston's cotton the twentieth century, drawing the capital, ing the giant Spindletop field near and oil-fueled prosperity fed a boosterism jobs, and leaders required for it to become Beaumont before making Houston his with roots deep in the city's past.5 a major city. The cotton trade brought home, as well as the headquarters of T he The city's openness to "adopted sons" M.D. Anderson and Will Clayton from Texas Company. Other oilmen, including was readily apparent in these critical years. 01'1lahoma City to Houston, which greatly John Henry Kirby (wl10se empire included With its fast-moving econorny, the city benefited as an international center for timber and oil) and early leaders of was too busy to wait for "old money" to the cotton trade. Oilman Joseph S. Humble O il (Ross Sterling, William take charge of civic affairs. Indeed, Cullinan migrated from Pennsylvania to Houston had few old, established families and interests. It welcomed newcomers of an.Jiition and talent, quickly harnessing their energies into the frenzied effort to build a major city out of the people and money drawn to Houston by the ample opportunities presented by oil and cotton. Jesse Jones, for example, migrated to Houston from Tennessee by way of Dallas in 1898 at the age of 24. Only four years after his move to the city, a youthful Jones presided as King N ottoc ("cotton" spelled baclxward) at the annual No-Tsu­ Oh Carnival celebrating cotton's impor­ tance to the city. By that time, he and oth­ ers who flooded the city after the turn of the century had already talwn a place among Houston's civic leadersl1.ip. The climax of this era of city building was the dredging of a deepwater ship chan­ nel from Houston to the Gulf of Mexico. The cotton and oil industries had access to broader marl

The Houston Review-volume 1, .no. 2 page 5 the world. The emergence to international racism of the times, it is ahistorical to prominence of Houston-based companies look back and expect otherwise. such as Anderson, Clayton and Company It is also ahistorical, however, to in cotton and The Texas Company in oil ignore the long-run costs of segregation. defined the region's new identity in the Jim Crow took an obvious, harsh toll on national economy. individual black citizens while imposing Houston still had a long way to go high, yet less obvious, costs on society as a before it could proclaim itself a mature whole. Businesses paid the price of main­ city. Rice Institute had opened in 1912; taining segregated labor markets and in 1914 it remained little more than a restricting the access of black customers symbol of the city's quest for education to goods and services. All employers felt and culture. Civic leaders had constructed the impact on potential workers of the a civic center that could be used to host a separate but unequal educational system. variety of cultural events. Nina Cullinan The society as a whole lost the initiative (the daughter of Joseph S. Cullinan) and and energy of ambitious blacks who fled Ima Hogg (the daughter of former gover­ the region to less hostile places such as nor and Texaco investor James Hogg) had California in search of better social and migrated to Houston with their families, economic opportunities. The city, the but they had not yet emerged as leading state, and the South as a whole bore the Jesse ]ones' Gulf Building under construction in 1928 patrons of the arts. The establishment of political costs of a stunted form of the Houston Symphony Society in 1913 democracy in which a race-based single wanted easier access to modern ocean­ provided a hint of things to come, but the party political system consistently neg­ going vessels to expand their trade. The creation of institutions of "high culture" lected the needs of disenfranchised blacks deepening of the channel required the would have to wait a while longer. The and poor whites. The economic irra­ support of the U.S. Army Corps of city's civic leaders had roads to pave and tionalities of maintaining a dual, race­ Engineers, and the city's elite went to work plumbing to move indoors before they based system of public accommodations in the 1890s lobbying the federal govern­ could turn their full attentions to operas and education proved increasingly costly ment for this vital project. Closing ranks and museums. as the city grew larger. behind Tom Ball, the region's sole repre­ But they were not too busy to address Yet believing in white supremacy and sentative in the U.S. House of another challenge posed for them by his­ enamored the short-term benefits of a Representatives, Houston's business lead­ by tory: the creation of a new social/racial cheap black labor force, Houston's busi­ ers finally sealed the deal in 1909 by cre­ order. Race was the most pressing social ness/civic leaders helped create and ating a navigation district baclLouisiana. In this precedents. More than any event in era, the city's white civic elite closed ranks Houston's history, this episode became the around a Texas variant of the Jim Crow symbol of the "can do" attitude of the city's system imposed throughout the South. aggressive business/civic elite. It became Legal restrictions blocked equal access the story Houston boosters told to illus­ by blacks to public accommodations, includ­ trate that their city was more ambitious ing schools. Jobs and housing remained and more innovative than others.6 strictly segregated by custom. Poll taxes By 1914, when President Woodrow and all-white primary elections (which in Wilson pushed a button in the White the single-party South effectively chose House that traveled via telegraph and shot the Democratic candidate who usually the canon at the official opening of the would win without real opposition in the new ship channel, H ouston was tightly general election) severely limited the connected into the national economy. The political power of blacl

page 6 The Homton Review- volume 1 , no. 2 remained a drag on the region's develop­ good jobs by the thousands. T he opportu­ career, Jones had a hand in almost every ment for more than three generations.7 nities presented by these new factories civic project in Houston for more than attracted a wave of migrants from rural half a century. Although he died in 1956, The Era of Jesse Jones-­ Texas and Louisiana, as well as numerous through his personal involvement and his World War I to World war II professionals and managers from around impact on others, Jones' direct and indi­ Jesse Jones stood astride Houston's civic the nation. By 1940, H ouston had grown rect influence spanned most of the history elite in the interwar years. As a young spectacularly to a population of almost of twentieth-century Houston.'0 banker/developer before World War I, 400,000, with a strong, dynamic indus­ In the 1930 s and 1940s, as Jones Jones had helped collect the private fund­ trial foundation for future growth.9 worlwd in Washington as head of the ing that persuaded the Corps of Engineers The surge of expansion down the ship Reconstruction Finance Corporation and to deepen the H ouston Ship Channel. channel corridor during these years con­ Secretary of Commerce, a new generation After the war, Jones became the symbol of firmed a pattern that continued to shape of business/civic leaders emerged in Houston's rapid emergence as a major city. Houston's growth into one of nation's Houston. These men represented the city's His background is discussed elsewhere in largest cities in terms of geographical area. new industrial economy. As their expand­ this issue, as are his efforts to bring the To the southeast, the Houston metropoli­ ing companies fueled the region's industri­ 1 928 Democratic Convention to meet in tan area came to include such smaller al growth, they began to identify a com­ the city. He left distinctive marl~s on "refinery towns" as Pasadena, Deer Park, mon interest in civic affairs. As World Houston as a real estate developer and a Baytown, and Texas City. Even befo re War II ended and the region moved into a political figure. As a developer, he built World War II, H ouston had begun to sustained postwar boom, they were poised much of the city's growing skyline from reach out and absorb once "outlying" areas to assert leadership. Independently wealthy tl-1e turn of the century until his death in in several directions. and relatively young, they had already 1956. As one of the fi rst H oustonians to Despite such geographical sprawl in built successful companies and they play a highly visible and powerful role in the interwar years, downtown business looked forward to the challenge of helping national politics, he made an even more leaders continued to shape the city's devel­ Houston move into the ranl~s of what they lasting impression on history. A physically opment. Lawyers and bankers, including called the "major league cities." imposing man, Jesse Jones became "Mr. Captain Baker himself, continued to take The Era of BF and Manv Mo~ Houston" to observers throughout the leading roles in civic affairs, as did those World War II to the 1980s nation and to younger civic leaders in the who owned and managed the region's 8 city and even in Washington, D .C. sprawling complex of cotton and oil-relat­ In the postwar boom, this new generation H ouston rapidly industrialized in the ed activities. Among the growing number of business/civic leaders did just that. interwar years. The land on both sides of of strong leaders in Houston in the Their various enterprises, along with the the new ship channel from H ouston to 192 0 s, Jesse Jones stood out. When he Houston-area operations of major corpo­ Texas City attracted an array of industrial returned to H ouston from Washington, rations based outside the region, created a enterprises, with giant oil refineries and D.C. after World War II, he became a gray tidal wave of jobs that moved the econo­ petrochemical plants creating thousands imminence in the city, serving as a role my forward. With their personal fortunes of new industrial jobs. Oil-related manu­ model for several generations of younger and energies, they built cultural institu- facturing in other parts of the city added civic leaders. During his remarl~ab l e Continued on page 31

, .A view of downtown Houston in the 1950s, with many of ]ones' buildings filling the skyline. " ii,

Tl1c lfousb:m Rcv:icw-voln111c 1, no. 2 page 7 and the Mal

~ u face, Carter Wesley governmental and business core. Thirty harm, literacy tests, and the White Primary j is an overlooked fig­ years before Carter's birth, his mother was to effectively strip blacks of the vote and of c g ure in the history of the firstborn child of enslaved Africans on v:irtually any efficacy in the political arena. l Houston and civ:ic a plantation in Montgomery County, Texas. The White Primary barred blacks from ~§ leadership in the Historians Patricia Smith Prather and Bob voting in the Democratic Party primaries as 8~ U.S. South. The Lee note that Mabel Green had no com­ a means of establishing blacks as a separate ~~ OJJ 2 Id°' Bakers, Browns, monly accepted "right to an education." By and inferior race. '1> c Worthams, and the time of Carter's birth, however, his The White Democratic Primary ~~0 0 UI other prominent mother had established a name for herself became the issue on which a young Carter Carter Wesley (1892-1969) white Houstonians as a teacher in the schools of Houston. The Wesley would cut his political teeth. The have received ample type of education she knew stressed reli­ same practices that spurred his grandpar­ treatment in the scholarly literature. gious "character" training and basic prepa­ ents' migration from Montgomery County Recently, worthy book-length studies have ration for farming or menial labor jobs. to Houston propelled him fifty years later appeared on lesser known black community Schools taught humility and obedience, as to challenge the White Primary as an leaders like Lulu B. White and Eldrewey well as manual labor and minor artisan unconstitutional, racist policy. The inter­ Stearns, as well as prominent national lead­ trades. Mabel Wesley, however, knew educa­ generational tradition of struggle within the ers who hail from Houston such as Barbara tion should and could serve to produce Wesley family, then, went from egress to Jordan. But Wesley still has not attracted democratic citizens, free human beings who education to direct political action by way the attention he is due. This essay offers a would rather die than live as slaves. Carter of litigation and public agitation.3 glimpse of how life in and outside of absorbed her modernist outlook, emerging By voting with their feet and mov:ing Houston made Carter Wesley and how he, as one of Houston's foremost civ:ic leaders. to Houston, the Greens taught their daugh­ in turn, helped make the civ:ic culture of He led the way in reshaping the civ:ic cul­ ter Mabel an important lesson about the modern Houston. It prov:ides a thumbnail ture that prepared the southern metropolis necessity to resist the dehumanization of sketch of a complex and courageous indi­ for the Civ:il and Voting Rights Acts of the slavery. She took up education as a weapon v:idual whose life spanned the first two­ 1960s and the mass black self-investiture of struggle and became one of the earliest thirds of the twentieth century. Wesley in U.S. citizenship known as the Second students enrolled at the Gregory Institute made a difference in the history of Reconstruction.1 in Houston's Freedmen's Town. At eight­ Houston. A n account of his life points to Wesley's story has its origin in his een, she began building a record of achieve­ some of the important historical events and grandparent's exodus from slave plantation ment teaching at several educational insti­ themes that should be considered in a larg­ life. Located about f orly miles north of tutions for blacks including Oats Prairie er inquiry of the multiple centers of civ:ic Houston, Montgomery County had slightly School, the Chaneyv:ille School, and the leadership in a southern metropolis such as more blacks than whites in the 1860 cen­ First Ward School. Houston in the Jim Crow era. sus. Postwar Reconstruction-era politics She so impressed school district offi­ Born April 29, 1892, Carter was one gave Republican black and white men dom­ cials that in 1917 they named her principal of three sons raised by Mabel and Harry inance over the elected offices of the Black of the newly opened Crawford Elementary

• Amilcar Shabazz is an associate professor of American Studies at the University of Alabama. He is the author of Advancing Democracy: African Americans and the Strug;1/e for Access and Equity in Higher Education in Texas (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2004). He is currently working on a biography of Carter Wesley. page 8 The Houston Review-volume 1. no. 2 School. Without a college degree, she (1912), stoked Wesley's desire to become a of Camp Logan, encountered a Houston became the first African American woman race man, with all the masculine implica­ police officer mercilessly beating a blacl< to assume a leadership position that cus­ tions of the term, who opposed racial woman. When the soldier questioned what tomarily went to men. Throughout this injustice and worked to improve the con­ was the matter, the officer stopped beating time she continued her post-secondary ditions of African Americans through her and billy-clubbed him before arresting education by attending school at Prairie civic activism. The malevolent winds of and taking him to jail. At the police station, View A&M University, the sole state-sup­ war in Europe and racial violence in the officials quiclUnited States, however, interrupted before a black corporal, unaware of the sol­ blacks only. Studying in the summer Wesley's plans even as they steeled his dier's release, went to check on his comrade months, she earned her baccalaureate youthful idealism into a lifelong crusade.6 only to be chased, shot at, pummeled, and degree in 1930.4 In June 1917, Wesley enrolled at a locked up. Carter Wesley's schooling pro­ When the news of the second ceeded more directly than his incident reached Camp Logan, mother's. Shortly after graduating over a hundred soldiers took high school in 1911, he moved to am1nunition and weapons and Nashville to attend Fisk marched into the city to "punish" University, which held claim to a the hated Houston police force. reputation as a leading private uni­ The death toll in the fighting versity for African Americans. He claimed five policemen, two white excelled at Fisk, and in 1917, was soldiers, nine white or Latino awarded a B. A. degree, magna civilians, and four of the blacl< cum laude. Wesley sought an mutineers. At Fort Des Moines understanding of himself and of Wesley wondered about the fate of his future as a person of African the soldiers who had revolted. descent in a European-American­ Could they get fair trials? Would dominated world. His chief influ­ the long train of racist abuses that ence was Fisk's greatest alumnus, ~ blacb, civilians, and soldiers alilthe Crisis, Du Bois' essay on "The black officers' training camp located at Fort a fone of war and premeditated murder, Immediate Program of the American Des Moines, Iowa. After completing the thirteen men received the death penalty and Negro," and consider the future course of program he received his commission as a hung until dead that day at Fort Sam his life. Du Bois spoke for his generation first lieutenant, making him one of the first Houston near San Antonio. Five men when he wrote that "the American Negro black junior officers since Colonel Charles received their freedom, while the majority demands equality-political equality, Young led blacl< troops of the 10th Cavalry got a sentence of life at hard labor. industrial equality and social equality; and into combat during "Blacl< Jacl/ Pershing's In the aftermath of the mutiny, Wesley he is never going to rest satisfied with any­ Punitive Expedition in Mexico. not only felt concern for the legal predica­ thing less."5 As Wesley trained to be a military offi­ ment of the soldiers, but he also worried Second only in importance to Du cer, an event occurred in his hometown that about the welfare of his family and friends Bois in Wesley's emerging political con­ tested his faith in Du Bois' "close ranks" in a city where already poor relations sciousness was the lawyer turned poet, appeal that wartime service marl

Tiu~ Houston Rcview-volmuc 1, no. 2 page 9 worries and get on with the bloody business Oklahoma from a desire to build black entrepreneur in the construction business, in Europe. Serving in the 3 72nd Infantry power? Atkins started his practice in Tulsa, brokered land deals through the Safety Regiment under the command of the a city that underwent a terrible race riot in Loan and Brokerage Company, and made a French Army, he fought in the Argonne 1921, one of the worst in U.S. history. sizable capital investment in Clifton F. and the Verdun region in World War I. Pooling their talent and resources in the Richardson's The Informer, a black commu­ After transfer to the 370th, Wesley took face. of intense racist terror and violence, nity newspaper. In 1931, his law firm with part in the battle of Oise-Aisne on Wesley migrated to nearby Muskogee and Atkins added a third partner, James September 27, 1918. When his captain got Atkins to join him in setting up a law Madison Nabrit, Jr., a N~rthwestern received a severe combat wound, Wesley firm together. Their practice rapidly University School of Law honors graduate. assumed command. The armistice that accrued financial success representing Like Wesley and Atkins, Nabrit shared solid ended the war denied Wesley a chance at a Creek freedmen who owned land contain­ legal training and a commitment to public significant combat command role and, in ing crude oil. Local whites, acting as so­ interest litigation. This new Houston law February of 1919, he returned to the U.S. called guardians, had been taking the prof­ firm had 15% of the black lawyers in That fall he enrolled at Northwestern its from these lands. Texas, since in 1930 there were only twen­ University's law school in Illinois.8 Wesley prospered, but personal as well ty black lawyers in the entire state. The field Wesley's choice to join the legal was wide open to make a mark. profession, instead of fallowing in his Wesley, the native Houstonian in mother's schoolteacher footsteps, the firm, quickly became a major reflected Wesley's point of view that player in black Houston's social, his people needed men and women political, and economic renaissance. educated in the law to fight for human Before their arrival, Francis Scott and civil rights. He had for role mod­ Key Whittaker had the main black els few African American lawyers and law office in the city. A Harvard almost none in high-status, high­ University law school graduate, paying, influential positions. White Whittaker opened his office in politicians, lawyers, and judges com­ 1923. When Wesley and Nabrit bined to restrict the legal practice of entered the black struggle in Texas African American attorneys to an for full voting rights, other lawyers­ all-black clientele, mostly in family both black and white-had unsuc­ and other civil law matters. cessfully litigated numerous lawsuits Materialist dreams of wealth, from Beaumont to El Paso. Wesley, however, are unlikely sources for however, was egotistical enough to Wesley's decision to pursue a law believe that he could bring a case degree. Wesley's mother had been before the United States Supreme enslaved and had committed herself to Court and change history. the promotion of learning among the The NAACP, however, from its children of Houston. Her son, howev­ headquarters in New York, considered er, was a pragmatic man of action in ~ itself the pioneer and leader of the -.2 the grips of an ideology of black -; constitutional law fight for the rights power. In the 1920s, the law offered a ~ of African Americans. Although talented and risk-taking person a cut­ ~ Texas activists and the NAACP ting edge lifestyle. It guaranteed a u national office shared common goals Among Wesley's many undertakings, his involvement in dynamic, exciting life spent helping The Informer made him one of the most irifluential black civic of wanting to defeat white suprema­ people resolve their conflicts in an leaders in Texas. cist laws and practices in the courts, orderly way, or it meant nothing at all. the leadership issue became a thorny Wesley, truly a man of the modern age, as business factors pushed and lured him and recurring problem. Wesley and his wanted to be in the center of things, leading out of Oklahoma in 1927. Dodging com­ partners did not flinch from head-on colli­ society toward progressive change. He plaints that he and Atlxins had overcharged sions with the NAACP legal team. They expressed an interest, not only for a seizure their Afro-Native American clients to particularly objected to the NAACP's of personal status, but of power, especially amass personal f orlunes, Wesley began reliance on white lawyers in the early years of power vested in a historically constructed planning a return to Houston to make a of the legal campaign, when capable black black identity.9 fresh start, career-wise. 10 He entered lawyers like themselves were available. After Wesley's graduation from law Oklahoma when people of color were at a Partly as a result of their objections, the school he moved to Oklahoma. Why he nadir and brought quality legal expertise. NAACP's national office would come moved there raises interesting questions Wesley, the race man, may have left the around to hiring the Dean of Howard about his enactment of the race man narra­ Sooner State a rich man, but he had not yet University's law school, Charles Hamilton tive. Did he and Jasper "Jack" Alston come into his own as a leader. Houston, an African American graduate Atkins, Wesley's friend from his Fisk In Houston, Wesley entered a very dif­ of Harvard University, to direct its legal University days who earned his law degree ferent business, political, and social envi­ campaign. From that step toward embrac­ at Yale, start their practice of the law in ronment. He launched his career as an ing diversity and supporting a greater page 10 T he Houston Review-volume l, no. 2 African American presence at the bar, through Houston in 1930, Greene record­ national levels, plus other regional and Charles Houston's own student, Thurgood ed in his travel diary notes on his meeting national associations concerning newspaper Marshall became the NAACP's chief Carter Wesley. He stated that he was deeply publishing, advertising, educational equal­ counsel and, in later years, the first African impressed that a man in his thirties was so ization, and interracial alliance-building. American U .S. Supreme Court justice. business-minded, successful, and promi­ John Gunther, a best-selling author of The conflict between Wesley and the nent. Marveling over what a "progressive travelogues from around the world and NAACP extended to the area of legal tac­ young man" Wesley was, he stated that the across the United States, took notice of tics and strategies in the fight against the publisher "made a fine publicity man for Wesley in his 1949 book Inside U S. A. In whites-only primary elections, but ulti­ me" by telling others about him. In trying a passage commenting on the "Negro issue" mately unity prevailed. After almost a quar­ to sell his boolHouston Defender and Informer, the the Supreme Court to rule that blacks acknowledge him as a recognized leader. 11 Fort Worth Mind, the Dallas Express, could not be barred from voting in the Wesley's civic activities were wide rang­ the oldest Negro paper in the state. Democratic Party Primary in Texas or in ing. His paper and the publicity it generated All told Wesley's papers have a circu­ any of a number of states where white party placed him in a prominent position in lation of about sixty thousand; they oHicials practiced such exclusion. It was in Houston's black community. He took part are intelligently edited and vigorously Wesley's oHice that he and Marshall pre­ in campaigns as diverse as getting blacks to outspoken on most issues. Wesley is pared the brief that convinced the Court to pay their poll taxes and to vote, opposition now fifty-three. 12 strike a blow for the voting rights of to capital punishment and racial injustice in African Americans. Wesley worked with the courts or at the hands of the police, The height of Wesley's influence and Marshall on the lawsuit as a consultant and lawsuits against Jim Crow laws and racial success as a newspaper publisher and civic as a political and financial backer. segregation, trade union organization, and leader came in the period fallowing the Nearly a decade before the Smith rul­ raising funds for the city's junior and, later, Smith victory and the end of the Second ing, Wesley reduced his practice of law to senior college for African Americans. His World War. Besides the cities Gunther become more involved with The Informer, own organizing and capacity-building work noted, Wesley also published papers or local stepping on the back of Clifton Richardson included a local council of black organiza­ editions in San Antonio and San Diego, to become the main owner with editorial tions, a statewide group called the Texas California, and as far to the east as New control of the paper. He started as the Council on Negro Organizations, the Orleans, Louisiana, Mobile, Alabama, and paper's auditor in 1929, moved the next NAACP at the local, state, regional, and Memphis, Tennessee. Moreover, in 1945 year to become vice president, Wesley's paper was the largest followed by general manager and black-owned business in treasurer before the end of Houston in terms of the num­ 1932. After an acrimonious ber of people it employed, its feud over the journalistic and gross income, and property. At financial policies at The Informer, the national level, Wesley was a Wesley bought out Richardson's founder of Associated interest in the paper. Publishers, Inc., a black adver­ In 1933, another aspect of tising business; a recognized Wesley's life changed. He married leader in the National Doris Wooten and soon had two Newspaper Publishers newborn infants in his house­ Association; and among an hold. Wooten had been his part­ elite group of black newspaper ner in running the newspaper editors who met during the war after 1932. Thus, when AtlWhite House. faculty of Howard University's In 1948 the U.S. government law school, Wesley had become sent him and ten other black more a publisher than a lawyer. publishers to Germany to Whether liking him or not, investigate the racial discrimi­ black Houstonians came to rec­ nation claims of black service­ ognize Wesley as a civic leader. men. Closer to home, however, Lorenzo Greene, a traveling Wesley's major campaign was salesman of Carter G. Woodson's for African American access books and publications, provides and equity in education. a firsthand account of Wesley's The "all-out war for public stature. During his pass

The Houston Review-volume l, no. 2 page 1 l

I democracy" in education, as he and other Wesley also personally supported the Texans. He fought for black colleges in the blacks described their struggle, was multi­ man who would file the major test case pages of his newspapers, at the state capitol, faceted and complex. In a word, Wesley against segregated higher education. and in courtrooms. Although intimately wanted the state to equalize the educational Heman Sweatt, who qualified in every way familiar with the relative inadequacy of opportunities and resources it afforded to for admission to UT's law sch ool except resources and standing of many black col­ whites with that afforded to blacks. In prin­ that he was racially identified as a Negro, leges, he recognized that they provided ciple and in the long run, he supported filed suit in 1946. While the suit worked higher education to the majority of African integration of the races, but in practice he its way to the Supreme Court, Wesley American undergraduates and would con­ demanded immediate improvements to and placed Sweatt on his payroll as an Informer tinue to do so throughout his lifetime and increased resources for the schools the state employee. No one, besides men and beyond. He foresaw that black schools restricted to black students only. In 1945, women like Sweatt who braved white reac­ would continue to be the only institutions at the postsecondary level, that meant the tion by applying to universities whites available to most black students for howev­ college at Prairie View. banned them from, did more for the er many years it would take to bury the Two contradictions arose in working struggle to eradicate segregation in Texas Supreme Court's 1896 Pfessy decision, exclusively for an increase in state funding education than Carter Wesley. which sanctioned racial discrimination for Prairie View. First, the state constitu­ As he built his reputation as an enemy across the United States on the basis that tion for more than seven decades had of segregation, Wesley was also one of the "separate but equal" treatment did not vio­ promised the creation of a second universi­ greatest backers of the Texas schools where late the equal protection clause of the U.S. ty for blacks that would be equivalent to the the actual educating of African Americans Constitution's 14th amendment. Wesley University of Texas at Austin. The state took place. The state's black college at refused to demonize black colleges and uni­ never acted to fulfill its consti­ versities to win converts to the tutional mandate and black crusade to put black faces in Texans never forgot the original white spaces. promise. Secondly, a limited Lulu Belle White, an educa­ campaign to get state legislators tor turned activist and a friend in Austin to improve Prairie of Wesley's through the many View consistently met with fail­ years of the fight against black ure. The state refused to heed exclusion from the Democratic pleas for funding increases Party primaries, took issue with regardless of whether they came the publisher's two-line strategy from blacks or from white State regarding black educational Department of Education offi­ advancement. Consistent with cials. The legislature concerned the position Thurgood Marshall itself with the improvement of ESDAY ···· AUGUST and the central leadership of the white institutions of higher edu­ MUSIC BY I. H. . SMALLEY NAACP advocated in the late cation and cared nothing at all 1940s, White adopted the view about the needs of the state's that segregated black schools disenfranchised black minority. were no more than monuments :.~. . .: ~Athnissiorr-; •;RE :S1't E: $16~- ;A ,. ' In response to this state of ., to Jim Crow racism. Herself a affairs, Wesley advocated a two­ 3ponsore·d By:Negro Beer·Deair f\-,,y-. ~ graduate of Prairie View, she pronged strategy. He supported :, ~. " .. '.F·.·. .··.··- ~-~i.~.~.I~~ ...:~ , ~~:: ,~~,',7~ ~~·:•n.O , Sh"I'''.: ! • ~ rejected the state's compromise , '""''-\ i:- ~,, ~a t..1N_1 : 111: ; 00 i " l'~ • !4 - 1111o"' • ~ti':!'\ t r°'' a direct assault on segregation u measures of increased funding to Wesley took an active role in Heman Sweatt ~ legal battle against segregation at while at the same time pleading, the University of Texas law school. black higher education that arose demanding, and taking whatever in response to Sweatt's lawsuit. financial gestures could be They amounted to gestures that wrung out of the lily-white state legislature Prairie View, the Houston College for were too little, too late. A militant race for the benefit of Prairie View or towards Negroes (established as a municipal junior woman from her college days, the fight the creation of the long-promised black college in 1927), and the eleven black, pri­ against fascism in Europe and Asia con­ UT. He recognized that the direct assault vate colleges across the state had no better comitant with the battle for human rights on the whites-only admissions policy could friend than Wesley. His papers boosted the inside the U.S. propelled White to go push whites toward finally appropriating the image of these institutions by recording and beyond a service role in the black freedom finances to upgrade black schools. Along trumpeting their successes and victories, struggle. She accepted a leadership posi­ the first line of attack, Wesley put his however big or small. He personally donat­ tion as the executive secretary of the money where his mouth was and helped ed time and energy toward various projects, NAACP's Houston branch. In 1943, she raise thousands of dollars for an anti-segre­ especially major fund-raising campaigns. was the only woman in the South to hold gation lawsuit. Through news articles and Wesley was a relentless and incisive critic of such a full-time salaried position. his columns, he influenced public opinion, the state and its white majority for When the difference between Wesley especially in making the black community hypocrisy, duplicity, inertia, and apathy and Marshall on political tactics crystal­ believe that it could force black bodies into toward the black institutions that did so lized, White put her "acid-tongue" behind white spaces. much good work for the well-being of all the NAACP position and against Wesley. page 12 Tlie H ouston Rc.wiew-volume l , no. 2 She lambasted him before members of the column, "The Ram's Horn" that: "Even if revolution that brought on many changes in movement and in broader public discourse Sweatt enters the University of Texas, we Texas and beyond. He acted behind the as clinging to the posture of yesterday's will not want to get rid of Texas State scenes to help blacks take school districts Negro, the stooping, eyes to the ground, hat University for Negroes ... the Texas and other state universities and junior col­ in hand, Step N. Fetchit-type Negro. Constitution decrees separation provided it leges to court either to equalize black insti­ Wesley never had been such a man and his is equal, why shouldn't we make them carry tutions or to admit blacks into schools tremendous ego did not allow him to suffer out the Constitution and equalize Texas whites barred them from. He demanded such an ignominious characterization pas­ State University in toto with the University educational equity while constantly declar­ sively. He never accepted white men who of Texas?" A year later, the Supreme Court ing that legally enforced separation of the disrespectfully honked their horns at black ordered Texas to admit Sweatt into the UT races was a crime against humanity. women as they wallwd in their neighbor­ law school. African Americans began In 1969, when Wesley passed on, hoods. He did not accept their addressing entering UT in the summer of 1950, but H ouston lost one of its most important black women without using the courtesy only in graduate programs and professional civic leaders. He, more than anyone in the titles of "Miss" or "Mrs." as they customarily schools. W D. McClennan, a faculty mem­ 8F crowd of white businessmen, spurred addressed other women. He never accepted ber at Austin's Samuel Huston College, the desegregation of Houston. Critically, he whites calling an adult African American entered its doctoral program in mathemat­ challenged the rhetoric and reality of white man "boy" or white soldiers in the U.S. mil­ ics and John Chase, who later became a racial hierarchy. Imaginatively, he popular­ itary refusing to salute blacl_, officers who major Houston-based architect, entered the ized the vocabulary for speaking into being outranked them. So when Lulu B. White architecture school. a new civic culture. His tocsin came not portrayed him as a "sell-out" to from a trumpet but a ram's horn. his race over a tactical dispute, he Ultimately, the civil rights move­ tagged back. ment Wesley sounded into action Wesley charged White and modernized the southern system the NAACP generally with want­ of racial hierarchy, helping save it ing to monopolize the battlefield from itself. for equal rights and justice. Most The movement pushed a damningly, he claimed that they racial state to demonstrate its were fomenting division within obedience to the rule of law, to the united front that leaders of become less opaque, more black organizations in Texas had rational and insidious. Wesley forged since the 1930s. Added recognized and was deeply to this, in the postwar period troubled by the potential for a marJ_,ed by anti-Red hysteria, civil rights movement focused Wesley wailed that White was a on changing white spaces into communist and sympathetic to public spaces open to African Marxism-Leninism. Americans. This might amount Marshall, as NAACP chief to a reform of racial caste counsel, joined in the attack on arrangements in the U.S. rather Wesley and expanded the conflict than a transformation of it. His © into a national brouhaha for a § solution centered on black peo­ period of several months. 'J.l pie sustaining a collective ethos Ultimately the Wesley-White J! of independence and self­ feud ended in defeat for White, ....,.~-"- f reliance. He never backed down and the rhetorical shoot-out ~--"'S__ E_GR _E_G_,A_TI_O_N~: _Ali__ E_ \_' l_L_'l'_H_,\_T_ B_R_E_E_:os_:-_. ~_n_S_l i_N_J)_iRS_T_A!_· N_'D_L~_G~··-" _· ~ 3 from his two-line approach between Wesley and Marshall The Informer provided a forum for writers and artists alike to challenge the despite attempts by his adver­ resulted in a draw. In June of racial status quo. saries to malign him as a sell­ 1949, White resigned from her out to his race and to marginal­ position with the Houston branch of the UT officials continued, however, to ize him as a civic leader. Perhaps Wesley NAACP. Soon thereafter the NAACP refuse black applicants to its undergraduate is a minor player in the public memory of national leadership focused its pubhc state­ programs until the middle of the decade the twentieth-century South and ments more on the side of the benefits that following the Court's landmark ruling in Houston because historians continue to would accrue to society from the elimina­ the Brown case. Even with that decision, worry about defending the South and its tion of segregation and refrained from which overturned Pfessy and seemed to tradition-laden past, or obsess over wholesale condemnations of historically strike at the white supremacist doctrine of dreams of integration that scarcely ever black colleges and universities. racial hierarchy it legitimized, the state of result in tangible improvements in the For his part, Wesley never wavered in Texas did not mandate the elimination of lives of most African A mericans. his full and overt support for Sweatt's right race as a requirement of admission at all its Perhaps a deeper remembering of Carter to attend UT and the fight against segrega­ state-supported institutions of higher learn­ Wesley and what he stood for might foster tion. On July 2, 1949, shortly after ing until 1965. the imagining of a freer Houston. • White's resignation, he maintained in his Wesley was a pivotal figure in the social

The Houston Review-volume 1, no. 2 page 13 sse nes: A Conversation about "Mr. Houston"

Steven Fenberg is community affairs officer at Houston Endowment Inc., a philanthrop­ ic foundation established by Mr. and Mrs. Jesse H . Jones. After assembling an archive, conducting an oral history project, and pro­ ducing a permanent exhibit about the Joneses for the foundation, Mr. Fenberg wrote and was executive producer of the Emmy award-winning PBS documentary, Brother, Can You Spare a Billion? The Story of Jesse H. Jon es . Mr. Fenberg is currently working on a biography about Jesse Jones. Joseph Pratt sat down with Mr. Fenberg to talk about the film , his years of research, and the man in question- Jesse Jones.

JP: Steven, let's start with the basic question: Wl1at do you see as special about Jesse Jones? Then we can talk about how you came to study him. SF: As chairman of the federal govern­ ment's Reconstruction Finance Corporation during the Great Depression, Jesse Jones established massive agencies to combat the catas­ trophe. While helping rnillions of cit­ izens and thousands of businesses he made money for the federal govern­ ment during one of the nation's most disastrous events. His accomplish­ ments have great relevance today, and ]esse]ones with President Roosevelt in 1939_ I wanted to learn how he did what he did, why he was so successful, and wl1at could be applied to today's press­ ing issues. three months. At that time, the organized or preserved until the foun­ I first discovered Jones' forgotten foundation was in the process of dation's new president, Joe Nelson, role in b.istory while I was assembling moving from the Banl:

page 14 1'hc .Ffonglon Rcvicw-voln.mc l, no. 2 the fifth floor, where Mr. Jones' office used to be, unfolding these amazing documents, reading them and discov­ ering just who Jesse Jones was. That's when I started to realize the magnitude of his contributions both locally and nationally, that he was instrumental in saving capitalism during the Great Depression and in militarizing industry in time to fight and win World War II. I also began to see how he embodied the best of capi­ talism as I noticed how he used the economic system not just to increase his personal wealth but to also con­ sciously and simultaneously improve the common good. JP: At the RFC, ]ones put to work for the government the banker's skills he had learned in Houston. He had the responsi­ bility of picking which companies were worth saving and which were not. Many who lived in Houston in the 1930s recall that he was particularly good to Houstonians. Do you see any evidence that Houstonians had a friend at the RFC? Jesse ]ones built (clockwise from the top left) the SF: Houston did have a friend in Bristol Hotel, The original Texas Company Washington, D.C. But I can't say that Building, and the Houston Chronicle Building other places were neglected because between 1907 and 1909. At ten floors, they were he had an allegiance to Houston. He Houston's tallest buildings. distributed RFC funds to every con­ gressional district in the United States and, as a result, congressmen were beholden to Jesse Jones. Most citizens appreciated his efforts,

Jesse ]ones launching the "Mirabeau B. Lamar," Houston Shipbuilding Company, 1942. ]ones and the RFC placed many shipyards and chemical plants along the Texas Gulf Coast to help build Roosevelt's "Arsenal During the Great Depression, Jones and the RFC reopened closed banks, saved of Democracy." farms, homes, and businesses and built, dams, aqueducts, and bridges throughout the United States. In 1936,]ones visited and inspected the new San Francisco Bay Bridge.

The Houston Review-volume l, no. 2 page 15 whether he and the RFC were saving smaller monuments throughout banks in Detroit, paying teachers in Texas that commemorate significant Chicago, or bringing electricity to battles and events. remote farms in Appalachia. JP: Help me remember. Was the San Even so, his government service Jacinto Monument a Works Progress clearly had a great impact on Administration (WPA) project? Houston, especially during World SF: The monument cost about $1.5 mil­ War II. The petrochemical industry is lion, of which $300,000 came from a great example. He located many the State of Texas, $400,000 from plants in the area during World War the $3 million appropriated by II, most notably to manufacture Congress for the celebration of the butadiene and synthetic rubber, an Texas Centennial, a small amount industry the RFC developed from the came from the City of Houston, and lab to preempt the almost certain loss the balance came from the Public to the Japanese of the natural rubber Works Administration (PWA) and the supplies in the Pacific. Maybe he WPA. President Roosevelt went to chose those sites because he was a the battlefield with Mr. Jones prior to Houstonian and knew that the Gulf the selection of the site and approved Coast was the safest and most logical the expenditures for the monument. location because of the proximity to the petroleum industry and to inter­ Before Jones took the microphone for a national JP: So, Jones attracted your interest, and you national shipping facilities. I don't radio broadcast, Vice President john Nance have spent more than a decade of your think that he favored Houston for Garner introduced him saying, "He Uones] has life learning more about him ? any selfish motive or overlooked allocated and loaned more money to various SF: As I began assembling the archive, I other places because he wanted to institutions and enterprises than any other man realized people were still around who give Houston or his interests the in the history of the world. " knew Mr. Jones, so I proposed and upper hand. I've never seen any evi­ initiated an oral history project at dence of that. and let them do their work. In the about the time the foundation was The scope of Jones' roles during midst of dealing with the national moving from the Bankers Mortgage the Great Depression and World economic and social meltdown, Building into its new offices in the War II is unprecedented, especially Jones also served as chairman of the Chase Tower. Provisions had been for an unelected, appointed official. Texas Centennial Commission, made in the new offices for an exhibit Congress never once turned down which was created in 1926 to cele­ about Mr. Jones, so I also began to his request for an RFC appropria- brate the 1936 centennial of extract interesting materials from the archive as I was assembling it. I ended up curating and producing the foun­ dation's exhibit and doing the oral history project. I collected approxi­ mately 45 interviews, and some of

tion, and he created and ran dozens Texas's independence from Mexico. of agencies, some of which exist The San Jacinto Monument is prob­ today, including Fannie Mae and the ably the most apparent result of his Export-Import Bank. He was able efforts. He designed the monument to do so much because he was deci­ and decided where it should go. In sive, he knew how to delegate, and addition to the San Jacinto he was trusted. He picl-ced the best Monument and parts of Fair Parl< in people he could find to do the job Dallas, the commission placed page 16 The Houston F;cvicw-volnmc l, no. 2 of reporting about the wonderful JP: What about the visual part? How do you activities of the philanthropic foun­ find photographs and motion pictures? dation he established. Houston SF: The motion pictures are in archives Endowment is a prime example of throughout the United States and, Jones' use of capitalism to improve unless they are in the public domain, the common good and is one of his they are very expensive to use. They most shining legacies. charge by the second! Surprisingly, as prominent as Jones was during the JP: Let's talk some about the process of mak­ Great Depression and World War II, ing that film. You say you had to "put it he didn't show up in very much film. in television language" for PBS. How Even though he enjoyed mostly posi­ difficult was that to do ? tive coverage in newspapers and in all SF: The greatest challenge was telling Mr. of the major magazines, I wondered if Jones' monumental story in 55 min­ he was purposely trying to stay out of utes. We had to decide which stories Roosevelt's limelight. Did he want to to tell and which ones to leave out. avoid annoying Roosevelt? Jones and For instance, The Woodrow Wilsons Roosevelt had a very tenuous rela­ and the Joneses were extremely close tionship, probably because Jones was friends. Edith Wilson and Mrs. Jones considered by many to be, next to played bridge and studied Spanish Edith Wilson and Mary Gibbs ]ones Selling War Roosevelt, the most powerful person together. Because there were no pen­ Bonds during World War II. in the United States. The Saturday sions for ex-presidents, Mr. Jones and Evening Post, Fortune, and Time all ran three other men provided a pension those I spol

T11e Houston Review-volume l, no. 2 page 17

I According to Jones, "The Rice Hotel was ... a bold and somewhat doubtful venture at the time. Fortunately it was built far ahead of the demand both in capacity and quality, and is a modem hotel today"

throughout his four terms, even be sure. But he was also warm and JP: In my opinion, you did better than most though he sometimes called him human. He wasn't trained as an ora­ have done in dealing with one problem "Jesus Jones" behind his back. tor, and he was a bit stiff, but he did a with television documentaries, the use of very nice job with what he had. one "talking head" a/ter another. JP: Did you have recordings ofJones' voice to SF: I hired nationally-known producer work with? JP: How did you convince Walter Cronkite to Eric Stange because li.is films always SF: Some of his speeches were recorded narrate? have a little something extra about on aluminum disks. They are so SF: I was so pleased that he agreed to par­ them. The Jones film, for the most authentically from his time. Thick ticipate. He lilHouston Public Library has at downtown, which he sold on unique relief for the American Red Cross, least one copy, and a section of the installment plans. Within ten years elevated Jones from a local leader to PBS Web site is dedicated to the film. of his arrival he was building the a player on the national and inter­ city's tallest buildings, including the JP: Instead of making other documentaries, national stages. Texas Company Building, which you have decided to write a biography of After his uncle M.T. Jones died, helped make the petroleum industry Jones. How does that differ from the task Jones came to Houston in 1898 as a permanent part of Houston's busi­ of making the film? one of his executors. M.T. Jones had ness community, and the Houston SF: In a book I can include more of the been one of the state's most successful Chronicle building, which brought interesting details and relationships lumbermen. He owned tens of thou- that couldn't fit into the film. I can develop and show more fully how Jones used capitalism to enhance the common good, both locally and nationally. But writing the bool~ will be more difficult because now I have more room to tell his story, which means, in order to get my arms around the material, I have to stay very focused on themes and my intentions. JP: Another thing you can do more fully in the book is examine Jones ' relationship to his adopted city, Houston. SF: Jones nurtured a reciprocal relation­ ship with Houston. He developed his businesses during a time when most of the primary industries-banks, . . newspapers, insurance compan1es- were locally owned, and he under­ stood he would prosper only if his community thrived. For instance, Jones and others knew Houston's

Tl1e Houston l(e,•iew-volnme l, no. 2 page 19 much deeper than that. Woodrow Wilson's progressive policies ignited Jones' enthusiasm and admiration, and the florid correspondence between them is both touching and interesting. Jones became the national committee's finance chairman in 1924 and in 192S persuaded the Democratic Party to bring its nation­ al convention to Houston. Jones endorsed Roosevelt in all of his bids for the presidency, but there was a bit of controversy over the fourth term. George Butler, who was married to one of Jones' nieces, was part of a group called the Texas Regulars, who opposed Roosevelt's reelection. I don't think Roosevelt was ever sure if Jones was with them or not. Jones claimed that he wasn't, even though after he left Washington in 1946 he said he thought the Democrats had been in power too long. I think that may have had something to do with his bitterness him a half-interest in the paper. in colleges and universities through­ over being very casually replaced as After he returned from World War out the state and included a $50,000 Secretary of Commerce in 1945 by I, he began the most ambitious phase program at Prairie View A&M. Mr. his arch-rival, Henry Wallace. of his building career and filled up Jones also served on the board of the Jones was touted by many for vice Main Street with the city's most United Negro College Fund and was president in 1940, and Eleanor ornate movie theaters, its tallest office a Tuskegee Institute trustee. On the Roosevelt and one of her sons both buildings, and its grandest hotels. He other hand, he didn't have blacks on said they would endorse him if he also built four of Fort Worth's tallest his boards or in executive positions, decided to run. When Roosevelt buildings and a dozen skyscrapers in so I'd say he was a person at least a made it clear he preferred Henry mid-town Manhattan, many of which little ahead of his time. Wallace, Jones withdrew his name still stand. from consideration. JP: How would you describe his relationship JP: How would you characterize his relation­ to the BF crowd of Herman and George JP: Well, you sound like you've had a good ship to the other Houston, the black Brown and others? time working on your various Jones­ Houston that at the time was a growing SF: Mr. Jones' nephew, John T. Jones, Jr., related projects, including the archives, community but segregated under law ? told me that Mr. Jones didn't partici­ the oral history, the film, and now the SF: I interviewed August Waites, one of pate in SF. The suite was in the biography. What part have you enjoyed Mr. Jones' drivers. He told me about Lamar Hotel, which Mr. Jones owned. the most? driving Mr. Jones to the San Jacinto He lived in the penthouse, on the SF: I can't say I enjoyed one project more Inn in the 1940s for a meeting. 16th floor, and John Jones told me if than the other because they've each Neither of the men had had lunch the SF crowd wanted to see Mr. Jones been unique, challenging, and very and they were both hungry. Mr. Jones they went up to see him. He didn't fulfilling. What I enjoyed most was said to August, "Corne on in and have come down to see them. He was the discovering that Jesse Jones, a mythic lunch." August replied, "Well, Mr. venerated, elder statesman and was figure in Texas, succeeded by using Jones, you know, I can't go in there. treated as such. capitalism to improve the common They won't allow me." And with that, good for everyone, not just a few. JP: Th ere is not much historical speculation Mr. Jones arranged for August to sit That somehow gives me hope. • about Jones' role in electoral politics. Was in the center of the restaurant at a he a big supporter of candidates at the table of his own. local, state, or national levels? After Mr. Jones returned from SF: He was very involved with the Washington D.C. in 1946, he and his Democratic Party almost all of his wife, Mary, began to focus on philan­ life. He once said his father was a thropy. T hey established large schol­ Democrat, so as a kid he guessed he arship programs for men and women was one too. But his affiliation went page 20 l1e Houston Review-volume l, no. 2 N JANUARY 13, 1928, the Gulf Coast, and with a population and owner of the Houston Chronicle, Jones residents of Houston, Texas, increase of 111 % over the decade of the was undoubtedly the city's most influential Oawoke unexpectedly to news that 1910s, Houston was quickly surpassing leader, and the burgeoning center of they would be hosting the Democratic San Antonio and Dallas as the largest, downtown was, as one journalist noted, Party National Convention. In a stunning most populous city in the state. Fueled by "practically his private fiefdom."3 Yet Jones move the day before, Jesse H. Jones, a lucrative oil industry and flourishing was not a man of one dominion. As prominent Houston businessman and ship-channel trade, Houston was experi­ Finance Chairman of the Democratic Democratic Party leader, almost single­ encing a construction boom. A new Party National Committee, Jones had handedly secured the convention for his municipal airport had recently been built, earned the unconditional admiration of beloved city. For the first time since before and the city's skyline was rapidly expand­ other Democrats by rejuvenating their the Civil War, a national party convention ing with thirty-five million dollars in new party's finances in the years following the 1 was coming to the South. During the buildings alone. Still, the city's population disastrous 1924 convention at Madison convention six months later, Alfred E. of nearly 300,000 earned it a place Square Garden. At that convention, dele­ Smith became the first Roman Catholic among the thirty most populous cities in gates had to cast 103 ballots before nomi­ nominated for president by a major politi­ the country that was tenuous at best. New nating John W Davis in a race thought to cal party. In addition, his running mate, Orleans even kept it from the title of be exclusively between Alfred E. Smith Joseph T. Robinson of Arkansas, became largest metropolis in the New South. and William Gibbs McAdoo. When Jones the first southerner on a major party ticket Thus, despite the city's rapid growth and was named to the Party subcommittee in more than half a century. Aware of the increased prosperity, most Houstonians charged with hearing bids for the 1928 media attention for Houston from around felt, as one historian discerned, "plagued convention, he clearly commanded respect the country, local residents felt assured by a nagging suspicion that no one was as a man of local and national stature. As that their city would emerge from the paying attention." Unknown to most, Jesse the subcommittee went about its business, political parley with a national reputation. Holman Jones was about to put Houston Jones combined his knack for corporate As Democratic Party leaders prepared on the national map, bringing the recogni­ wheeling and dealing with a touch of to convene in early January 1928 to tion and respect city residents had craved down-home southern hospitality to stage decide the location of their next presiden­ for so long.2 one of the greatest upsets in Democratic tial nominating convention, the city of Jones had played a key role in Party history. Houston was on the move. The city had Houston's recent economic expansion. A On January 11, Jones invited the sub­ finally eclipsed long-time rival Galveston wealthy businessmen, industrious builder, committee members to prepare their as the premier urban center of the Texas

"This article was previously awarded the Mary Hayes Ewing Publication Prize in Southern History by the Rice University Department of History. It originally appeared in the 1997 edition of Touchstone and has been republished in The Houston Review of History and Culture with the permission of the Texas Stale Historical Association. • • Associate, Locke Liddell & Sapp, LLP; J.D. 2002, University of Texas; M.P. Aff. 2002, L.B.J. School of Public Affairs; B.A. 1998, Rice University. I would especially like lo thank John Boles for piquing my interest in this event and for providing invaluable advice during the preparation of this article. I would also like to thank John Britt, the Texas State Historical Association, and the Rice University History Department for their support. Finally, I would like to thank my parents for all of their encouragement and wisdom.

The Hou ston Review- volume 1, no. 2 page 21 report on the various convention offers in of $200,000 and offered an auditorium $ 150,000 and a convention hall seating the parlor of his Mayflower Hotel suite in capable of seating 6,500 people. San 12,000. When it came time to sell Washington, D.C. While subcommittee Francisco's chief advocate Isidore B. Houston, however, the city's boosters chair John T. Barnett of Colorado and fel­ Dockweiler asked Barnett to loudly restate made a convincing three-pronged appeal low members Arthur G. Mullen of Houston's seating capacity. Feeling confi­ to the Party. 5 Nebraska and Bruce Kremer of Montana dent he had trumped Jones' last-minute The first Houston backer to do so was were all well-acquainted with Jones, none proposal by pointing out the inadequacy of Jed Adams, who mentioned nothing of had any idea that he planned to make Houston's auditorium, Docl~weiler felt Houston's large financial offer, but instead a serious bid for Houston. In the days certain that San Francisco was on her way chose to praise the service and leadership leading up to the meeting, Miami, to landing the convention. Still, represen­ Jesse Jones had provided as Chairman of Chicago, Detroit, San Francisco, and tatives from each city had fifteen addi­ the Party Finance Committee. Jones then Cleveland, were the front-runners in tional minutes to present their cases, and continued the presentation by boasting a race where newspapers mentioned during these solicitations Houston's appeal everything from the world-class elegance places like Atlantic City and Houston began to skyrocket. Advocates from of the Rice Hotel to the countrified merits as only "[o]thers in the field." Each of Detroit, Miami, and Chicago all read wel­ of Texas fishing. As a railroad and these leading cities had offered sizable come letters and introduced distinguished steamship Mecca, Houston would offer financial contributions to sub­ C.QRX~R\.~iit Q<\.\\.,,,~Q.i:_~t\.Q.\\. sidize convention costs and to options for convention visitors, keep the Democratic National and Jones assured the Committee Committee from falling into that the city's hotels would not further debt. They also pos­ overcharge guests- indeed, he sessed large convention halls owned nearly all of them. capable of seating more than Sensing that the city's existing ten thousand people and an municipal auditorium would not equal number of hotel rooms to stand a chance against the offers boot. Nevertheless, as the sub­ of competing cities and increas­ committee continued its work, ingly driven by thoughts Jones asked the other members of the economic and publicity to pardon him while he went to benefits Houston could reap as his bedroom. Behind closed 0 a convention city, Jones also doors, Jones hurriedly had his .E announced that Houston would secretary compose a written bid l build a new convention hall to for the convention on behalf of ~ the Committee's specifications. c the city of Houston. To the "LJ.J He proclaimed that "Houston's c offer, Jones attached a personal ~ hospitality will be a blank check. ::> 0 check of $200,000. H e then I You can fill it in yourself for immediately returned to the .f what you want," and backed-up meeting where his impromptu g his word by promising personal proposal was met with surprise ~ automobile service and private and amusement. Although the 2 home accommodations for con- rest of the committee agreed to { vention guests. To convince the entertain Houston's bid, Jones Committee that the notorious had to wait until the general Texas heat would not be intolera­ meeting of the entire Democratic ble in the early summer, he National Committee the fol­ offered assurances that Houston's lowing morning before he could climate was actually "very com­ truly sell his city.4 j fortable" in June with uternpera­ National Party Chairman :5 ture ranges in the eighties and The Rice Hotel in the mid-1920s. Clem Shaver called the general lower nineties." He also noted meeting to order the next morn- the added benefit of cool "gulf ing at the Mayflower H otel. Although speakers lauding their unique facilities, breezes" that made "light cover" necessary Jones had announced Houston's offer at generous hospitality, and plentiful hotel "for comfortable sleeping." Apparently an earlier executive session, most of the accommodations. Miami proposed a impressed with Houston's ability to stage a Committee members were unaware that $ 100,000 offer and a convention hall successful convention, Jones' offer was met the anticipated showdown between San accommodating 15,000 people, while with thunderous applause.6 Francisco and Detroit was about to take Detroit offered a bid of $125,000 with Largely convinced that they should an unexpected twist. After subcommittee an auditorium seating 1 7,000. Chicago pick H ouston and confident that chairman Barnett gave a brief oral sum­ presented a check for $130,000 and a Houston could be picked, the Committee mary of the offers of various cities, he 15,000-person arena, but Cleveland next heard Congressman Daniel Garrett announced that Houston had placed a bid attempted to top it with a bid of tell them why they must pick Houston.

page 22 Tlic Houston Review- volume l , no. 2

I Garrett billed Houston as the leading San Francisco by a narrow margin of six. win the Party's nomination in June, his city of the South-a region of the coun­ Chicago and Miami had been eliminated presidential candidacy was far from uni­ try that had faithfully "voted the ticket after the first ballot, and Cleveland was versally welcomed. A Catholic known for straight" but had been passed over for a removed from contention after the fourth. his strong ties to Tammany Hall and his convention since before the Civil War. Detroit, however, managed to survive all adamant opposition to Prohibition, Smith Garrett warned the Committee that five ballots but only received one vote in threatened to alienate voters from the southern states were "getting a little bit the last tally, lending credence to the idea "dry," Protestant, and predominantly rural weary of" standing behind a party that the city was too close to reserves of southern states in the November election. through thick and thin that otherwise Canadian spirits for a party divided over As a result, many Committee members ignored their wishes for "expediency's Prohibition. Not wishing to exude an realized that the summer convention sake." Garrett also took time to reinforce image of discord, the Committee moved would be more important as a litmus test Jones' assurances about Houston's weath­ to malw H ouston the Party's unanimous of Party unity than as a forum for the er. He lightheartedly vouched that choice for the 1928 convention.8 selection of a candidate. Houston would be "all right" in June and As news of Houston's selection To conclude that the Committee that a little warmth might, in any event, spread quickly, journalists and political favored Houston solely because it was be "best for the party in the end." commentators alilw voiced explanations politically wise, however, would be to Following Garrett's plea of ignore the all-important role of political pragmatism, San Jesse Jones in the selection Antonio Congressman John process. Although regional polit­ Boyle spoke on Houston's behalf ical concerns may have swayed to buy time for Texas Governor the Committee to hold its next Dan Moody, whose train was run­ convention in the South, it was ning late. Boyle fused the argu­ Jones who brought the national ments of Jones and Garrett, call­ parley to Houston, one of the ing Houston the "fastest growing smallest cities to ever entertain a city in America" located in a state national political convention. and region known for its unwa­ With his own riches and reputa­ vering loyalty to the Democratic tion, Jones succeeded in landing Party. Despite Boyle's delays, the convention for Houston though, Governor Moody failed without the knowledge or support to arrive before representatives of of Houston's city officials. Mayor San Francisco made the last con­ Oscar Holcombe was just as sur­ vention bid, offering a whopping prised at the news of Houston's $250,000, a facility seating selection as the average local res­ 15,000 people, and an unrivaled ident, having to call Jones per­ number of hotel rooms. Moody sonally to learn exactly what his did, however, arrive just in city was expected to do. By advance of the ballot call, speak­ choosing Houston, the National ing long enough to extend a Committee was able to amelio­ Texas-size welcome from a state rate south ern disenchantment, with "nine Democrats ... to one reward Jones' years of loyal serv­ Republican." With each city's ice, and simultaneously improve offer on the table, the ballot the Party's prospects for an process began only after Vincent E lection Day victory. Miles of Arl.'ansas made a last­ Most Houstonians reacted to minute pitch for Houston. Miles the news of their city's selection whimsically advised Committee }ones and prominent Houston architect Alfred C. Finn examine plans for with outpourings of appreciation members to select H ouston the convention hall. and euphoric excitement. because "Mr. Jones owns the Newspapers declared "Houston biggest hotel down there and if we get for the Democratic National Committee's Goes Wild" as the entire city became brolAl Smith was expected to easily "money will almost flow like water," while

Tl1e Houston R'"'iew-volume l, no. 2 page 23 the Houston Fire Commissioner In the months following Houston's state, soliciting donations from judges, expressed his dumbfounded surprise with selection, external criticism did little to cities, and chambers of commerce as part­ a simple "wow." Even hotel bellboys were lessen the vigor of the city's pre-conven­ ners in what it billed as a truly Texas "jubilant" in anticipation of the sizable tion efforts. On the contrary, understand­ affair. With a similar strategy of inclusion, tips they could expect from convention ing that their city was "on trial" now more the Committee also initiated a massive visitors. Houston celebrated even more than ever, Houstonians rose to the chal­ button drive, peddling blue and white "Me on January 31 when Jesse Jones returned lenges that a first-class political conven­ Too" buttons on street corners and in from New York to a hero's welcome. In tion demanded. Financing the event house-to-house crusades. Designed to dis­ what was hailed as "the greatest demon­ proved to be the most immediate concern, tinguish the true patrons of Houston from

stration ... in the city's history, n throngs for without adequate funds the new con­ indifferent city residents, the button drive of admirers estimated at nearly 50,000 vention hall Jesse Jones had promised added $18,500 to the convention fund. greeted Jones. A multitude of bands and a could not be built. Houston banker and The Finance Committee's diverse salute from the Texas Air National Guard oil magnate Ross S. Sterling took charge efforts ultimately raised $356,907, but rounded out the festivities. Although a of the newly formed Finance Committee not without causing an embarrassing pub­ vast road of pre-convention preparations and immediately sought commercial con­ licity blunder just before the parley began. lay ahead, no one seemed to mind talOhio State Journal took a more humor­ ous approach, noting that the Republican convention host, Kansas City, also "appar­ ently has convinced herself that personally she's a delightfully cool place in the sum­ mer." The Indianapolis News exuded a much harsher tone, however, labeling Houston's weather as "pretty mean for a National Convention." In a similar vein, the Chicago Tribune mocked the assurances of Houston officials, predicting that con­ vention delegates would only experience a "gulf breeze" in their prayers. Finally, at least one newspaper tried to rationalize Houston's weather as a political advantage, remarking that the convention should be one of harmony for the "penalty for going more than five ballots will be death by 9 heat." Houston's growing skyline in the 1920s, with the Rice Hotel in the foreground; the convention hall nearing

page 24 The Houston Review- volume l, no. 2 Garrett billed Houston as the leading San Francisco by a narrow margin of six. win the Party's nomination in June, his city of the South-a region of the coun­ Chicago and Miami had been eliminated presidential candidacy was far from uni­ try that had faithfully "voted the ticket after the first ballot, and Cleveland was versally welcomed. A Catholic !mown for straight" but had been passed over for a removed from contention after the fourth. his strong ties to Tammany Hall and his convention since before the Civil War. Detroit, however, managed to survive all adamant opposition to Prohibition, Smith Garrett warned the Committee that five ballots but only received one vote in threatened to alienate voters from the southern states were "getting a little bit the last tally, lending credence to the idea "dry," Protestant, and predominantly rural weary of" standing behind a party that the city was too close to reserves of southern states in the November election. through thick and thin that otherwise Canadian spirits for a party divided over As a result, many Committee members ignored their wishes for "expediency's Prohibition. Not wishing to exude an realized that the summer convention sake." Garrett also took time to reinforce image of discord, the Committee moved would be more important as a litmus test Jones' assurances about Houston's weath­ to ma1'ze Houston the Party's unanimous of Party unity than as a forum for the er. He lightheartedly vouched that choice for the 1928 convention.8 selection of a candidate. Houston would be "all right" in June and As news of Houston's selection To conclude that the Committee that a little warmth might, in any event, spread quickly, journalists and political favored Houston solely because it was be "best for the party in the end." commentators alike voiced explanations politically wise, however, would be to Following Garrett's plea of ignore the all-important role of political pragmatism, San Jesse Jones in the selection Antonio Congressman John process. Although regional polit­ Boyle spoke on Houston's behalf ical concerns may have swayed to buy time for Texas Governor the Committee to hold its next Dan Moody, whose train was run­ convention in the South, it was ning late. Boyle fused the argu­ Jones who brought the national ments of Jones and Garrett, call­ parley to Houston, one of the ing Houston the "fastest growing smallest cities to ever entertain a city in America" located in a state national political convention. and region known for its unwa­ With his own riches and reputa­ vering loyalty to the Democratic tion, Jones succeeded in landing Party. Despite Boyle's delays, the convention for Houston though, Governor Moody failed without the knowledge or support to arrive before representatives of of H ouston's city officials. Mayor San Francisco made the last con­ Oscar Holcombe was just as sur­ vention bid, offering a whopping prised at the news of Houston's $250,000, a facility seating selection as the average local res­ 15,000 people, and an unrivaled ident, having to call Jones per­ number of hotel rooms. Moody sonally to learn exactly what his did, however, arrive just in city was expected to do. By advance of the ballot call, speak­ choosing Houston, the National ing long enough to extend a Committee was able to amelio­ Texas-size welcome from a state rate southern disenchantment, with "nine Democrats ... to one reward Jones' years of loyal serv­ Republican." With each city's ice, and simultaneously improve offer on the table, the ballot the Party's prospects for an process began only after Vincent Election Day victory. Miles of Arkansas made a last­ Most Houstonians reacted to minute pitch for Houston. Miles the news of their city's selection whimsically advised Committee ]ones and prominent Houston architect Alfred C. Finn examine plans for with outpourings of appreciation members to select Houston the convention hall. and euphoric excitement. because "Mr. Jones owns the Newspapers declared "Houston biggest hotel down there and if we get for the Democratic National Committee's Goes Wild" as the entire city became brolw down there he will cash our checks, unanticipated decision. Most analysts "electrified" with the thought of hosting so we can go home." 7 believed the Committee opted for an event that would attract the "[c]ream On the first ballot, Houston led the Houston largely because of the regional of American newspaper talent" and bring contest with 30 votes compared with San issues Congressman Garrett had under­ "national distinction upon a new and rap­ Francisco's 24, Detroit's 23, Cleveland's scored at the meeting. While the selection idly rising city." Local officials were 13, Miami's 6 , and Chicago's 5. Yet, four of Houston did serve as a historical reported to be "humming" at the idea that more ballots would be necessary for the concession to the South, it also made Houston would assume "a new place city to secure a majority of Committee practical sense within the political context among the big cities of the nation." Mayor votes. On the fifth and final ballot of the time. Even though New Yorl~ Holcombe relished in the expectation that Houston mustered 54 votes, defeating G overnor Al Smith was expected to easily "money will almost flow like water," while

Tl1e Houston Review-volum e 1, no. 2 page 2 3 the Houston Fire Commissioner In the months following Houston's state, soliciting donations from judges, expressed his dumbfounded surprise with selection, external criticism did little to cities, and chambers of commerce as part­ a simple "wow." Even hotel bellboys were lessen the vigor of the city's pre-conven­ ners in what it billed as a truly Texas "jubilant" in anticipation of the sizable tion efforts. On the contrary, understand­ affair. With a similar strategy of inclusion, tips they could expect from convention ing that their city was "on trial" now more the Committee also initiated a massive visitors. Houston celebrated even more than ever, Houstonians rose to the chal­ button drive, peddling blue and white "Me on January 31 when Jesse Jones returned lenges that a first-class political conven­ Too" buttons on street corners and in from New York to a hero's welcome. In tion demanded. Financing the event house-to-house crusades. Designed to dis­ what was hailed as "the greatest demon­ proved to be the most immediate concern, tinguish the true patrons of Houston from stration .. . in the city's history," throngs for without adequate funds the new con­ indifferent city residents, the button drive of admirers estimated at nearly 50,000 vention hall Jesse Jones had promised added $18,500 to the convention fund. greeted Jones. A multitude of bands and a could not be built. Houston banker and The Finance Committee's diverse salute from the Texas Air National Guard oil magnate Ross S. Sterling tool< charge efforts ultimately raised $356,907, but rounded out the festivities. Although a of the newly formed Finance Committee not without causing an embarrassing pub­ vast road of pre-convention preparations and immediately sought commercial con­ licity blunder just before the parley began. lay ahead, no one seemed to mind taking tributions and private donations to raise In an attempt to assuage fears that the a day off to celebrate what one journalist the estimated $300,000 needed. When convention might not provide an adequate labeled "the greatest honor that ever yet city-based contributions proved insuffi­ financial yield, convention hall chairman has been conferred on any city of the New cient, the Committee canvassed the entire C. J. Kirk released an estimate of the rev- South." Implicit in the city's enthusiasm was the assumption that the rest of the country would view Houston's selection positively-an assumption that proved to be largely incorrect. While most commen­ tators from outside the region could swal­ low the political strategy leading to Houston's selection, the notion that the convention would be unaffected by scorching Texas heat seemed completely preposterous. The Springfield, Massachusetts Republican had little to say of the Houston convention except to advise delegates "to get the lightest weight summer clothing available." Newspapers lil

page 24 Tbc Houston Review-volume l, no. 2 enue local merchants could expect to As the Finance Committee mustered sections during the mind-boggling engi­ receive during the convention. After tal~ ­ contributions, worl~ began on the new neering feat of completing Houston's new ing every possible source of revenue into convention hall. Plans to simply revamp convention hall in only sixty-four worl~ing account from hotel bills to ice cream sales, Houston's existing Municipal Auditorium days. Designed to minimize heat and max­ Kirk found he was still $180,000 short were quickly scrapped in favor of a world­ imize the number of spectators, the hall's of an acceptable return. In haste, he pen­ class facility that would dazzle city visitors unique open ceiling perimeter allowed for ciled in the shortage under expenditures as much as it would serve the practical ventilation as well as outside public view­ for "wine and women." The comment needs of the convention. Opting to build ing from a raised platform. The installa­ immediately drew widespread censure the temporary hall on land previously des­ tion of enormous "Typhoon" fans made from the press and especially from the ignated for a new civic center, city leaders such open ventilation more effective, but Women's Christian Temperance Union, announced that the chosen site was "so they also required a giant amplification who expressed outrage at Kirk's insult of situated that no tall buildings will obstruct system to compensate for the resulting Southern women. In the end, Houston the Gulf breezes." Climate concerns, how­ noise. With an expansive roof of yellow had financed its convention, but in the ever, proved less troubling than razing the pine that towered fifty-eight feet above the process it had called into question the more than thirty houses that still dotted ground, the hall also boasted an elaborate city's budding national reputation. the property. Construction proceeded in system of ceiling rods and arches that pro­ vided 80,000 square feet of open meeting The convention hall takes shape. space. City boosters proudly billed the structure as the "[l]argest floor area of any building on Earth under one roof" with its vast, nearly column-free expanse offering 330/o more meeting space than the "gloomy, close, depressing" hall of Madison Square Garden.10 During May and June, convention officials made additional touches to the interior and exterior of the hall, though not without a few setbacks. Emblazoned with white walls, a striped red and gray roof, and green and gold trim, the hall's exterior soon displayed flags and statues of American eagles, some with wing spans of twelve feet. The final enclosure of the building, however, caused a humorous delay when a fl o e!~ of sparrows became trapped in what was called the "world's biggest bird cage." Extensive leaking after heavy downpours proved to be the worst problem, though, warranting quicl~ repairs to insure that "wet" and "dry" did not take on added meaning in a convention soon to debate Prohibition. Despite sparrows and showers, preparations in the interior of the hall moved forward witli.out further delay with the completion of a state-of­ the-art press facilities, including sound­ proof radio booths, large telegraph sta­ tions, and exclusive office spaces for press agencies. An emergency hospital tool~ its place in the hall, along with such ameni­ ties as lunch stands, scores of telephones, and eighteen Frigidaire water-cooling sys­ tems to provide liquid refreshment for thirsty convention guests. As a finishing touch, the interior walls were adorned with a large assemblage of American and state flags, while rows of seats were flanked with pots of crepe myrtle. Confident that their new temple would completion in the center; and the skeleton of the Gulf Building under construction on the left. Continued on page 45

Tl1c Jfonslon Review-volume l , no. 2 page 25 In the Name of Progress and Decencv: The Response ot Houston's Civic Leaders to the Lvnching ot Robert Powell in 1928 by Dwight Watson*

In June of 1928, Houston prepared for Lynching was the perverted marriage starkly at odds with the attitudes of the its coming-out party as a major city. of racial hatred, distorted religious funda­ tens of thousands of new migrants who W ith the 1928 Democratic Convention mentalism, paternalism, and psycho-sexu­ came to the city from the surrounding in town and the eyes of the nation focused al fear, which empowered mobs with the countryside in search of opportunity. on their city, civic leaders hoped to proj­ ultimate measure of social control and Houston's newspapers responded to the ect an image of growth and progress. Yet power. 2 Ida B. Wells, a black newspaper Powell lynching by lamenting that this was on June 20, the week before the opening editor and anti-lynching activist, observed the first lynching within the city proper in of the convention, the lynching of Robert the hypocrisy of whites on this issue when anyone's memory. But Houston's popula­ Powell challenged this progressive image. she noted that church folk were "too busy tion had exploded in the first decades of National and local press coverage of saving souls of white Christians from the twentieth century, growing from less the lynching contrasted this episode of burning in hell fire to save the lives of than 45,000 in 1900 to nearly 270,000 racial violence in a strictly segregated city black ones from the present burning in the in 192 8 , when its black population alone to the image of "heavenly Houston," a fires kindled by white Christians." 3 Despite exceeded 50,000. Many of the new booming new South city that was a Mecca the best efforts of Wells and others who migrants who came to Houston in these for black as well as white migrants.1 The fought for federal anti-lynching laws, a decades had developed their racial atti­ city's civic leaders responded immediately U .S. Congress dominated by southerners tudes in the small farming communities in to the lynching with a strong and imme­ from the one-party South refused to pass east Texas and western Louisiana.4 diate condemnation of "lynch law." When such legislation. Just beneath the surface of the Jim questions arose about the possible By the 1920s, many whites in Crow system in H ouston and throughout involvement of members of the Houston Houston and other growing southern the South was the threat of violence Police Department (HPD) in the lynch­ cities viewed lynching as a pernicious rural against blacks who challenged the laws or ing, the city questioned police officers "tradition" out of step with urban life. the customs of segregation. In the small before moving on to the arrest of others Although lynchings did occur in southern towns of the rural South, the enforce­ for the crime. After the convention came cities in the first half of the twentieth cen­ ment of seg r e~ation was an intensely per­ relatively minor reforms in HPD. This tury, the need to maintain law and order sonal affair, with daily rituals played out response allowed the convention to go in an urban setting undermined the con­ in the fields and the town squares. In a forward successfully while, at least for a tinued acceptance of lynch law, and the city such as H ouston, with large numbers time, raising fundamental questions about mob rule it involved. In a booming city of blacks and whites who did not know the nature and tone of Houston's Jim such as Houston in the 192 0 s, however, each other and who often did not live Crow racial order. the perception of civic leaders could be and work together, enforcement of Jim

*Dwight Watson is an assistant professor of history at Texas State University-San Marcos. H is book on the racial history of the Houston Police Deparhnent is in press at Texas A&M University Press, and he is currently working on a history of lynching in Texas. page 26 T l1e Ifouston Review- volume 1, no. 2 sively protested the Powell the city a very visible blacl< eye just as it lynching in a vocal, public was dressing up in its Sunday best to way that would not have been impress the nation. But when Jones and possible without retribution in other white and blacl< leaders stood up to rural east Texas towns. Despite challenge the violence underpinning the rigid barriers between blacks Jim Crow system, they faced the wrath of and whites, the lynching creat­ racial traditionalists within the city who ed a common link between fought tenaciously to maintain the status blacl< civic leaders and white quo. Particularly contentious was the role civic leaders who fought to and responsibilities of the Houston save the reputation of the Police Department. "new" Houston they had pro­ In 1925 HPD had a total of 243 claimed to the world. officers, including 178 patrolmen and These civic leaders were even several blacl< officers. 10 This number , correct in their assessment of was woefully inadequate to meet the needs Houston's future prospects; of a rapidly growing city. The force had their city was an emerging its hands full, enfarcing the law, protect­ metropolis by the 1920s. Civic ing property, imposing social control, and and business leaders worlwd enforcing racial segregation. Their zeal­ diligently to make the city the ousness in this last pursuit turned seg­ South's poster boy for industry ments of the public against them. When and progress. As a southwest­ black civic leaders joined forces with ern city, Houston's past and national civil rights organizations and future looked in two directions. local social ref orrn movements to try to Many of its leaders voiced the curb police abuses, HPD refused to hear sort of western imagery of rapid growth fed such demands for change. Indeed, infused Crow fell more heavily onto the organ­ by free enterprise that subsequently came by elements of the Ku Klux Klan in the ized police force. to symbolize the "Sun belt" cities. But 1920s, the Houston Police Department "Progressive" city or not, Houston much of its population remained firmly proved recalcitrant on this vital issue. shared the racial attitudes that had fed rooted in a rural southern past obsessed Blacks migrating to Houston to trade mob violence and bloody riots throughout with the defense of Jim Crow. tenant farming for industrial jobs or to the country from 1917-1921. Such riots Tensions heightened within the city's seek respite from the harsh demands of had taken place in urban, not rural set­ civic leadership. Most important was the rural Jim Crow, courted the wrath of the tings, and Houston had experienced its class and status war being played out by HPD. Those sworn to serve and protect own bitter spasm of racial violence in the conservative leadership, black and them-the police-were also strongly 1917, during the Camp Logan Riot white. Who would rule the city, those who committed to maintaining the segregated between black soldiers stationed in feared that mob rule and lynching might racial order. For the flood of black Houston and the Houston Police undermine their city's future growth or migrants to Houston, urban Jim Crow's 5 Departrnent. The dark web of human Negrophobes who made racial segregation problems of overcrowded neighborhoods, memory kept this tragic riot fresh in the and social subordination their top priority police brutality, and inefficient city servic­ minds of many blacks and whites, serving and favored lynching and extra-legal vio­ es were the trade-offs for escaping the as a grim reminder of the death and lence as a means of social control?6 sting of rural poverty and the bitterness of ~ destruction that could follow from the Among those who favored the first rural Jim Crow racisrn. 11 ;. tensions created by Jim Crow life. position was banker/financier Jesse Despite the growing rejection of the In Houston, the actions of the HPD Holman Jones. His influence and money Klan by Houston's civic elite, the Klan attracted the scrutiny of economically helped Houston become the host city for maintained a strong hold on elements of independent black leaders. By the 1920s, the 1928 Democratic National Houston's white population and, for a the opportunities afforded to blacks in Convention.7 Jones pulled a rabbit out of time in the early 1920s, held firm control Houston's growing economy had fostered his hat when his winning offer iI\ the of parts of the county government. the growth of a black middle class eager to form of a certified check of $200,000 Important members of Houston society assert its voice in civic affairs and to legit­ and a promise of new auditorium left San who joined the Klan from 1922-1925 imize its status within Houston by organ­ Francisco and Dallas in an angered daze. 8 included Harris County Sheriff Thomas izing groups such as a local chapter of the On January 12, 1928, the Houston A. Binford and former police chief National Association for the Advancement Chronicle, a major newspaper published by Gordon Murphy. Historian Don Carlton of Colored People (NAACP). Newspapers Jones, ran a special edition: "Houston notes that "booming Houston was the first written by blacks and for blacl< readers Wins the 1928 Dern Convention."9 Texas city to have a Ku Klux Klan chap­ reported a growing dissatisfaction with the More than a testament to Jones' clout ter."12 The Klan was neither secretive nor racial status quo and a determination to and influence within the Party, this was invisible in Texas as a whole. On October fight for improved conditions. Houston's also a victory for Houston. The negative 23, 1922, "Klan Day" at the Texas State black civic leaders and newspapers aggres- publicity from the Powell lynching gave Fair attracted "151, 192 persons. "13 Even

11te Houston IHouston Press for criticiz­ approached, HPD began to train its force in the Fourth Ward. 23 ing the vigor of the Texas National "in order to line up in efficiency and There he lay for several days. Then Guard's enforcement of martial law appearance with the other police forces of in the early morning of Wednesday, June against dock-workers on strike in the country. "20 Among the trainees were 20, a lynch mob took Powell from the Galveston. In the resulting court case, 116 new police officers "who were sworn custody of the Harris County Sheriff John H. Crooker, an attorney in the in for the duration of the convention."21 Department's watchman at the hospital. prominent Houston law firm of Fulbright One hundred of the officers were tempo­ Witnesses reported that seven or eight & Crooker (later, Fulbright & Jaworski), rary, and the final sixteen were kept as armed white men charged in and took successfully defended the publisher. 15 permanent mounted patrol officers the black prisoner they believed had shot Mayfield's Klan paper, Colonel attached to the traffic division. Many of Detective Davis. According to The Informer May/ield's Weekly, later increased his these officers came from rural areas in (a newspaper written by and for blacks}, prominence within the local KKK, which east Texas and central Texas known for the mob took Powell "several miles out of fought hard to put its the municipal con­ mark on Houston's fines and treated to a development. At the practical demonstra­ height of the Klan's tion of the celebrated influence in Houston pastime-Judge Lynch in about 1924, civic law. 11 24 leaders who opposed Around day­ its power fought back. break, Powell's tat­ Thus when two tered body was dis­ Klansmen sued the covered hanging in Houston Press for libel the stale morning air after its criticism from a bridge some helped defeat them in g> six miles out from hotly contested local ~ downtown Houston elections in 1924, ~ on Post Oak Road. Crooker again tried .!2 This racially charged the cases, ultimately ~ incident heightened vindicating the editor ~ suspicion of HPD's of the Press.16 ~ ability to profession­ After Oscar . · u ally serve and protect I Holcombe quit the Klan, he became an harsh racial bigotry and rigid enforcement blacks. Angry citizens across racial lines open target for Klan-controlled factions of segregation. Many police accepted the were appalled when eyewitnesses claimed in the city. 17 Mayor Holcombe's refusal to stereotypical notion of blacks as inferior that the police failed to take adequate I fire Catholics and blacks hurt him in the and prone to crime. They were trained to measures to stop the lynching. Some wit­ election of 1922, but not enough to pre­ look for blacks in trouble spots of the city nesses even alleged that the police stood vent his reelection. The popular mayor's and to distribute "Jim Crow justice" swiftly by and watched until the mob hanged the battles with the Klan in these years sym­ and brutally. man.25 In a macabre twist, the rope was bolized the ongoing efforts of many Southern custom impacted police too long and on the first attempt to hang Houston leaders trying to come to grips training and procedures on June 17, him, Powell was left sitting at the bottom with the racial tensions that threatened 1928. Early that morning two police offi­ of a ditch alive. He allegedly cursed the the city's future growth. Conservative and cers did exactly what southern custom mob for its ineptness. Unperturbed, his liberal factions emerged and challenged called for by asking a group of Negroes tormentors shortened the rope and suc­ the Klan as being immoral and criminal, standing on a street corner near downtown cessfully completed their gruesome task but most of all bad for the city's image. 18 Houston what they were doing out so late. on the second attempt.26 The city and the Members of this group included the When the two detectives, Henry Bradshaw police department received considerable wealthiest of Houston elites such as Jesse and A. W Davis, rousted the three black negative press from the lynching, and this Jones and prominent oilman Joseph S. males, a gun allegedly fell out of the bad publicity brought added pressure on page 28 1he Houston Review-volume l , no. 2 HPD to reform itself. crime of violence which has so grossly barous murder of a dying Colored youth." Led by C. F. Richardson, the owner reflected upon the good name of our It went on that "Houston, Texas, like and editor of The Informer, Houston's city." 31 Dixie has been lynching Colored men in black press roundly condemned the cow­ With such condemnation of the every way her fiendish, perverted brains ardly act. Richardson had good personal lynching ringing in its ears, Houston's city conceived," noting that "colored citizens" reasons to denounce this act; he had council responded by appropriating in the South are lynched at the ballot box, avoided being lynched by the Klan in $10,000 for the investigation of the "in inferior, degrading jim-crow 1925 with the aid of blacks who guarded crime. The NAACP offered a $1,000 schools ... in jim-crow cars, in peonage, in his home and the timely intervention of reward for information leading to the forced prostitution, in race treachery." 33 Mayor Holcombe, who personally threat­ arrest and conviction of the suspects. It was clear to Houstonians and ened the Klan if any harm came to Even Texas Governor Daniel J. Moody Democrats alike that something needed Richardson. got into the act, putting up a $250 to be done to stop the talk of the lynch­ On June 23, 1928, the Houston reward for information leading to the ing before the opening of the conven­ Chronicle joined the condemnation of the tion. The city moved very quickly to lynching with an editorial entitled "A "solve" the case. The day after the lynch­ Blow to Houston." Stating that ing, a grand jury called for testimony "Houston has been shamed before the from several police officers about their nation," the editorial laments that "[t]his possible involvement, since witnesses at revolting crime which has been commit­ the hospital had noted that at least one ted in our midst comes to blacken the member of the lynch mob appeared to be day of our joy and pride."27 In an attempt wearing a policeman's uniform. to salvage the city's image and show that Only two days after the incident, a Houstonians disapproved of the bar­ dragnet had produced five arrests and barous act, Jesse Jones publicly con­ identified two other men believed to be demned the act in even stronger tones: involved. Three days before the opening of "the lynchin g is a blot on the good name the convention, several newspapers listed of Texas that must be lived down." After the names of the five arrested suspects. asserting that "there is no section of the Thus by the opening of the country where the two races have so little Democratic National Convention on June faction," Jones argued that lynching for 26, the lynching story had begun to sub­ revenge was not justified and "we all side. On the racial front, a more pressing deeply deplore this one. "28 The editorial concern arose regarding seating arrange­ and Jones' interview put forward in ments for black delegates or attendees. strong language the pragmatic attitudes The southern wing of the Democratic toward race that ultimately shaped civic National Committee initially threatened Headline and excerpt from The Informer, policy in Houston for the next fifty to leave if black delegates were not exclud­ June 23, 1928. years. Denouncing racial violence and ed from the convention. Frantically, the mob rule, it said nothing about the Jim arrest of each of the culprits. A group city and the national committee appeased Crow system sustained in part by the called the "Loyalty to Law League" put up southerners with a compromise that threat of such violence. another $100. The lynching embarrassed placed the black delegates and spectators Other local newspapers also quickly the city and the state. Governor Moody in a separate chicken wire fenced area condemned the lynching. The Houston had successfully challenged the Ku Klux underneath the stage. 34 The Amsterdam Press stated that "they [the lynch mob] are Klan during Ma Ferguson's tenure as gov­ News wrote that "the National Democratic ghouls" and that Powell "was killed by a ernor and it had provided a perfect segue Party in convention here will segregate coward." Appealing to the pride of white to his election as governor. those Negroes who for some reason or Texans; it went on to say: "It was not men The national press used strong lan­ another, may desire to attend the session like these who died in the Alamo. It was guage in discussing the lynching, including as spectators. "35 Such accommodations not craven creatures like these who fought it in news stories about the Democratic with the white southerners so vital to the at the Battle of San Jacinto. Men of that Convention. On June 27, 1928, New success of the national Democratic Party low, vile character did not build the Texas York's Amsterdam News wrote that the of this era reflected the compromises or the Houston of today. "29 While the "odor of lynching greets delegates to the being reached among Houstonians on the Press condemned the actions of the mob, Democratic National Convention."32 issues raised by race. How could an accept­ it also vilified the three black men, infer­ New York's Evening Post took a similar ably "gentile" version of the often violent, ring that they were part of a group of tact: "Houston is meeting the vanguard of always discriminatory Jim Crow system be "unruly, surly, trouble-making Negroes in convention visitors with one hand and adapted to life in a changing nation and a Houston."30 One New York paper reported trying to solve its ugly lynching mystery growing city? How could the politics of that a "citizen's committee," the "Houston with the other." Much harsher were the the two major parties accommodate race? Committee on Inter-Racial Co-operation, words of The News of New York City, How could Houston prevent its ineffi­ composed of men of both races," passed a which mocked the "crocodile tears" being cient, violence-prone racial accommoda­ resolution condemning "the inexcusable shed by the Houston press over the "bar- tion from undermining its hopes for

111cHoustonRcvicw-volumc l,no. 2 page 29 took the lynching seriously as a measure of the direction their city might take on the critical issue of race. Embarrassed by the lynching, the white businessmen who guided much of the city's development dis­ tanced themselves from racial violence as ;REStR

tions worthy of a maturing metropolis A much broader collection of underdeveloped public services, a that tripled in size from 1940 to 1970, Houston businessmen and politicians at mediocre educational system, harsh work­ passing the million mark in population times visited suite SF and at times coop­ ing conditions for labor, and government while moving rapidly up the ranks of the erated with members of the core group on promotion-but not regulation-of busi­ nation's largest cities. In politics they lob­ specific projects and issues. For example, ness interests. Such critical accounts sug­ bied aggressively for what they considered oil man Claud Hamill, a business partner gested a sort of soft conspiracy of a few a healthy business climate marked by a of Bob Smith, at times worked closely powerful men to shape Houston in their minimum of government regulations, a with friends in the SF crowd. A list of own image. The populist Texas Observer weak labor movement, a tax system favor­ other "friends of SF might be expanded popularized this criticism by poking fun at able to business investment, the use of to include William A. (Bill) Smith, the quest for a healthy "bidness" climate. government subsidies to spur business Leopold Meyer, Lamar Fleming, Wesley Louie Welch, who as mayor of expansion, and a conservative approach to West, George Butler, Charles Francis, Houston was at times both a friend and the expansion of public services. With Felix Tijerina, Leon Jaworski, Howard a foe of the SF crowd, put a much more substantial political clout and little effec­ Keck, Judge Roy Hofheinz, and, at one positive spin on SF's activities: "You'll tively organized opposition in a single­ time or another, most other influential hear, I'm sure, all about SF, like that's party political system, they pushed the city business leaders in Houston in this era. some mysterious, sinister meeting place hard in the direction they believed it Government officials such as Colonel where people got together and figured needed to go. In the process, they shaped E.O. Thompson of the Texas Railroad out what to let the common people do. It much of what was good and bad about Commission and local, state, and national wasn't anything of the sort." According to modern Houston. They had obvious blind politicians also frequented the Lamar Welch, "they created the initiative and the spots-notably on race and environmen­ H otel. SF and friends included individu­ locomotive to pull the train ... They were tal quality-but they also shared a con­ als with ties to most areas of the Houston movers and shakers, but they were not suming passion for Houston and a vision economy, and they could often mobilize self-serving in anything that I ever saw that economic development could lift the broad support from the like-minded peo­ them do."17 city and its population. ple throughout the city and the state on No doubt, those who were moved and The SF crowd was the most visible issues of importance to the downtown shook took a somewhat less favorable 12 group of business/civic leaders in Houston H ouston business community. view of the process of change. But in in this boom era. Indeed, "SF crowd" Critics focused on the power of the Houston's postwar boom, those who had became synonymous with "power elite" in SF crowd, making it a symbol for a politi­ the most reason to complain about work­ postwar Houston. This group of friends cal and civic culture dominated by busi­ ing conditions and under-funded public used the Brown brothers' suite SF at the ness interests. "There was talk in Texas in services tended to come from rural sec­ Lamar Hotel as a convenient place to relax, the 1940s and 1950s," wrote Texas his­ tions of Texas, Louisiana, and Mexico play cards, discuss the day's issues, and torian George Norris Green, "that state where far worse conditions had pushed shape Houston's development.11 With other affairs were handled by card-playing mul­ them to try their luck in Houston. As like-minded business leaders, they shared a timillionaires who convened in Herman hundreds of thousands of migrants sought general vision of the city's future, and they Brown's suite."13 Writing in the Texas improved opportunities in the growing had the resources, connections, and com­ Monthly in 1976, journalist Harry Hurt city, racial and ethnic tensions also mitment to the city necessary to act on asserted that "Their rule was a virtually blocked the rise of a unified, political their vision. unchallenged and-they would empha­ movement in the region capable of chal­ "Membership" in this group was by size-very 'civic-minded' gerontocracy."14 lenging the power of business leaders. no means fixed; individuals moved in and James Conway's popular book The Texans Even had such a voice been asserted, it out of this circle of influence as their concluded that "during the 1940s and was unlikely to be heard in the one-party, i .. careers and interests changed. Perhaps the 1950s they [SF] exercised a concerted business-led politics of the postwar years. best way to provide a snapshot of the influence in Texas that was unparalleled." 15 Because of frequent criticism of the group is to make a distinction between the Sociologist Joe Feagin's Free SF crowd and the Brown brothers' close core group that met regularly over several Enterprise City went so far as to construct connections to President Lyndon decades and a broader group that came a Houston model of development around Johnson, this small group has come to together on specific issues. The core gen­ a historical account of the role of the SF command more attention than it erally included at least Herman Brown, crowd and other elites in the city's devel­ deserves. Houston in the 1950s and George R. Brown, Judge James A. Elkins, opment. Feagin's account, which is still 1960s was not Cook County, Illinois, Gus Wortham, Jim Abercrombie, the only book that systematically analyzes and Herman Brown was not Mayor Governor Will H obby, Oveta Culp the role of elites in Houston, asserts that Daley. It was not even very similar to Hobby, and R.E. (Bob) Smith. Jesse Jones, SF "appears to have been the most power­ Houston before World War I, where a who owned the Lamar Hotel and lived in ful elite in the city's history."16 Feagin con­ smaller, more cohesive collection of its 16th floor penthouse, might be seen as cluded that SF's narrow, business-related lawyers and bankers had held sway. the godfather of the SF crowd; they gen­ definition of what was good for the city Indeed, in historical terms, business/civic erally went up to visit him, not vice versa. led Houston down a path characterized by leadership broadened dramatically in

The Houston Review- volume 1, no. 2 page 31 postwar Houston compared to previous Judge Elkins continued the tradition of Maurice Hirsch was eras. This is true even if the SF crowd is the Baker era with his ties to a major law central in building understood to refer only to the relatively firm, Vinson & Elkins, and a major bank, the many education­ small core group and even if it wielded First City National. But he was hardly the al and cultural insti­ tutions that now all of the power accorded to it by critics. only prominent lawyer in H ouston amid flourish throughout But these simplifying assumptions the postwar surge in both the size and Houston. about SF simply do not describe Houston number of corporate law firms in the city in the postwar boom. Notable by their after World War II. Bankers not normally absence from the list of either the core associated with the SF crowd continued Courtesy Houston Metropolitan Research group of SF or their close friends are as in the past to take on important civic Center, Houston Public numerous influential Houston business responsibilities. Kenneth Schnitzer, Library leaders of this era. Prominent among Gerald Hines, and Dallas-based them were independent oilmen such as Trammell Crow- Jesse Jones' successors and Joseph Meyer, Joe Weingarten, Simon Hugh Roy Cullen, who was deeply as the leading developers in Houston­ and Tobias Sakowitz, and Ben and Sam involved in the growth of the U niversity were not frequent guests at SF, despite Taub. General Maurice Hirsch of the firm of Houston and the Texas Medical Center; their role in building much of the approx­ of Hirsch and Westheimer lived a long Glenn McCarthy, who built the Shamrock imately sixty million square feet in major and fruitful life in Houston practicing H otel; and John Mecom, who owned the office construction in Houston in the law, building several businesses, and help­ Warwick Hotel and interests in local thirty years after 1955. In short, many ing build the Houston Symphony, the banks. Also missing from most discus­ of the most influential members of H ouston Grand Opera, the Museum of sions of SF are numerous leaders of Houston downtown business community Fine Arts, the Houston Ballet, Rice Humble Oil and Refining (notably did not frequent SF and did not automat­ University, and the University of 18 Morgan Davis and Carl Reistle) and other ically follow its lead. Houston. Historically, Hirsch and other major oil firms such as Texaco who At the same time, groups of citizens Jewish leaders had a form of dual civic remained quite active in Houston's civic traditionally not included fully in the life citizenship in Houston; they took serious­ affairs. After its move to Houston in of the city asserted a stronger voice in ly their responsibilities in nurturing the 1970, Shell Oil quickly became a promi­ Houston. Through the middle of the causes and institutions of the Jewish com­ nent corporate citizen. twentieth century, anti-Semitism remained munity at the same time that they made Representatives of the giant natural a barrier to full participation in the life of important contributions to the city as a gas pipeline companies headquartered in Houston by prominent Jewish citizens. whole.19 Houston quickly took their place among Not until the 1970s, for example, did the A somewhat similar pattern pre­ the region's civic leaders as their compa­ major downtown law firms actively recruit vailed among African Americans and nies grew quickly after World War II. The Jewish lawyers. Members of the all-Jewish Mexican Americans in H ouston. In the Browns' Texas Eastern Corporation was firms that arose in response contributed postwar years, non-white citizens long one such company, but even more active many of the leaders of Houston's thriving ignored by downtown business interests in Houston's civic affairs was Tenneco Jewish community, as did successful were beginning to find their own civic and its leader Gardner Symonds. SFer developers and retailers such as Leopold voices. As discussed in more detail in Amilcar Shabazz's article in this issue, the successful black businessman, lawyer, and newspaper owner Carter Wesley used his newspaper, The Informer, to give voice to the city's growing black communities. For most of the twentieth century, such communities taken collectively had a population large enough to have ranked as a major Texas city, and black Houston generated its own leaders, despite the yoke of segregation. A handful of white philanthropists from Joseph S. Cullinan to Jesse Jones contributed to the develop­ ment of medical and educational institu­ tions serving the black community. But this limited assistance was designed to mal

page 3 2 Tl1c Honslon Review- volmne 1, no. 2 Houstonians thought of race relations as would follow his lead. campaigns to the building of a new multi­ a question of black and white, but a As Houston became more diverse, it purpose stadium for the city's various growing brown population gradually gen­ also became more dispersed, sprawling out sporting events. SF was not the only suite erated its own leaders. In his biography over an ever-broader region. Civic leaders in town, although it was certainly the most of Houstonian Felix Tijerina, Thomas in the city's suburbs and in once distinct highly publicized. If we insist on continu­ Kreneck tells a success story quite simi­ surrounding cities such as Sugar Land, ing to use the phrase "8F crowd" as short­ lar to the stories of those who frequented Katy, and even Galveston, added their hand for Houston's busi ness/civic elite in suite 8F.20 One of the first prominent voices to issues affecting the entire the postwar era, we should at least amend Houstonian business leaders of Mexican Houston metropolitan region. Such issues it to read "8F and many more." decent, he displayed values that closely as transportation, pollution control, water That said, a closer examination of the matched those of his counterparts in 8F. supply, and even taxation all had implica­ ties that bound 8F together tells us much In his many business and civic endeav­ tions for the entire metropolitan area, but about the operations of the broader busi­ ors, he could count on the support of his public authority remained quite fragment­ ness elite of which they were a part. Their friend, Bob Smith, who was a part of the ed, with competition by city, county, state, power reflected their business ties into the inner circle of 8F. While participating in and federal authority levels. critical industries that fueled the postwar civic initiatives that were aimed at the By the 1970s Houston was a matur­ boom. The key economic task of this gen­ betterment of the entire city, Tijerina ing city with numerous centers of power eration was building prosperous regional also played an active role in issues that and influence. At times these groups spoke companies that made good use of the con­ affected primarily Mexican Americans. with something akin to a unified voice on nections into the national economy estab­ Tijerina was a pathbreaking leader in an important issues such as the need to create lished in the Balxer era. SF and many oth­ increasingly diverse city, and the growing strong educational and cultural institu­ ers in this era built local companies that number of Houstonians with close ties tions. But at other times, they fought bit­ became nationally and internationally to Latin America assured that others terly over issues ranging from political competitive. The growth of these compa-

I l I >- t -"e r :.:::; i ::c.>! ::> I c.. c: •~ ~ ::> 0 I

~- 2 c: Q) u _.r::; ~ 0 ill Q) °"c: ..g 0 Q_ ~ :E c: ~ ::> 0 I ~ ~ ::> 0 u The opening of the Houston Negro Hospital in 1926 was a prime example of white philanthropy for "separate, but equal" facilities.

'l11e l fouston Review--volum.e 1, no. 2 page 3 3 nies provided the dynamism that fed Houston's sustained expansion up the llllll fil11111111 AND AN EXPANDING CIVIC EllTE ranl~s of the nation's largest cities. The Browns and Bill Smith repre­ sented the area's booming construction Born in 1905 in General industry, which placed them in the middle Escobed~, Nuevo Leon, Felix of such key economic trends as the growth Tijerina came with his family to of the petrochemical industry and the the Houston area in 1915 to expansion of offshore petroleum produc­ escape the turmoil caused by the tion. The Browns also owned a substantial Mexican Revolution. "f{e spent the interest in Texas Eastern Corporation, a remaining fifty years of his life major competitor in one of the region's building his restaurant business and the nation's fastest growing regional while also making contributions industries after World War II, natural gas. to the betterment of his adopt~d Bob Smith was an independent oilman, city. During his years in the city, while Jim Abercrombie was a major sup­ the Mexican American population Left to right: Houston Mayqr Pro-Iem Phil plier of tools and services to the oil indus­ grew from an estimated 6,000 (in Hamburgei; Mayor Salinas (of Monttrrey, Mexico), try. Gus Wortham, whose Houston-based 1920) to perhaps 50,000 in the Felix Tijerina, and R. E. Smith American General was one of the largest late 1950s. Tijerina was one of.the insurance companies in the Southwest, first Mexican Americans to play a ptomi~ent role in Houston's civic affairs, and he became a potent symbol to many in the city thatHouston's version of provided financial services to many of the American Dream was available to Latinos. the region's leading firms. Judge Elkins Tijerina initially found work as a bus boy in one of the original Mexican represented the legal/banking interests food restaurants in Houston, and he worked his way up from the bottom to that traditionally guided Houston's evolu­ become the proud owner of his own chain of Felix restaurants. Both the food tion. Will Hobby and his wife Oveta Culp and the owner became Houston institutions. Hobby had extensive political connections As Felix and his wife Janie steadily built their restaurants, they looked and ran one of Houston's major daily foi; ways to make a difference in Houston. From early in their lives in the newspapers, The Houston Post. Jesse city, they were involved .in a variety of. civic causes such as the Boy Scouts Jones was Jesse Jones. This was one very well-connected crowd. th~t sought to ii;nprove the lot of childrJn. Tijerino's most significant project was the "Little School of the 400," a program to prepare Spanish-speaking Strong personal and business ties children tOsucceed in school by teaching them 400 basic English words. linked the core members of SF. Wortham This highly acclaimed program used creative teaching techniques later was a protege of Jones and a friend and incorporated in the federal government's Operation Head Start program. business associate of the Browns; he had Tijerina exhibited a sense of a dual civic responsibility, to Houston in organized American General in 1926 in general and to other Mexican Americans in particular. As a four-time part with capital supplied by Jones and national president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, he Judge Elkins. In the 1940s and 1950s, extended his. influence far beyond Houston. By the time of his death in George Brown and Gus Wortham spent 1965, the Mexican American population of Houston was greater than the long hours together on the Rice University total population of the city had been at the turn of the twentieth century. In Board of Trustees. Among his friends at local and national affairs, Felix Tijerina put a face on the significant new SF, Wortham was the quiet man who reality of growing ethnic diversity. could be counted on to do his share behind the scenes. He also set the tone for .· Entrepreneur ond Civic leader, 1905·1965 the group as a whole with an oft-repeated

distinction between "business dollars, n which had to be watched closely, and "entertainment dollars," which were meant to be spent lavishly. 21 Judge James Elkins played a central role in the dynamics of decision-making at SF; all members of the group valued his counsel. This reflected his well-earned reputation as a clear-headed, decisive decision maker, as well as his broad con­ nections into all areas of the Houston political economy through his bank and his law firm. 22 The Browns were clients of his law firm and prominent shareholders Felix Mexican Restaurant,1948 in his banl<. The economic interests of the SFers page 34 Tl1e Houston Review-volume l , no, 2 often overlapped, a situation best symbol­ charity or civic cause. Individuals could ized by their memberships on various pass on a particular candidate or on a Core Group "interlocking directorates." In practice, this request for a charitable contribution, but meant that many of them met regularly at all recognized that a part of their mys­ tromBF meetings of various boards of directors of tique as a group was their often demon­ Hermon Brown (1891 -1962) banks and other businesses based in strated capacity to close ranks behind Born: Belton, Texas Houston. In general, they belonged to the favored causes. Moved to Houston: 1940s same downtown businessmen's clubs, Politics was their favorite sport. Most Business interests: Brown & Root (construction), Texas Eastern Corp. where they often ate lunch together. The were conservative Democrats in the tradi­ (natural gas transmission) Browns regularly hosted lunches at a table tional one-party system of Texas, but a Other interests: Southwestern University, reserved for them at the Ramada Club. real Republican or two could be tolerated. Texas Children's Hospital, Brown After the meal and a drink or two, those Politicians who sought support at times Foundation present often strolled back to SF for a underwent what amounted to job inter­ George R. Brown (1889-1983) mid-day visit. Many belonged to the same views at SF, and those who passed could Born : Belton, Texas Moved to Houston: 1926 country clubs. They often supported each expect vigorous support. The SF crowd's Business interests : Brown & Root, Texas other's favorite charities and civic causes, unofficial endorsement was a potent Eastern Corp. weapon for annointed "moderate" candi­ Other interests : Rice University, Museum dates who sought local and even state of Fine Arts, Brown Foundation offices. Campaign funds, as well as support Robert E. "Bob" Smith (1894-1973) from Jones' Houston Chronicle and the Born : Greenville, Texas Hobbys' The Houston Post, often followed, Moved to Houston: 1900s Business interests : Independent oil, real making such candidates difficult, though estate, cattle not impossible, to defeat. Other interests : Houston Symphony Despite their many political activities, Orchestra, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston the SF crowd knew that a low profile Astros, Petroleum Club could be useful in politics. As Gus Jomes Abercrombie (1891-1975) Wortham was fond of saying, "You don't Born : Huntsville, Texas 23 Moved to Houston: 1906 go hunting with a big brass band." But on Governor Will Hobby and Jesse Jones Business interests : Cameron Iron Works several occasions, controversy over politi­ (oil tools), independent oil cal disputes spilled out into public. In the Other interests: Texas Children's Hospital, just as they often closed ranks in support early 1950s, SF supported Roy Hofheinz Pin Oak Horse Show of political candidates. for two terms as mayor of Houston. But Gus Wortham (1891-1976) Beyond that, they were good friends his efforts to raise properly assessments on Born : Mexia, Texas (grew up in who enjoyed spending time together. Many downtown buildings cost him their contin­ Huntsville) Moved to Houston: 1915 afternoons of cards, trips to Southwest ued support. In the 1956 mayoral race, Business interests : American General Conference football games, regular hunt­ the group threw its weight behind Oscar Insurance ing expeditions to various retreats, and an Holcombe, who had previously held the Other interests : Houston Symphony annual trek to the Kentucky Derby gave office for eleven terms. Hofheinz Orchestra, Rice University, Wortham them time to relax out of the public eye responded by going public with the con­ Foundation and away from the pressures of running tents of a meeting in 1952 with the Judge James Elkins (1879-1972) Born : Huntsville, Texas their companies. In this fraternity of boss­ Browns, James Elkins, and Gus Wortham, Moved to Houston : 1917 es, these strong-willed men who spent with an open phone line to both the Business interests : Vinson & Elkins (law most of their working lives making hard Houston Chronicle and The Houston Post. firm) , First City National Bank decisions under intense pressure could Hofheinz later recalled that Herman Other interests : University of Houston, relax, bantering and cutting up like care­ Brown told Mayor Holcombe he was University ofTexas, St. Anthony's Horne free young men. A closeness and mutual for the Aged respect gained from long and often fun­ Governor Wilriam P. Hobby (1878-1964) Born : Moscow, Texas filled hours spent together helped smooth Moved to Houston : 1893 over disagreements on the issues of the Business interests : Houston Post, moment, fostering a cohesion that was KPRC (radio), KPRC-TV crucial to the sustained influence exerted Other interests : Governor of Texas by this group. (1917-1920) The core group of SFers stayed active Oveta Culp Hobby (1905-1995) Born : Killeen, Texas in politics. Each might be asked to ante Moved to Houston : 1928 up a contribution to the campaign funds Business interests : Houston Post, of political candidates at the local, state, KPRC (radio), KPRC-TV or national levels who had passed muster Other interests : Head of WAACs with the group. Similar contributions (Women's Auxiliary Army Corps), Secretary of Health, Education, and could be expected when one of them Welfare became highly committed to a particular Colonel Oveta Culp Hobby

Tl1c Houston I~·vicw-volume l , no. 2 page 3 5 through as mayor, and then informed the Reader's Digest in 1953 quoted an come." Frequent guests at these retreats Hofheinz that "we will support you for unidentified source that "if Herman also included political writers for the mayor and all you have to do is call them Brown is against something, there is no state's major newspapers. Festive barbe­ down the middle."24 When Hofheinz later reason for the Senate to meet." His influ­ cues around a large, spring-fed swimming disagreed on what constituted "the middle" ence was especially strong in shaping a pool highlighted the activities. Looking on issues such as taxes on downtown series of antiunion laws at the state level, bacl< at these gatherings, Bracewell con­ buildings, he lost 8F's support. including a "right-to-worl/ law that out­ cluded: "Now, in this day and time, that In state politics, Herman Brown tool< lawed union membership as a requirement would have been a scandalous situation the lead. The state legislature in Austin in to hold a job. 25 that Brown & Root had the state senators the 1950s has never been used in high The Browns' West Texas property at out to their place.. ..In those days, it was­ school civic texts as the model of govern­ Fort Clark became a frequent weekend n't."26 Indeed, following the custom of the ment of, by, and for the people. Business­ retreat for the brothers and their friends time, reporters never wrote about these led lobbying was so direct, determined, in business and government. The ranch get-togethers. and open that it drew responses that were was a short plane flight away from the At the national level, the Browns and equal parts outrage, astonishment, and state capital, and Brown & Root's DC-3s their friends supported numerous promi­ admiration for a job well done. Herman regularly ferried passengers from Austin nent Texas politicians, led by Lyndon Brown spent much time in Austin while and Houston to Fort Clark. Searcy Johnson, Sam Rayburn, Albert Thomas also maintaining there a sl

The Texas Medical Center in the 1950s. Oochwis e, from bottom left: Hermann Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, M.D. Anderson, and Methodist Hospital.

page 36 Tl1e liouston Revi.ew-volmne L no. 2

I recognized a winner after they were beat­ Brown, the wife of George Brown. Her en by him. It was as if the brothers pur­ love of art developed as she grew up in chased a winning colt at a county fair and central Texas. She came to Houston with that colt grew up to win the Triple Crown her husband in the 1920s and lived in the of politics: the Senate majority leadership, city until her death in 19S4. She became the vice presidency, and the presidency. a steady presence in Houston cultural Their unwavering support of Johnson as affairs, with a special interest in support­ he climbed the ladder all the way to the ing the Museum of Fine Arts, Rice presidency assured the brothers of good University, and her alma mater, political access at the highest levels of Southwestern University. She and other national politics. It also focused the wives of business leaders of this era played intense glare of the national spotlight on critical roles in building and sustaining their political activities. History plays j the high-quality cultural institutions that cruel jolzes, especially in the high stalzes 6 began to define Houston as a mature u 29 game of national politics. Today, decades Alice Pratt Brown (seated) with husband George R. metropolis by the 1960s. after the end of extraordinarily produc­ Brown and friend. Their husbands specialized in anoth­ tive lives, the Brown brothers, when er sort of city building, the improvement included at all in history books, generally of Houston into an agent of upward of the economic infrastructure of their appear as campaign contributors to mobility for the mass of H oustonians, and booming city. One of their dramatic and Lyndon Johnson.28 the efforts of Herman Brown to support successful initiatives involved the creation T he SF crowd by no means reached Southwestern University in Georgetown, of a new airport for Houston. By the consensus on every political candidate or Texas. The opera, the symphony, the mid-1950s, the Houston Municipal every significant issue. But they shared Museum of Fine Arts, and many other Airport (later renamed Hobby Airport in with other business leaders a broad vision cultural institutions flowered after sus­ tribute to Governor Will Hobby) had of Houston and a predisposition to use tained watering with money from SF and their collective economic, political, and many more. T his generation took seriously I civic influence to shape the city's future. the need to develop in Houston the cul­ I They had chosen to migrate to Houston to tural and educational institutions worthy I pursue their ambitions. They had lived of a major metropolis. through the dramatic growth of their In addition to substantial personal adopted city and were strongly committed fortunes, many of the business/civic lead­ to malzing Houston a better place to live. ers also had strong-willed wives who toolz They felt that this required the continued seriously their responsibilities to support growth of business and more fully devel­ good causes. The often-used word "help­ oped civic institutions-art museums, mate" does not do justice to their efforts. symphonies, ballets, operas, universities, Some of them made invaluable contribu­ medical facilities. A lthough most of them tions of their time and energies to help preferred college football to high culture, build the city's cultural institutions; at they committed both their money and times their worlz included educating their time to these endeavors in the interest of husbands about the value of such institu­ creating a "major league city." tions. One such woman was Alice Pratt This meant that they were as deeply involved in the city's cultural life as they were in its political life. They often used their wealth and influence for broad social purposes as they aggressively shaped Houston's development. SF and others supported such initiatives as Jim Abercrombie's impulse to build and support the Texas Children's Hospital. T he philanthropic gifts of the SF crowd (and later their foundations) and many more helped make the Texas Medical Center complex a major new hub of research and jobs in Houston. They supported the efforts of George Brown and Gus Wortham to make the Rice Institute into an elite university, the parallel efforts of fellow Houstonian Improvements to Houston's airport were necessary as early as 1929. After this airplane became stuck in the Hugh Roy Cullen to build the University mud, a new hard surfac e was installed.

The Houston Review-volume 1, no. 2 page 3 7 been renovated with a new terminal purchase the land for the airport. They victory, since the JSC expanded rapidly building. Several regular visitors at SF assured the skeptical mayor that they and became a much-needed source of and several others discussed the need for sought the good of H ouston, not personal diversity for a regional economy still a larger airport farther from downtown profits. Cutrer finally yielded. By the dominated by the petroleum industry. Houston. These men included, among early 1960s, construction began on Rice gained national attention and new others, Ralph Johnston, the Brown broth­ Houston Intercontinental Airport, which funding for space-related programs. ers, J.S. Abercrombie, William A. Smith, became Houston's major airport when it Humble Oil profited from the develop­ and Hugh Roy Cullen. The group com­ opened for oper.ations in 1969. The ment of a planned community on land missioned studies of potential airport acquisition of a site for what became adjacent to the JSC. Brown & Root sites. The studies noted that fog was more Bush International Airport was motivated received a relatively small construction intense and lasted longer south of primarily by civic interest, not the self­ design contract for the JSC, but publicity Houston where the existing airport was interest of those involved. surrounding this episode boosted the rep­ located than north of the city. A survey Another event orchestrated by civic utation of George Brown, his company, conducted during the early 1950s indi­ leaders in the early 1960s pulled the city and his university. The nation found a cated that a site north of Houston was the southward toward Galveston while illus­ good site for a vital space program that most appropriate to locate a new jet air­ trating the power of a full-court press by provided a healthy measure of diversifica­ port, although no plans developed out of SF and many others. When NASA began tion to the regional economy. And the survey. 30 scouting about for a site to build what Houston's business/civic leadership had In late 1956 and early 1957, became the Manned Spacecraft Center another impressive story to tell in the on­ through an agent, the group quietly began (which later became the Johnson Space going saga of its "can do" spirit. purchasing land north of Houston. In Center or JSC), Houston joined other In the era of SF and many others, anticipation that Houston would build a cities in a race to acquire this jewel. The one important barrier to the status of a large, modern airport on this site, the city brought to bear impressive resources major league city could not be so easily company ultimately bought 3,000 acres in its quest for the JSC. George Brown cleared. Jim Crow still remained in for approximately $2 million. was more than a close friend of Vice Houston in 1960. By that time the civil After acquiring the land, George President Johnson, who chaired National rights movement had defeated the segre­ Brown and several others involved in the Aeronautics and Space Council (NASC), gationists in the courts and had them on purchase met privately in early 1957 with the federal board that advised the presi­ the run throughout the South. The prac­ Mayor Oscar H olcombe and other city dent on all aspects of the space program. tical question was not if, but when and officials, including the city attorney, the He also was chairman of trustees at Rice how Houston would dismantle its Jim public works director, the aviation director, and was appointed in 1961 by Johnson as Crow system. and one city council member. The group a civilian member of the NASC. Kenneth H ouston's business/civic leaders had argued that Houston needed a new jet air­ Pitzer, Rice's president, had strong ties to resisted taking charge of change on this port to assure its future growth. They had Representative Albert Thomas, who issue for half a century. They now faced purchased the land for this new facility chaired the house committee that difficult choices. In the deep South, the with borrowed money and promised to approved NASA's funding. Thomas and violent defense of Jim Crow against deter­ hold it until the city was ready to buy it. George Brown had been friends since mined civil rights demonstrators had pro­ The group offered the city of H ouston a their freshmen year together at Rice in duced bloody conflicts sent out over the one-year option on the land extending 1916, and he was always eager to help airwaves for all the world to see. In 1960, until February 1, l 95S. City officials Houston at the federal level. Morgan Houston's black population had grown to reacted with skepticism, noting that Davis, then the chairman of the Houston­ more than 215,000, a figure roughly Hobby Airport had just received a new ter­ based Humble Oil & Refining Company, equal to the total population of the city in minal building. had worked with Brown on other civic the mid-l 920s. With an eye on the esca­ Mayor H olcombe nonetheless indi­ projects, and he supplied a critical element lating racial conflict in much of the cated that he wanted the city to go for­ in the plan to persuade NASA to select South, white civic leaders in Houston ward with the purchase of the land, but Houston for its coveted project.32 sought to cut their losses by desegregating after he lost the next mayoral election, The plan was simple. Humble owned with as little violence as possible. With the the process broke down. The newly elect­ a large tract of land south of the city that cooperation of most of the city's media, ed mayor, Louis Cutrer was not eager to seemed well suited for the JSC. Davis, who they arranged for drug store counters and go forward with the deal. According to like many officers before him at Humble some public accommodations to be deseg­ Louis Welch, he questioned the motives had strong ties to Rice, agreed to donate regated with a blackout on the sort of pub­ of the group: "You're not going to tell me this land to the university. After expand­ licity that had assured the presence of that that bunch of high rollers isn't in ing the original tract of land to meet aggressive white racists at similar sit-ins in this for money. They're looking for a NASA's requirements, Rice offered this other parts of the South. Administrators profit on this."31 land as a gift to NASA. The rest of the at Rice and at the University of Houston After the deadline for the city to proposal came together quickly, and followed a similar path, moving as quietly purchase the land had passed, Judge almost before other cities had warmed up as possible to admit black students.33 Elkins, Gus Wortham, and H erman and for the race for the JSC, Houston had Chairman of the Board George George Brown met with Mayor Cutrer crossed the finish line victorious. Brown led the way at Rice in the early and forcefully argued that the city should The city benefited greatly from this Continued on page 40 page 38 Tl1c Houston Review-volume l, no. 2 A strong push from Brown & Root construction workers made the new Rice Stadium (s hown here under construction) ready for the first game of the 1950 season.

SHIP CHANNELS AND AIRPORTS AND SPACE­ McCarthy and others schemed to find a way to build a stadi­ CRAFT CENTERS might prove easy enough, but the um capable of enticing an existing major league baseball team harsher test of civic leadership proved to be the building of to move to Houston. Mayor Holcombe and the Houston City sports stadiums. 8F and many others spent much energy try­ Council proposed the construction of "Houston Stadium," a ing to acquire the most obvious symbol in popular culture of 110,000 seat monster to be used by everyone and to try to a "major league city" - major league sports teams. They also attract such events as the Pan American Games. worked hard to build big time athletic programs at local uni­ As 8F and others argued about the best way to move a versities. Both required large stadiums, which are expensive large stadium off the drawing board, Brown and Wortham I propositions. The high visibility of such projects and the finally lost patience. They convinced the Rice board to go it mixture of public and private funds often used to build them alone. The proposed Rice Stadium quickly grew in size from assured that they would come under intense public scrutiny. 50,000 seats to 70,000. Wortham took the lead in selling The first postwar effort at stadium building in Houston options to buy season tickets that netted about $1.6 million involved college football. Southwest Conference football was of the final cost of $2.l million. The Browns pushed the a major sport in these years, and Rice Institute had some of project forward by agreeing to build the stadium at cost. l the best teams in its history in the 1940s and 1950s. By Brown & Root attacked the job as it had the construction of t the late 1940s, boosters of the Rice football program found ships for the war effort, with crews working two ten-hour the existing stadium's capacity of about 30,000 to be inade­ shifts in a determined nine-month blitz to complete the sta­ quate. As the Brown brothers and Gus Wortham led discus­ dium before the start of the football season in September of sions of the construction of a new stadium for Rice, other 1950. When a reporter asked Herman Brown if the stadium groups within the city also began to look into the prospects would be finished on time, Brown famously answered with his for building a stadium worthy of a city on the move. own question: "Is it a day game or a night game?" He obvi­ Suddenly, proposals for new stadiums popped up all over. ously relished the task of proving that his company and his The fact that the city's rival to the north, Dallas, now had a friends at 8F were up to the task. The night game was played fine new stadium to host the Cotton Bowl, added urgency to on the scheduled date with all the seats full in a mostly fin­ the debate. If Rice had a new stadium, the University of ished stadium worthy of a major college football program in a Houston, of course, needed one also. The Houston Fat Stock major league city. 34 Show needed a new home worthy of its bulls. Glenn

Tl1e Houston l~view-volume l, no. 2 page 39 1 960s. By then he knew that Rice could movement left them with little ch oice in listings of the region's "civic leaders," but not gain the federal funds, the faculty, or the early 1960s. The key civic leaders in they remain useful symbols of those who the administrators needed to become a this pivotal era were not those who final­ literally took the first courageous steps in first-rate university if it remained segre­ ly stepped aside from the doors of tradi­ desegregating schools and public accom­ gated. An ugly court battle in which for­ tionally all-white institutions, but those modations in our region, often at great mer students of Rice sued the university who actively confronted segregation and personal costs.36 T heir actions helped end to prevent desegregation tested the sh oved open those doors. Their ranks the long era of formal segregation. Yet resolve of Brown and the Rice board. include numerous young black citizens efforts to repair the personal and societal After Baker Botts lawyers successfully who physically desegregated the institu­ destruction wrought by the Jim Crow sys­ defended the university from the tions that embodied the old Jim Crow tem and to find ways to create a more demands of the pro-segregationist farmer system. Included were college students open and just racial/social order students, Rice finally admitted its first such as Winona Frank, who was among remained formidable challenges for the black undergraduate in 1965.35 the first black students at Lamar in region's civic leaders, white and black, SF and others have been given credit Beaumont in 1956; Charles Freeman, after the turbulent 1 960s. for helping Houston desegregate with rel­ one of the first black undergraduates at The Coming of the Greater Houston atively little violence. They did this, but Rice in 1965; Nia Becnel, one of an PannershlP-19BOs to present only after forces beyond their control impressive early group of black students farced them to act. A grassroots move­ who left a permanent, positive imprint Herman Brown died in 1962; George, in ment in Houston led by black activists on the University of Houston; and many 19S3. Between those dates the leaders of and an ascendant n ational civil rights others.* Such names may never appear in postwar Houston steadily passed from the scene. Their reputation for decisive action had been earned in an era that gave them The Populatlon of Houston and Black Houston. 1900-1980 much leeway to decide. Decades of steady 1,700,000 economic growth created new jobs, easing social tensions. Only near the end of this 1,600,000 era did the racial time bomb of Jim Crow 1,500,000 threaten to explode, and SF and others moved, however reluctantly, to defuse it. 1,400,000 R BLACK HOUSTON •ALL HOUSTON A one party political system- and a pro­ 1,300,000 business party at that- held power for much of their era, and SF and many more 1, 200,000 proved adept at using it to their advantage. l,1 00,000 Although Houston more than tripled in population from 1940 to 1970, for most 1,000,000 of these years the city remained compact 900,000 enough for the downtown business leaders

800,000 to hold the region together on key issues. In these years, SF and others 700,000 enjoyed a hell of a run, building produc­

600,000 tive nationally-competitive companies that created jobs by the tens of thou­ 500,000 sands in the Houston region. Many of 400,000 the business leaders in this era built their own companies, earning personal for­ 300,000 tunes relatively early in their careers that 200,000 gave them the independence and resources to pursue their civic and polit­ 00 100,000 0 ..,.~- ical interests. With a swagger backed by real power over much of what mattered, 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 they worked and played hard in an era

• Winona Frank graduated from Lamar and had a long career as a teacher in the they were tried for inciting a riot that led to the policeman '.s death. A/ter a hung Beaumont Independent School District. (Her son, Amilcar Shabazz, has an article jury, Freeman went back to school at Lamar and then earned a law degree at the in this issue.} Charles Freeman, a N ational M erit Finalist from Port Arthur, trans­ University of Houston (UH). He practiced public interest law until his death at age ferred to Texas Southern University in 196 7. (H e was my suitemate at Rice, and 1 54 in 2003. Nia Becnel was not one of the very ftrst black students at UH, which remained astonished by how little Rice did to prepare him, other students, or the desegregated its undergraduate programs in 1962. But she was one of a dynamic university as a whole for the process of desegregation.} In the spring of 1967, in group of black students several years later that helped create the African American response to growing activism by black students including Freeman, policemen Studies Program at UH. Later, as a faculty member of the College of Architecture stormed the dorms at TSU. When an o/ficer died a/ter police fire ricocheted o/f th e at UH, she remained active in the study of Houston '.s Freedmen '.s Town be/ore her dorms, Freeman and four others became scapegoats for the night of violence, and untimely death in 1990. page 40 Tl1eHouston Review- volmne l,no. 2 ll) co 0- © .,­ u·c: e -"u c ~ :::> 0 I ~ .s! :; u0 The Lamar Hotel and suite BF, symbols of Houston's most powerful business and civic leaders, came crashing down on April 14, 1985.

ficult stage on which to perform. From the to Katy, southeast to Sugar Land, and (at 1970s through the end of the twentieth least on some issues) east all the way to century, the Houston economy went Beaumont and Port Arthur. through a cycle of boom, bust, and rebirth They also needed ways to bring a that posed severe challenges to the region's measure of unity to an increasingly diverse business leaders. While tending to the population. In the decades after desegre­ health of their own companies in an c gation, white and black leaders alike con­ ~ increasingly competitive economy, those fronted hard questions involving integra­ ~ who cared about Houston's future had to tion. At the same time, Houston was ~ find ways to help diversify the petroleum­ attracting growing numbers of migrants () led economy that had served the region so from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. To George and Herman Brown well in the past. And they had to do this in move the city forward, Houston's leaders that gave them more admiration than a global economy in which deregulation had to find ways to build consensus on lzey criticism. In civic affairs, they demon­ had removed many traditional safety nets. civic issues in a multiracial, multiethnic strated an undeniable love of their The last thirty years of the twentieth society. "Embracing diversity," an issue adopted hometown and a willingness to century witnessed another doubling in the largely neglected before the 1970s, pro­ commit their time and money to its bet­ population of the Houston area. This ceeded along numerous avenues. The most terment. The legend of 8F has exagger­ much larger size combined with sprawl pressing challenge was to create a public ated both how tightly power was held in out into ever-growing suburbs made the school system capable of preparing chil­ postwar Houston and how cohesive the city much more difficult to manage from dren from a variety of backgrounds to downtown business elite was in those the perspective of those in the downtown compete as equals in the modern economy. years. But the impact of 8F and many business community. They faced a grow­ Past leaders in Houston had made great more on Houston's development is diffi­ ing challenge in defining a common headway in developing institutions of cult to exaggerate. interest for the broad region centered on higher education, but they had seldom Those who came after them had a Houston but extending forty or fifty focused their attentions and resources on tough act to follow and a much more dif- miles in all directions, south to the public schools. Galveston, north to The Woodlands, west Before business/civic leaders could

Tl1c Houston Review-volume l, no. 2 page 41 tackle such issues, they had to find ways to leum industry? Could other industries be reached back into the world of Jesse Jones organize civic initiatives. Captain Balzer added to the region's growing space and and the SF crowd and forward into the and friends could meet in a hotel coffee medical industries to build a more bal­ creation of the Greater Houston shop; SF could meet in a single hotel anced regional economy? Partnership. Lil 0 I petition and to build a statewide bank 2 holding company. But he also found time D ~ 0 to become involved in a wide range of ~ civic projects. One of these was the reor­ ~ ::> 0 ganization of the city's business/civic u leadership to better meet the needs of a Robert Onstead (right), 1990 chairman of the Greater Hous ton Partnership, recognizes Ben Love for his leadership. city that continued to grow larger, both in population and area, and more diverse, future. The challenge of recovery attracted industries from space, to medical, to both in ethnic and economic terms.37 the efforts of business and civic leaders computers. The downtown business com­ Love joined a collection of civic who had come to prominence in the boom munity still dominated, but many others leaders who sought to create some sort years. During the flush times of the emerged from the numerous "satellite of "big umbrella" capable of pulling 1970s, this diverse group had taken to the cities" that had grown around Houston together business/ civic leaders in their taslz of mobilizing the city's resources to by the 19S0s. An increasingly ethnically sprawling city. The Chamber of sustain and expand the cultural and edu­ diverse middle class and professional Commerce had done this at times in the cational institutions created by earlier class had a seat at the table, as did repre­ city's past, notably during the hard times generations. But hard times brought hard­ sentatives of suburbs with futures closely of the 1930s. In the 19SOs, as in the er tasks. How could the "energy capital of tied to Houston's. 1930s, economic development was badly the world" cushion itself against the cycles One of the best symbols of this gen­ needed, and the Greater Houston of boom and bust that plagued the petro- eration is Ben Love, whose experiences Partnership (GHP) evolved to address

page 42 T[ie Houston Review-volume l, no. 2

this need. The list of its founders and its deregulated, globally competitive busi­ exemplify the growing economic integra­ early presidents reads like a 1990s roll­ ness world has become meaner and more tion of the Houston Metropolitan Area. call of a suite SF with the walls knocked demanding than the business environ­ The big umbrella required to hold out to take in the entire eight floor. But ment in the postwar boom years. Civic those who deserve a voice in shaping the the rank-and-file members included a leadership is easier to embrace when future of this sprawling region will need much broader slice of H ouston than had your business is on automatic pilot than seats for many such leaders from outside been characteristic of previous genera­ when it is in a fight to the death for sur­ the downtown business community. It will tions of business/civic leaders. Men and vival in worldwide competition. The need more seats for the growing number women from businesses large and small future will make its own judgments of of women and for representatives of the were joined in this big tent by people Ken Lay's business decisions, but his full "minorities" who are rapidly becoming the from non-profits, social service to overflowing plate of civic endeavors majority in the region. But most of all, it providers, and other professions. With had to deflect his attentions from his will need seats for people with the vision some success, the Partnership reached duties at Enron at a critical juncture in and commitment to identify critical prob­ out far beyond the all-white male down­ his company's development. Ironically, lems and solve them. town businessmen who dominated earlier Lay's many civic contributions will prob­ As we go about this last demanding generations of civic leaders. ably be buried beneath the rubble of task, we would do well to recall the work The key issues faced by the Enron's collapse, a cruel reminder that of those who came before us. They were Partnership were at first glance similar business leadership in civic affairs has very good at job creation and at building to those of earlier eras in the region's always flowed from the power and and sustaining institutions of high culture, history. As always, first came the need resources of successful companies. higher education, and sports. Looking for jobs. Amid sustained economic In the 1990s, Lay spoke persuasively back, we might wish that they had paid growth in the decades after World War about the need to build Houston into a greater attention to other issues such as II, job creation seemed on automatic world-class city so that world-class com­ pollution control, public education, his­ pilot, but the oil bust of the l 9SOs panies such as Enron could continue to torical preservation, and green space. But demolished that illusion. The diversifi­ attract the talented employees they needed we cannot honestly examine their record cation of the regional economy became a to succeed. Despite his company's collapse, without noting the mix of commitment, central concern of the Greater Houston we should not dismiss Lay's sentiments. A passion, energy, and, yes, money they Partnership, and the organization's work world-class city, properly understood, brought to the civic affairs of their adopt­ has reinforced market forces in fostering requires a business climate that embraces ed city. If we could bottle that and serve it the emergence of a more diverse set of much more than low taxes, lax regulation, with lunch at the meetings of the Greater medical, space, and technical industries and neglected public services. Needed are Houston Partnership (and many others), to supplement the region's traditional other factors that could contribute to we might unleash a new generation of core activities in oil, gas, petrochemicals, profitable business operations in the long­ civic involvement capable of finding cre­ and oil-related manufacturing. term, such as an excellent public school ative solutions to the many challenges pre­ Business conditions at the turn of system, clean air and water, efficient trans­ sented by our ever-growing city. If we the twenty-first century, however, present portation, and safe working conditions. become pessimistic about meeting such stark differences from those during most Success in a global economy will also challenges, we should recall the leap of of the twentieth century, and these dif­ accrue to businesses and regions that faith required by those who looked at a ferences have profound implications for understand how to take advantage of the small, hot, dirty town on a meandering civic leadership. Many of the potential skills and ambitions of people from bayou one hundred years ago and saw the business/civic leaders in Houston today diverse backgrounds. A healthy business raw material from which they could build did not move here to stay as of old, but climate, much more broadly defined than a major metropolis. • rather are passing through as they move in the city's past, will continue to be vital up the corporate escalators. Will such to its future. individuals display the long-term com­ Aggressive business/civic leadership mitment to the city that characterized will continue to play important roles in earlier generations? In addition, an shaping Houston, but modern leaders face intense merger movement in oil, natural a more difficult set of challenges than gas, and banking has greatly reduced the their predecessors. The rapid population number of large companies in these vital growth and spectacular expansion of industries, further reducing the list of regional-based companies and industries potential difference makers in civic since the heyday of SF now call for the affairs. When, for example, a company redoubled efforts of the even larger collec­ with the record of good civic works of tion of people and resources encompassed Tenneco disappears, the void is most dif­ by the GHP. The activities of Houstonian ficult to fill. Can the "foreign" banks George Mitchell-from the redevelop­ that have purchased the major H ouston ment of his hometown of Galveston, to banks reasonably be expected to be their his Houston-based oil company, to his equals as corporate citizens? Finally, a planned community at The Woodlands-

page 44 111e Houston Review-volume 1, no. 2

I 1928 DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION continued from page 25

serve them well, Houstonians often took private homes, dormitories at the Rice Democratic Convention in Houston is Sunday afternoon strolls near the con­ Institute (now Rice University), campsites that Texas will blow so much about it. We vention site to watch the construction of at Galveston beach, and specially built shall never hear the last of it." Indeed, by "Democracy's Cradle." 11 tourist centers that offered shower baths June city officials had already sent thou­ While overseeing the building of the and first aid facilities. Heightened efforts sands of photographs, stories, and propa­ new hall, city officials also made count­ by local and federal officials to enforce ganda to cities all across the country less other improvements to dress Houston Prohibition resulted in the confiscation of h eralding the finer points of America's in her best "Sunday clothes." Mayor several shipments of liquor earmarl

; r

l11c Houston Review-volume l, no. 2 page 45 June. The early arrival of such standouts as Congressman Cordell Hull and popu­ lar humorist Will Rogers threw Houston into a state of "bedlam" as convention "fever" swept the city. Vendors hawking everything from Al Smith ties embroi­ dered with beer mugs to "buttons as big as saucers" elevated the "carnival-like" atmosphere of the city. Sporting cigars and solemn faces, G eorge W Olvany declared on behalf of the Tammany del­ egates, "We came here to nominate for president an Abe Lincoln from the 'Sidewalks of New York;" as bands sere­ naded them with the song of the same name. Al Smith's wife and children soon reached the city as well, bearing reports that the nominee-to-be "was eager ... t o get their observations and impressions of the convention." Having just covered the Republican convention in Kansas City two weeb earlier, members of the "Convention Press Army" also filtered into the city, discovering that in Houston they were celebrities in their Democratic Party members from across the U.S. filled the streets of downtown Houston. own right. U ndoubtedly the most antici- ./ pated luminary of the convention, how- to move beyond their historically subor- decline attending their nominating con- ever, was famed New York mayor Jimmy dinate roles. A lthough city officials urged ventions, Smith had more significant Walker. Decked in a purple suit and the "negro section of the city" to "clean up reasons for opting to be "the most white Panama h at, Walker stepped off and beautify" their homes and lawns, the important man, not in town." He had his train to the largest welcoming crowd greatest pre-convention demand placed on promised the state of New Yorl~ that he of the H ouston convention. Thousands Houston's blacl< population was for their would not "lift a finger" t o obtain the of female fans fawn ed over the dapper "dependable" services as "cooks, maids, Democratic nomination, electin g instead "Prince of Wales." One adoring follower porters, chauffeurs and other help." to let his public service record make him who "loolwd old enough to know better" H ouston's pre-convention prepara- deserving of the nomination. Moreover, exclaimed "Isn't he just t oo cute!" With tions obviously did not occur in a politi- as an associate of the infamous taxis marlwd "Coliseum O nly" and cal vacuum. As city officials molded the Tammany Hall, Smith did not want to activists hoisting flyers at every passerby, environment in which delegates would appear to be "grasping for the nomina- Houston's new convention hall was for- meet, independent political currents tion." Even more importantly, as a can- mally dedicated on June 24 in a lavish simultaneously chiseled the contours of did opponent of Prohibition, Smith did ceremony attended by Edith Wilson, the convention agenda. On the eve of the not want to envenom the deep division wife of the late Presi dent. Houston's rise convention, Al Smith practically had the between "wet" and" dry" factions of the to prominence had finally beg un. 14 Party's nomination loclwd-up with more Party. As H . L. Mencken noted, "Al National Party Chairman Clem than 700 delegates in his pocket and Smith's no hypocrite. H e doesn't go out Shaver opened the first session of the another 170 leaning his way. Indeed, and mal

"t11e Houston Review-volume l, no. 2 page 4 7 six days before the convention became increasing industrialization of the South around the convention hall amidst falling the source of much concern in national and the desire to protect the interests of balloons and enlisted the sights and newspapers (see the article by Dwight big business. Indeed, after the Platform sounds of the Old Gray Mare Band-a Watson in this issue). Unfortunately, Committee proceeded to abandon a phalanx of musicians and donkeys led by those in charge of the convention did League of Nations plank for first time Mrs. Katie Parks. After thirteen minutes little to ameliorate the lynching's under­ since the Wilsonian era, one delegate of horsing around, Chairman Robinson lying message. As one commentator dis­ remarked, "McKinley could have run on kindly declared that "the lady will please cerned, the Democratic Party functioned our tariff plank and Lodge on our plank remove the cavalry from the hall." On as "a sort of racial church in the South" on international relations." Still, by the first roll call for the presidential where "heresy is a crime." As a result, "no half-subdued, half-defiant Negro delegations" could be seen at the Houston convention "for the Negro does not vote with the Democratic Party in the South and Democracy knows him not." Blacks who attended the convention sat in a chicken wired "colored section" within the convention hall, a portion of the otherwise packed facility that was "seldom full." Thus, it was no wonder that one observer felt the Houston convention exuded an atmosphere of the older South, where the only sound piercing the unspo­ ken silence of white superiority was that of black jubilee singers performing slave spirituals-a diversion from the "cotton­ growing heat" that was much to the delight of many white convention guests. 18 Between convention sessions and entertainment activities, the Party Platform Committee met in the "furnace­ like" Houston Public Library to hash out its formal views on such controversial issues as agricultural relief, tariff rates, and Prohibition enforcement. After hours of heated debate, Southern "bone­ ~ IJoN,"Jfilst H.~. ;,,.... 'WMc> Pm" 7~ l)~A"7,c ~RTy OH IHE FINl'lftu/llL J\1,,_P dry" factions and "moist" Northern dele­ ANO' Heit..1STON .,., "'TM£ Ef~APHU:,llL "'1A~ ~· 1- ?a-Jtmir...i";Ji. ~ p,,ar.---: .. gates agreed on a comprise plank that (,,:,,) "FROM PovcRTY To AFFLUENCE-. . called for "an honest effort to enforce" the 18th amendment-a deliberately ambiguous provision that allowed individ­ ual Party members to maintain their own advocating state rights and refusing to nomination, Smith received 724% votes, views on the real need for Prohibition. adopt an anti-lynching plank as the falling just short of the 733 1/i needed. While the Party's Prohibition plank could Republicans had done two weeks earlier, When it became apparent that no other be seen as "a passive endorsement of the the Houston Democratic Platform was candidate had received enough votes to status quo" designed to promote "harmo­ distinct, signaling a redefinition of "tra­ challenge Smith, many delegates abrupt­ ny" and "the success of the Democratic ditional Democratic doctrine" that ly switched their votes in favor of Smith, Party," the same could not be said for the shunned "the received wisdom of the making a second ballot unnecessary. plank on agriculture. To address the Wilsonian Bryanite Democracy."19 Smith won with a total of 849% votes, plight of America's farmers, the Platform On its third day, the convention becoming the first Roman Catholic committee adopted an assertive plank approved the Platform by a voice vote, nominated for president by a major calling for federal support in the form of marking the first time an amendment political party in American history. loans and cooperatives. Moreover, the roll-call vote was unnecessary since 1912 In heartfelt jubilation, Smith's wife plank on tariff rates signaled "a remark­ and the first time a minority report was waved a green handkerchief while calling able abandonment by the Democrats at not filed since 1882. The most animated her husband's nomination "the happiest Houston of their historic position." The demonstration before the vote came when moment of my life." Careful to avoid Party voiced Republican-like support for the name of Jesse Jones was placed in exciting the edgy nerves of Smith's more protective rates, reflecting the nomination. Southern delegates paraded opposition, the Tammany delegation

page 48 T'l1e Houston Review-volume l, no. 2 kept its euphoria at a polite and modest level. As one reporter noted, "the band never tooted 'Tammany' at all and they didn't even spring the side walk piece until late in the show when everybody was fed up with Dixie." After the Party had overcome the division that Smith's nomination had threatened to incite, Will Rogers wryly concluded: "Democracy has found a candidate, now they are looking for a drink. "20 In contrast to the capacity crowds of the first three days, the convention hall was only two-thirds full on the fourth and final day for the nomination of Smith's running mate. Although several Platform Pass for the 1928 Convention states offered favorite son s, or a favorite daughter in the case of Wyoming's Nellie one journalist noted, "The Democratic percentage of blacks remained loyal to the Tayloe Ross, few doubted that Senator donkey with a wet head and wagging a Democratic Party. In a contest where the Joseph Robinson of Arkansas had the dry tail left Houston. "21 Republican nominee had "promoted vice presidential nomination all but Most Party members left Houston Negroes to minor posts in charge of white wrapped-up. Southern, Protestant, and fe eling that the convention was enor­ clerks in his department" and where the "dry," Robinson offset Smith's nomina­ mously successfully, having avoided the Republican platform called for federal tion by appealing to "championed potential rift between the "wet reac­ anti-lynching laws, preservation of south­ Prohibitionists, who thought of tionaries of the east" and "the dry anti­ ern racial hierarchy ultimately overshad­ Tammany as a uniquely wicked organiza­ Tammany progressives of the south." owed secondary concerns over "Rum and tion" and "whose heritage included a Some scholars have argued that Smith's Romanism, "22 at least in the deep South if deep substratum of hatred and fear of placid nomination was attributable to a not in the southern border states. Roman Catholicism." Unsurprisingly, feeling of exhaustion lingering from the In the end, the lasting significance Robinson secured the nomination hand­ 1924 convention, to his unrivaled of the 1928 Democratic National ily with 10351/6 votes. Noting the larger national preeminence, and to a belief Convention to local residents did not significance of Robinson's selection, the that he was the Party's only chance to lay in the realm of politics. They had Arkansas Gazette pronounced: "The win the November election. Others have viewed the convention as their city's action of the Houston convention is of concluded that the Party never truly long-awaited "coming out party," and the historic significance because the nomi­ believed Smith could win the Presidency, decisive and divisive defeat of the nation of Senator Robinson means that feeling instead that they "must nomin ate Democrats in the November general after sixty-four years of virtual exile him and get it over with or he would be a election was of little consequence. In six from such honor, the South again fur­ menace for the next twenty years." This short months, Houston had transcended nishes one of the two men named as latter group of historians has interpreted the boundaries of regional notoriety to standard bearers by a major party." Smith's nomination as "the product of become a city of truly national promi­ Before the final gavel sounded, a an ideological and sectional cease-fire nence. As one journalist proclaimed: brief acceptance telegram from Smith rather than of a genuine healing of the "No longer will Houston be known but was read to the remaining delegates. wounds of 1924." to a few. H er fame will be universal." In After listening to the Party platform Any concord prevailing at Houston preparing for a convention when time over the radio and later receiving confir­ proved short-lived as Herbert Hoover was of the essence, the citizens of mation of his nomination from defeated Smith decisively four months Houston gained a distinction that proved Robinson, Smith made his views on after the convention, garnering 444 elec­ timeless.23 The city emerged from the Prohibition unquestionably clear so del­ toral votes to Smith's 87. Moreover, national spotlight with an enhanced rep­ egates might select another candidate if Smith did not even carry his home state utation as a city on the move, one with they found his position undesirable. of New York and lost the southern "rim" "can do" leaders such as Jesse Jones who Beaming with Platform lingo, Smith states of Texas, Tennessee, Virginia, could be counted on to push H ouston to proclaimed that "[c]ommon honesty" North Carolina, and Florida. As one even greater future prominence. • required "fundamental changes in the writer noted, Smith's defeat marked "the present provisions for national most serious crack in the Solid South Prohibition." Not wishing to disturb the since its inception." Only states with the harmony that had dominated the pro­ highest percentage of rural areas, the ceedings, Franklin Roosevelt quickly greatest dependence on one crop agricul­ brought the convention to a close. As ture, and most importantly, the highest

l11e Houston Review-volume l, n o. 2 page 4 9 ENDNOTES

SF and Many Many More Anthony Clark and Weldon Hart, The Tact/u/ Texan: Carter Wesley A Biography of Governor Will Hobby (New York: "In Houston, the Lines Dividing Politics, Business 1 Published sources on Wesley's life include Howard Random House, 1958); James A. Clark, A Biography Beeth and Cary D. Wintz, eds., Black Dixie: Afro­ and Society Are Especially Blurred," New York Times, of Robert Alonzo We/ch (Houston: Clark Book National Edition, January 20, 2002, 25. Texan History and Culture in Houston (College Company, 1963); The Hamill Foundation, Claud B. Station: Texas A&M University Press,1992); John 2 Ibid. and Marie G. Hamil/: A Legacy (Houston: The Hamill Gunther, Inside U.S.A. (New York: Harper & 3 J.H. Freeman, The People of Baker Botts (Houston: Foundation, n.d.). See, also, Ed Kilman and Theon Brothers, 194 7); Darlene Clark Hine, Black Baker Botts, 1992); Kenneth J. Lipartito and Joseph Wright, Hugh Roy Cul/en: A Story of American Victory: The Rise and Fall of the White Primary in A. Pratt, Baker & Botts in the Development of Modem Opportunity (New York: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1954). Texas (Millwood: KTO Press, 1979); Ernest Houston (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1991). 13 Green, The Establishment in Texas Politics, 17. Obadele-Starks, Black Unionism in the Industrial 4 Fredericka Meiners, A History of Rice University: The 14 Hurt Ill, "The Most Powerful Texans," 79. South (College Station: Texas A&M University Institute Years, 1907-1963 (Houston: Rice University 15 James Conway, The Texans (New York: Alfred A. Press, 2000); Merline Pitre, In Struggle against Jim Studies, l 9S2); Freeman, The People of Baker Botts. Knopf, 1976), 102-4. Crow: Lula B. White and the NAACP, 1900-1957 5 John 0. King,foseph Stephen Cullinan: A Study i~ 16 Feagin, Free Enterprise City, 107. See, also, Chandler (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, Leadership in the Texas Petroleum Industry (Nashville: Davidson, "Houston: The City Where the Business of Vanderbilt University Press, 1970); John 0. King, 1999); Patricia Smith Prather and Bob Lee, eds., Government is Business," in Public Policy in Texas, eds. Texas Trailblazer Series (Houston: Texas Trailblazer The Early History of the Houston Oi/ Company, 1901- Wendell M. Bedichek and Neal Tannahill (New York: 1908 (Houston: Texas Gulf Coast Historical Scott, Foresman, l 9S2), 276-77. Preservation Association, 1997); Amilcar Shabazz, "Carter Wesley: Sounding the Ram's Horn for Association, 1959); Douglas K. Fleming, Thoughts of 17 Louie Welch, interview by Chris Castaneda, March a Cotton Man: From Lamar Fleming's Collected Papers Human Rights," in The Human Tradition in Texas, 26, 1991, 15-16, Brown Collection, Woodson (Seattle: AlphaGraphics, 1994). eds. Ty Cashion and Jesus de la Teja Research Center, Rice University. F. 6 Marilyn McAdams Sibley, The Port of Houston: A (Wilmington: Scholarly Resources, 2001); lS Buenger and Pratt, But Also Goad Business, 222, 321. History (Austin: University of Texas Press, l 96S). 19 Biographical materials from Hirsch & J. Clay Smith, Jr., Emancipation: The Making of 7 Chandler Davidson, Race and Class in Texas Politics Westheimer, P.C. the Black Lawyer, 1844-1944 (Philadelphia: (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990); 20 Thomas H. Kreneck, Mexican American Odyssey: Felix University of Pennsylvania Press, 1993); Howard Beeth and Cary D. Wintz, eds., Black Dixie: Amilcar Shabazz, Advancing Democracy: African Tijerina, Entrepreneur and Civic Leader, 1905-1965 Afro-Texas History and Culture in Houston (College (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2001). Americans and the Struggle for Access and Equity in Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1992); James Higher Education in Texas (Chapel Hill: University 21 Dressman, Gus Wortham, 143. Martin SoRelle, "The Darker Side of 'Heaven': The 0 f North Carolina Press, 2004); and "Wesley, 22 James A. Elkins, Jr., interview by Chris Castaneda, Black Community in Houston, Texas, 1917- 1945" Carter Walker," The Handbook of Texas Online, January 17, 1991, Brown Collection; Hyman, (PhD diss., Kent State University, l 9SO). Cra/tsmanship and Character, 2S- 34, 57-62. http ://www. ts ha. utexas.ed uihandbook/ on line/ 8 Bascom Timmons, Jesse H. ]ones: The Man and 23 Dressman, Gus Wortham, 11 S. articles/view/WW/fwe2S .html (May 18, 2004). the Statesman (New York: Henry Holt and 24 Pratt and Castaneda, Builders, 167; Swanson, 2 On the White Primary, see Hine, Black Victory; for Company, 1956); Jesse H. Jones, F;/ty Bil/ion basic facts on Montgomery County, see Robin "Discovering an Economic Clique," 101-14; Dollars: My Thirteen Years with the RFC, 1932- Dressman, Gus Wortham, 105. Navarro Montgomery, The History of Montgomery 1945, with Edward Angly (New York: Macmillan 25 Lester Velie, "Do You Know Your State's Secret Boss?" County (Austin: Jenkins, 1975). Company, 1951). Reader's Digest, February 1953, 35- 40. 3 On the time and place of Wesley's grandparents, see 9 Joseph A. Pratt, The Growth of A Refining Region 26 Searcy Bracewell, interview by Chris Castaneda, Montgomery, The History of Montgomery County. (Greenwich, Conn.: JAI Press, l 9SO). O ctober lS, 1990, 11-14, Brown Collection. 4 "Mabel Wesley," in Texas Trailblazer Series, eds. 10 Jones, Fifty Billion Dollars; James Stuart Olson, Herbert 27 Pratt and Castaneda, Builders, 157- 91. Patricia Smith Prather and Bob Lee (Houston: Hoover and the Reconstruction Finance Corporation 2S See, for example, Robert A. Caro, The Years of Lyndon Texas Trailblazer Preservation Association, 1997); (Princeton: Princeton University Press, l 9SS); James Nancy E. Bessent, "The Publisher: A Biography of Johnson: Means of Ascent (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Stuart 0 lson, The Reconstrudion Finance Corporation 1990), 13-16, lSO, 272-75. Carter W Wesley" (master's thesis, University of and the New Dea/ (Ames: Iowa State University, 1977). 29 Pratt and Castaneda, Builders, 253-71. Texas at Austin, 1981), is another valuable source 11 For general discussions SF, see Joseph A. Pratt and on Wesley's life. of 30 "Out of Six-Year Dream," Houston Chronicle, Christopher J. Castaneda, Builders: Herman and George February 16, 1964, "Houston Intercontinental 5 The Crisis 9 (April 1915): 310, reprinted in Cary R. Brown (College Station: Texas A&M University D. Wintz, ed., African A merican Political Thought, Airport" folder, Houston Metropolitan Research Press, 1999), 157-21S. See, also, Bert Swanson, Center (HMRC) Houston, Texas; Pratt and 1890-1930: Washington , Du Bois, Garvey, and "Discovering an Economic Clique in the Development Castaneda, Builders, 167- 70. Randolph (Armonk: M. E. Sharpe, 1996), 109. of Houston," in Essays in Economic and Business 31 Louie Welch, interview by Christopher Castaneda, 6 Wesley referred to his predilections for the NAACP History, vol. 5, 101-14; Joe Feagin, Free Enterprise R. Brown Collection, 20. and the politics of DuBois and Johnson in various City: Houston in Political and Economic Perspective (New 32 William D. Angel, Jr., "The Politics of Space: NASA's Informer editorials. For a sharp discussion of the Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, l 9SS); and masculinist and modernist implications of "race Decision to Locate the Manned Spacecraft Center in Harry Hurt Ill, "The Most Powerful Texans," Texas Houston," The Houston Review VI, no. 2 (l 9S4): man " see Hazel V Carby, Race Men (Cambridge: Monthly, April 1976. George Green, The Establishment 63- Sl; Stephen Oates, "NASA's Manned Spacecraft Har~ard University Press, l 99S), chapter 1. in Texas Politics: The Primitive Years, 1938-1957 Center at Houston Texas," Southwestern Histon'cal 7 Robert V Haynes, A Night of Violence: The Houston {Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1979) places 1 Review Oanuary 1964): 350-75. Riot of 1917 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State Houston in the context of Texas politics. 33 Pratt and Castaneda, Builders, lSS, 206-S. University, 1976). More sources, besides the occa­ 12 For historical accounts of some of the men generally 34 Dressman, Gus Wortham, 96-9S; Pratt and sional reference Wesley makes to the Camp Logan associated with SF, see Pratt and Castaneda, Builders; Castaneda, Builders, 200-3. incident in his later writings, need to be found on Fran Dressman, Gus Wortham: Portrait of a Leader 35 Lipartito and Pratt, Baker & Botts, 161. this intense and difficult period in his life. Houston (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 36 Amilcar Shabazz, Advancing Democracy: African Riot of 1919, The Handbook of Texas, Online at 1994); Timmons, Jesse Jones; Patrick J. Nicholson, Americans and the Struggle for Access and Equity in http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/ Mr. Jim: The Biography ofJames Smither Abercrombie Higher Education in Texas (Chapel Hill: The articles/view/HH/jch4.html. (Houston: Gulf Publishing, l 9S3); Leopold Meyer, University of North Carolina Press, 2004); S Smith, Emancipation, 344-50; Shabazz, Advancing The Days of My Years: Autobiographical Ref/ections of Thomas R. Cole, No Color is My Kind: The Li/e of Democracy, 34-65; and "Wesley, Carter Walker," Leopold L. Meyer (Houston: Universal Printers, Eldrewey Stearns and the Integration of Houston The Handbook of Texas Online. 1975); Walter L. Buenger and Joseph A. Pratt, But (Austin: University of Texas Press, 199 7); Robert 9 See Smith, Emancipation, 344-50, for a description A/so Good Business: Texas Commerce Banks and the D. Bullard, Invisible Houston: The Black Experience of the environment that faced black lawyers like Financing of Houston and Texas, 1886-1986 (College in Boom and Bust (College Station: Texas A&M Wesley in the early twentieth century; and Bessent, Station: Texas A&M University Press, l 9S6); Harold University Press, l 9S7). "The Publisher," chapter 2. M. Hyman, Cra/tsmanship & Character: A History of 3 7 Buenger and Pratt, But Also Good Business, 255-56. 10 On July 24, 1928, a United States District Judge the Vinson & Elkins Law Firm of Houston, 1917-1947 declared that the lawsuit of Leonard D. Ingram, a (Athens: University of Georgia Press, l 99S); James Creek freedman, against Wesley, Atkins, and another

page 50 T l1e Houston Review-volume l , n o. 2 ENDNOTES

attorney, Charles A. Chandler, was without merit. In Politics and Exercise of Power in the Age 4, HMRC; Woman's National Democrati c Club, Ingram v. Wesley el al., 169 Okla. 248, 36 P. 2d of Al/red E. Smith (New York: Oxford U ni versity "The Bulletin" in DP.NCC, Folder 6, HMRC. 720, 1934 Okla. LEXIS 315, the Supreme Court Press, 1987); Alfred E. Smith, Up to Now: An 13 For an exhaustive analysis of the political context of of Oklahoma affirmed the court's finding that A utobiography (New York: Viking Press, 1929), 381; the Houston convention based on personal recollec­ Ingram's "suit to recover what he had lost at the Dixon Merrit, "Harmony for Houston," Outlook 149, tion, see William Everett DuPuy, "The D emocratic bands of these negro attorneys was wh olly wanting no. 1 (May 2, 1928): 20; Michael E. Wilson, "Alfred National Convention of 1928" (master's thesis, in equity." This 1934 decision appears to have C. Finn: Houston Architect," Houston Review V, no. 2 University of Texas at Austin, 1929). ended Ingram's legal battle against Wesley and his (1983): 65-80; Ben G. Edmonson, "Pat Harrison 14 "Cena Mexicana Invitation in Honor of the Women co-counsel. I am grateful to Al Brophy for his and Mississippi in the Presidential Elections of 1924 Writers Attending the National Democratic assisting my limited study of Wesley's Oklahoma and 1928," Journal of Mississippi History XX.XIII, no. Convention" in DP.NCC, HMRC; "Sam Houston years. The subject remains a matter ripe for deeper 4 (1971): 333 -50; John Preimesberger, National Hall Dedication Program" in DNC-1928, clippings investigation. Party Conventions 1831-1992 (Washington, D.C.: file, HMRC; "State of New York Delegates and 11 Quotations are from an excerpt of Lorenzo Congressional Quarterly, Inc., 1995), 254; "The Alternates, Democratic National Convention, Greene's diary published in Beetb and Wintz, eds., Presidential Campaign of 1928," Current History Houston, Texas, June 2 6, 1928" in DP.NCC, Black Dixie, 140, 149. XXVIII (August 1928): 708; Eugene H. Roseboom, Folder 4, HMRC. 12 Gunther, Inside U.S.A., 868. A History of Presidential Elections (New York: 15 "Democrats Old Houston Welcomes You" in Macmillan Company, 1957), 424; Lew is Gannett, DP.NCC, Folder 10, HMRC; "Good-bye New York Democratic National Convention "The Big Show at Houston," Nation 127, no. 3288 Hello Houston" in DP.NCC, Folder 10, HMRC; Guest Book, Houston 's Hospitality House, National 1 Although the 1912 Democratic Convention was {July 4, 1928): 34; Ralph M. Goldman, Dilemma and Destiny (Lanham, Maryland: Madison Books, Democratic Convent;on,fune in DP.NCC, held in Baltimore and the 1904 and 1916 1928 1986); Ralph M. Goldman, Search for Consensus: HMRC; "Houston Durbar Program" in DP.NCC, Democratic Conventions were held in St. Louis, no national party convention had been held in the deep The Story of the Democratic Party (Philadelphia: Folder 1, HMRC. South since the deadlocked Democratic Party meet­ Temple University Press, 1979); J.M. Poteet, 16 Guest Book, HMRC; Woman's National Democratic ing at Charleston, South Carolina, in 1860. In that "Triumph of the Boosters: The 1928 Democratic Club, "The Bulletin," HMRC. Convention in H ouston," Social Science fourna/XXV, 1 7 Mayor Oscar Holcombe to Julia Ideson, June 23, year, conflict over s1avery prevented D em ocratic Party members from settling on a single candidate, no. 3 (1988): 309-24. 1928, DP.NCC, Scrapbook vol. IV: HMRC; 3 News articles from the Houston Chronicle, Houston "Delegates and Alternates to the Democratic leading northern, anti-slavery factions to nominate Stephen A. Douglas for President while southern, Post-Dispatch, and the New York Times that appear in National Convention" in DP.NCC, Folder 3, pro-slavery enclaves selected John C. Breckinridge. the months leading up to tbe convention and the HMRC; National Woman's Party, "Immediate Press For more on the historical context of the 1928 weeks following it have been quoted throughout. Release, June 29, 1928" in DPNCC, Scrapbook vol. convention see John Boles, The South Through Time: Additionally, articles from July 10, 1960, January IV, HMRC; Woman's National Democratic Club, A History of an A merican Region (Englewood Cliffs, 13, 1985, January 1991, and July 28, 1992 issues "The Bulletin," HMRC. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1995), 285, 288. of The Houston Post and March 26, 1967, June 26, 18 While black delegates were influential in securing 2 Several sources have been written that discuss the 1988, and February 3, 1991 issues of the Houston the nomination of Herbert Hoover in the 1928 1928 convention. Those that were central to the Chronicle were quoted throughout. Many of these clip­ Republican National Convention, blacks did not research of this article and have been quoted through­ pin gs are located in the Democratic National beg in to play a significant role in Democratic out include Alan Brinkley et al., Amencan History: A Convention- 1928 clippings file at the Houston convention politics until the 1936 Democratic Survey (New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1991); Metropolitan Research Center. "National Affairs: National Conventio n held in Philadelthia. Colleen McGuiness, ed., National Party Conventions: Democrats," Time, July 2, 1928, 9- 13 was also ref­ 19 "Petition for Referendum Vote on 18t Amendment" 1831-1988 {Washington, D.C.: Congressional erenced throughout. in DP.NCC, Scrapbook vol. IV, HMRC; Felix Ray, Quarterly, Inc., 1991); Doris Glasser and Nancy 4 David Snell, "'Hubbub' of Houston, the Rice "Harmony Hall," New Republic 55 Ouly 18, 1928): Hadley, "The Democratic National Convention of Hotel Goes to the Great Convention in the Sky," 224. Platform excerpt on Prohibition taken from 1928," Houston Review XIII, no. 3 (1991): 148- 60; Smithsonian VI, no. 4 (1975): 50. "Minutes of a Kirk H. Porter and Donald Bruce Johnson, comps., Charles Albert Bacarisse, "A Historical Study of the Meeting of the Democratic National Committee, National Party P/at/om1s (Urbana, Illinois: University Democratic National Convention of 1928 Held in January 12, 1928" in Off;cia/ Report of the Proceedings of Illinois Press, 1966), 277. Quote regarding the Houston, Texas" (master's thesis, University of of the Democratic National Convention Held at Houston, Party's tariff plank obtained from T R. B., Houston, 1949); Henry F. Graff, "1928" in Running Texas, June 26, 27, 28, and 19, 1928, comp. Charles "Washington Notes," New Republic 55 (July 18, for President: The Candidates and Their Images, Volume A. Greathouse (Indianapolis: Bookwalter-Ball­ 192 8): 225. 2, 1900- 1992, ed. Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. (New Greathouse Printing Company, 1928), 306. 20 James Cannon, Jr., "Al Smith-Catholic, Tammany, York: Simon and Schuster, 1994); John L. Davis, 5 "Minutes of a Meeting of the Democratic National Wet," Nation 12 7, no. 3287 {July 4, 1928): 9; Barry Houston: A H;storica/ Portrait (Austin: Encino Press, Committee," 301, 3 06-24. Hankins, "The Fundamentalist Style in Ameri can 1983); Walter S. Buenger, "Between Community and 6 Ibid, 322-23. Politics: J. Frank Norris and Presidential Elections, Corporation: The Southern Roots of Jesse H. Jones 7 Ibid, 324-26, 334. 1928-1952," American Baptist Quarterly XI, no. 1 and the Reconstruction Finance Corporation," Journal 8 Ibid, 336-55. (1992): 76-95; Edmund A. Moore, A Catholic Runs of Southern History LVI, no. 3 (1990): 481-510; 9 Assorted quotes from national newspapers taken from for President: The Campaign of 1928 (New York: Roy V Peel and Tbomas C. Donnelly, The 1928 excerpts reprinted in Houston Post-Dispatch and New Ronald Press Company, 1956), 102-3; Michael S. Campaign: An Analysis (New York: Ri chard R. Smith, York Times. Patterson, "The Fall of a Bishop: James Cannon, Jr., Inc., 1931); Ron Tyler, ed., New Handbook of Texas, 10 "Welcome Democrats pamphlet in Democratic Versus Carter Glass, 1909- 1934," Journal of vol. 2 (Austin: Texas State Historical Association, National Convention-1928 Folder (hereafter cited Southern History XXXIX, no. 4 (1973): 493- 518; 1996), 585; Donn C. Neal, The World Beyond the as DNC-1928), clippings file, Texas and Local Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., ed., 1910- 1945: From Hudson: Al/red E. Smith and National Politics, History Department, H ouston Metropolitan Research S quare Deal to New Dea/, vol. 3 of History of U S. 1918-1928 (New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., Center (HMRC). Political Parties (New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1983); Henry F. Pringle "Heat at Houston," Outlook ll Off;cia/ Souvenir Program of the National Democratic 1973), 1827. 149, no. 10 (July 4, 1928): 375; Douglas B. Craig, Convention Held at Houston, Texas (Houston: Standard 21 "The Republican and Democratic Candidates- A/ter Wilson: The Struggle for the Democratic Party, Printing and Lithographing Company, 1928); Sam 1928," Congressional Digest 7, no. 9 (September 1920-1934 (Chapel Hill: University of North Houston Hall photo caption in Houston Press, Staff 1928): 225. Carolina Press, 1992); Frank Graham, Al Smith Photo Collection, Folder 1028, HMRC. 22 Paul T David, Ralph M. Goldman, and Richard C. American: An Informal Biography (New York: G. P. 12 "Much Publicity Being Secured by Committee in Bain, The Politics of National Party Conuentions, rev. ed. Putnam's Sons, 1945); Matthew Josephson and DNC-1928, clippings file, HMRC; "Houston (Gloucester, Mass.: Peter Smith, 1972); Allan J. Hannah Josephson, A l Smith: Hero of the Cities, Hospitality House Postcard" in DNC-1928, clip­ Lichtman, "They Endured: Democrats Between A Political Portrait Drawing on the Papers of Frances pings file, HMRC; "Entertainment Fund Budget, World War I and the Depression" in Democrats and the Perkins (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1969); Committee on Arrangements for National Amencan Idea: A Bicentennial Appraisal, ed. Peter B. Elisabeth Israels Perry, Be/le Moskowitz: Feminine Democratic Convention, Inc." in Democratic Party Kovler {Washington, D.C.: Center for National Policy National Convention Collection (DPNCC), Folder Press, 1992), 239; Herbert S. Parmet, The .- T'l1e Houstm1 R.e,·iew-volume l, no. 2 page 51 ENDNOTES

Democrats (New York: Macmillan Publishing 9 "Houston Wins the 1928 Dem Convention," Houston statistics that put this episode in broader perspective, Company, Inc., 1976), 40; Nicol C. Rae, Southern Chronicle, January 12, 1927. reporting that in "the period between 1882- 1936, Democrats (New York: Oxford University Press, 10 Houston Police Department Annual Report, 1925. 3 45 Negroes were lynched in the State of Texas." 1994), 38-3 9. These reports are archived at the Houston Police See "Texas gets Anti-Lynching Law," The Informer, 23 R. L. Dufus, "Houston Again Makes History," New Department Museum, Aldine Mail Route and Rankin October 8, 1949, sec. I. Yark Times Magazine, June 24, 1928, 7, 20. Road, Houston, Texas, and the Houston Public 26 Houston Post-Dispatch, June 21, 22, 1928; Houston Library, Texas Regi onal History Collection. Chronicle, December 22, 1929; The Informer, June • These endnotes are an abbreviated version of the original. 11 Merline Pitre, In Struggle Against Jim Crow: Lulu B. 18-21, 1928. See also McComb, Houston, 113; For further information, please contact the author at White and the NAACP, 1900-1957 (College Stati on: Denny Hair, "A History of the Houston Police jgil/[email protected]. Texas A&M University Press, 1999), 5-9. Department." A personal copy of this report was pro­ 1928 Robert Powell Lynching 12 Don E. Carlton, Red Scare!: Right-wing Hysteria, Fi/ties vided to the author by the Houston Police Fanat;d sm, and Their Legacy in Texas (Austin: Texas Department. 1 For a discussion of Houston's image as an emerging Monthly Press, 1985), 10. 27 "A Blow to Houston," Houston Chronicle, June 23, Mecca for blacks see, James Sorrelle, "The Darker 13 Kenneth T. Jackson, The Ku Klux Klan in the City, 1928, Lynching Folder, NAACP Papers. Side of Heaven: The African American Community 1915-1930 (New York: Oxford University Press, 28 "Jesse H. Jones Flays Lynching of Negro Slayer," in Houston, Texas, 1917-1945 (PbD diss., Kent 1967), 237-39. Jackson estimates that tbere were June 2, 1928, Lyncbng Folder, NAACP Papers. State University, 1980); and Robert Bullard, Invisible approximately 8,000 Klan members in Houston and 29 "They Are Ghouls," Houston Press, June 20, 1928, Houston: The Black Experience in Boom and Bust 190,000 Klan members in Texas from 1915-1944. Lynching Folder, NAACP Papers. (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 14 Jackson, The Ku Klux Klan in the City, 74. 30 Ibid. 1987), 1- 20. 15 John H. Crooker, Jr. and Gibson Gayle, Jr., 31 "Houston Policemen Face Line-Up in Lyncbng 2 For a discussion of tbe history of lynching, see Ida Fu/bright & Jaworski: 75 Years, 1919-1994 Case," New Yark Evening Post, June 21 , 1928, Wells Barnett, "Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All (Houston: Fulbright and Jaworski, 1994), 38. Lynching Folder, NAACP Papers. Its Phases (1892), in Southern Horrors and Other This is a firm history obtained from Fulbright & 32 "Odor of Lynching Greets Delegates to the Writings: The Anti-Lynching Campaign of Ida B. We/ls, Jaworski of Houston. Democratic National Convention," Amsterdam News, 1892-1900, ed. Jacqueline Jones Royster (1892; 16 Ibid. June 27, 1928, Lyncbng Folder, NAACP Papers. repr., Boston: Bedford Books, 1997), 49-68; Walter 17 Joe R. Feagin, Free Enterprise City: Houston in Political­ 33 "Lynch Law in Houston," The News (New York City), White, Rope and Faggot: A Biography of Judge Lynch Economic Perspective (New Bnmswick: Rutgers June 30, 1928, Lyncbng Folder, NAACP Papers. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1929); Arthur F. Raper, University Press), 120. See also, McComb, Houston, 34 The NAACP denounced the segregation of the black The Tragedy of Lynching (New York: Dover Publication, 113; Carlton, Red Scare, 10-11. delegates. Inc., 1970). This book was first published by the 18 Many of Houston's business elite refused to join the 35 Amsterdam News, June 26, 1929, Lynching Folder, University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill with Klan because it was bad for business; however, they NAACP Papers. the cooperation of the Southern Commission on the held many of the same racial views as the Klan and 36 The twentieth century crusade for federal anti­ Study of Lynching. apparently felt that a harsh racial stance would hurt lynching legislation was thwarted by Dixiec rats. 3 Ida B. Wells [Barnett] quoted in Leon Litwack, their business dealings. The politics and economics of Northern Democrats tacitly ignored lynching as a Trouble In Mind: Black Southerners in the Age ofJim the city were in black and wbte. To be successful they southern problem. While condemning it, they seemed Crow (New York: Vintage Books, 1999), 299. For a employed a cautious traditional position. to view it as a necessary evil for the sake of party full discussion, see Ida B. Wells, Crusade for Justice: 19 Feagin, Free Enterprise City, 120. For a discussion of unity. Federal anti-lyncbng laws were never passed. The Autobiography of Ida B. Wells (Chicago: University Ku Klux Klan activities in the 1920s, see McComb, Texas' Fifty-first Legislature finally passed anti­ of Cbcago Press, 1970). Houston, 112-13; Jon C. Teaford, The Twentieth­ lynching legislation in October 1940, making 4 White, Rope and Faggot; Raper, The Tragedy of Century American City: Problem, Promise and Reality lynching a crime punishable by imprisonment or Lynching. (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1986), death. See "Texas Gets Anti-Lynching Law," The 5 Houston Chronicle, July 15, 25, 1917; Houston Press, 61- 62; Casey Greene, "Guardians Against Change: Informer, October 8, 1949, sec. I.; Randall Kennedy, August 24, 25, 1917; Robert V Haynes, A Night of The Ku Klux Klan in Houston and Harris County, Race, Crime and the Law New York: Pantheon Books, Violence: The Houston Riot of 1917 (Baton Rouge: 1920- 1925," The Houston Review X, no. 1 (1988): 1997), 55-58. Louisiana State University Press, 1976); Edgar A. 3-20. For a thorough discussion of the second com­ 3 7 Houston Press, April 12, 1929 and May 11, 1929; Schuler, "The Houston Race Riot, 1917," Journal of ing of the Ku Klux Klan in America during the Houston Chronicle, April 17, 1929. Negro History Guly 1944): 300-38. 1920s, see Kenneth T. Jackson, The Ku Klux Klan in 38 "Mounted Traffic Force Abolished Chief McPhail," 6 Tbe term conservative is being used to describe both the City; Wyn Craig Wade, The Fiery Cross: The Ku Houston Chronicle, May 11,1929, sec. 1, l. Also, political and economic factions in Houston. The Klux Klan in America (New York: Touchstone, 1987), "Taps Sounded for Mounties: McPhail Definitely struggle for control of Houston was played out in the 119-248; Nancy MacLean, Behind The Mask of Abolishes Horse Police After Traffic Test," Houston stripes against its black citizens, as both groups tried Chivalry: The Making of the Second Ku Klux Klan (New Press, May 11 , 1929, sec. 1, 1. to shape the city's growth and direction. For a discus­ York: Oxford University Press, 1994); and Pitre, In sion of the ideological framework of the racist mind, Struggle Against Jim Crow, 18. see I. A. Newby.Jim Crows Defense: Anti-Negro 20 "New Policemen Are Being Drilled for Convention," Thought in America, 1900-1930 (Baton Rouge: Houston Chronicle, June 19, 1928, sec. A. Louisiana State University Press, 1965); Barry N. 21 Ibid. Schwartz and Robert Disch, White Racism: Its History, 22 The HPD increased its ordinance repeatedly during Pathology and Practice (New York: Dell Publishing the early twentieth century. Most of the officers Company, 1970); Litwack, Trouble in Mind; John Cell, bought their own weapons and HPD did not control The Highest Stage of White Supremacy: The Origins of sidearm caliber, therefore it was common to carry a Segregation in South Africa and the American South large caliber sidearm in 1928. (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1982). 23 McComb, Houston, 112. 7 Adam Ferrer, "Democratic National C onvention 24 "Heavenly Houston Turns Hellish and Hunnish as of 1928," The Handbook of Texas Online, Mobbists Stage Pastime," The Informer, June 23, http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/bandbook/online/articles/ 1928, sec. 1. This clipping and others that are cited view/DD/wbdl.html. Also see "Jones Single-handedly below were found in the NAACP Papers, Group !, Landed National Convention," Houston Chronicle, Box 34 7, Lynching Folder, Manuscript Division, January 15, 2001, sec. A. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (This source 8 Bascom Timmons, Jesse H. Jones, The Man and the will hereafter be cited as Lynching Folder, NAACP Statesman (New York: Holt, 1956), 136-45, quoted Papers.) in David McComb, Houston: A History (Austin: 25 The Informer, June 23, 1928; Houston Chronicle, June University of Texas Press, 1969), 84. 23, 1928. Twenty years later, The Infonner published

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