Edward Hull "Boss" Crump (October 2, 1874 – October 16, 1954) was a
Memphis, TennesseeMemphis is a city in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. Memphis rises above the Mississippi River on the 4
th Chickasaw Bluff just south of the mouth of the Wolf River....
insuranceInsurance, in law and economics, is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for a premium, and can be thought of as a guaranteed and known...
broker, businessman, and
politicalPolitics is a process by which groups of people make decisions. The term is generally applied to behavior within civil governments, but politics has been observed in all human group interactions, including corporate, academic and religious institutions...
figure in the early 20th century.
A native of
Holly Springs, MississippiHolly Springs is a city in Marshall County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 7,957 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Marshall County. A short drive from Memphis, Tennessee, Holly Springs is the site of a number of well-preserved antebellum homes and other structures and...
, Crump moved to Memphis in 1892 and became a successful businessman, and began to make the political connections that would serve him for the rest of his life. He was a delegate to the Tennessee
DemocraticThe Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. It is the oldest political party in continuous operation in the United States and it is one of the oldest parties in the world. In the U.S...
State Convention in 1902 and 1904.
Edward Hull "Boss" Crump (October 2, 1874 – October 16, 1954) was a
Memphis, TennesseeMemphis is a city in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. Memphis rises above the Mississippi River on the 4
th Chickasaw Bluff just south of the mouth of the Wolf River....
insuranceInsurance, in law and economics, is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for a premium, and can be thought of as a guaranteed and known...
broker, businessman, and
politicalPolitics is a process by which groups of people make decisions. The term is generally applied to behavior within civil governments, but politics has been observed in all human group interactions, including corporate, academic and religious institutions...
figure in the early 20th century.
Career
A native of
Holly Springs, MississippiHolly Springs is a city in Marshall County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 7,957 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Marshall County. A short drive from Memphis, Tennessee, Holly Springs is the site of a number of well-preserved antebellum homes and other structures and...
, Crump moved to Memphis in 1892 and became a successful businessman, and began to make the political connections that would serve him for the rest of his life. He was a delegate to the Tennessee
DemocraticThe Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. It is the oldest political party in continuous operation in the United States and it is one of the oldest parties in the world. In the U.S...
State Convention in 1902 and 1904. In 1905 he was named to the municipal Board of Public Works, and Commissioner of Fire and Police in 1907.
Starting in the 1910s Crump began to build a
political machineA political machine is a disciplined political organization in which an authoritative boss or small group commands the support of a corps of supporters , who receive rewards for their efforts...
which came to have statewide influence. He was particularly adept in his use of what were at the time essentially two political minority groups in
TennesseeTennessee is a state located in the Southeastern United States. According to the 2008 census, it has a population of 6,214,888, an increase of nearly 9.5% since 2000. Tennessee is the 14th fastest growing state in the US and is ranked 17th by population. It is ranked 36th by total land area. In...
—blacks and Republicans. Unlike most
SouthernThe Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, Down South, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive region in the southeastern and south-central United States...
Democrats of his era, Crump was not opposed to blacks voting. Blacks were reliable Crump machine voters for the most part, and the two developed a symbiotic relationship in which blacks aided the machine and the machine aided them. Crump also skillfully manipulated Republicans, who were numerically very weak in the western two-thirds of the state but dominated politics in
East TennesseeEast Tennessee is a name given to approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee, one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. East Tennessee consists of 33 counties, 30 located within the Eastern Time Zone and three counties in the Central Time Zone, namely...
. Frequently they found it necessary to ally themselves with Crump in order to accomplish any of their goals, and they often did.
Crump was very influential for nearly half a century. He preferred to work for the most part behind the scenes, serving only three terms of two years each as
mayor"Mayor" is a modern title used in many countries for the highest ranking officer in a municipal government....
of Memphis (1910–1915) at the beginning of his career, but essentially naming the next several mayors. His rise to prominence disturbed many of the state political leaders in
NashvilleNashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is the second most populous city in the state after Memphis. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state...
; the "Ouster Law", designed to remove officials who refused to enforce state laws, was passed primarily with Crump and his lax enforcement of state
ProhibitionProhibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is a sumptuary law which prohibits alcohol. Typically, the manufacture, transportation, import, export, and sale of alcoholic beverages is restricted or illegal. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries...
in mind. He was county treasurer of
Shelby CountyShelby County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the state's largest both in terms of population and geographic area. Its county seat is Memphis....
from 1917 to 1923. He was a delegate to the
Democratic National ConventionThe Democratic National Convention is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 national convention...
a total of seven times.
Crump became involved in earnest in state politics during the 1928 gubernatorial election when Governor Horton was facing election in his own right after being appointed governor following the death of
Austin PeayAustin Peay was Governor of Tennessee from 1923 until his death in 1927.-Biography:Peay was a native of Kentucky. He came to Clarksville, Tennessee and opened a law practice in 1896. He was first elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives in 1901 and re-elected in 1903...
. Crump supported
Hill McAlisterHarry Hill McAlister was Governor of Tennessee from 1933 to 1937.-Biography:Hill McAlister was born in Nashville to a family kin to at least two former governors of Tennessee and the former governor of the predecessor Southwest Territory, William Blount...
in the Democratic primary while the Nashville machine, lead by
Luke LeaLuke Lea may refer to:* Luke Lea , U.S. Representative from Tennessee, 1833–1837* Luke Lea , U.S. Senator from Tennessee, 1911–1917; founder of The Tennessean newspaper...
, supported Governor Horton. Horton won the primary despite the single-sided McAlister vote in Shelby County. When Horton ran for reelection in 1930, Crump and Lea cut a deal and Crump swung his formidable political machine behind Horton. Horton defeated independent Democrat
L.E. GwinnLambert Estes Gwinn was a Tennessee educator, politician, and attorney. He served as a state senator and ran for governor in the democratic primaries in 1922 and 1930...
in the primaries and Republican C. Arthur Bruce in the general election.
After years of working behind the scenes, Crump decided to run for
CongressThe United States House of Representatives, commonly referred to as the "House," is the lower house of the bicameral United States Congress, the upper house being the United States Senate. The composition and powers of the House and the Senate are established in Article One of the Constitution...
in 1930. He was easily elected to the former Tenth District, which was co-extensive with Shelby County. He served two terms, March 4, 1931–January 3, 1935. (During his service the
Twentieth AmendmentThe Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution establishes the beginning and ending of the terms of the elected federal officials. It also deals with scenarios in which there is no President-elect...
was ratified, redefining the starting dates of Congressional and
PresidentialThe President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition...
terms.) During this time he was also a regent of the
Smithsonian InstitutionThe Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its shops and its magazines...
. He remained hugely influential in Memphis as well, staying in constant communication with his operatives there and visiting during all Congressional recesses.
In 1936 Crump was named to the
Democratic National CommitteeThe Democratic National Committee is the principal organization governing the United States Democratic Party on a day to day basis. While it is responsible for overseeing the process of writing a platform every four years, the DNC's central focus is on campaign and political activity in support...
, serving on that body until 1945. In 1939 he was elected a final time as mayor, although that term was actually served by
Walter ChandlerWalter "Clift" Chandler was an American politician from Tennessee.Walter Chandler was born in Memphis in 1887 to parents of Scots/English descent. He attended public schools before going on to earn his law degree at the University of Tennessee...
. Chandler was the U.S. Representative for the district, and Crump felt that Chandler's time was better spent tending to congressional matters in Washington than campaigning for mayor in Memphis. So without a platform, without a speech, and without opposition, Crump was elected mayor of Memphis. A few minutes past midnight on the morning of January 1, 1940, Crump stood on a railroad platform in a snow storm just before leaving for the Sugar Bowl game in New Orleans. In high humor, he resigned and
Joseph Boyle, the vice mayor, became Mayor until the faithful City Commission could meet later in the day and elect Chandler.
Watkins Overton had ceased being mayor at midnight, and thus Memphis had four mayors within a period of less than 24 hours.
His statewide influence began to wane in the late 1940s, when two of his opponents were elected to office in 1948:
Gordon BrowningGordon Weaver Browning was an American politician who represented Tennessee in the United States Congress and was later Governor of Tennessee from 1937 to 1939 and again from 1949 to 1953.-Biography:...
, a onetime protege, who had broken with Crump, returning to become
governorA governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
again; and
Estes KefauverCarey Estes Kefauver was an American politician from Tennessee who opposed the concentration of economic and political power under the control of a wealthy, exclusive elite and favored racial equality. A member of the Democratic Party, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1939 to...
being elected to the
United States SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate and the House are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution . Each U.S state is represented by two senators,...
. For the remainder of his life, the bulk of his influence was limited to Memphis. The defeat of his longtime associate
Kenneth McKellarKenneth Douglas McKellar was an American politician from Tennessee who served as a United States Representative from 1911 until 1917 and as a United States Senator from 1917 until 1953...
by
Albert Gore, Sr.Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Sr. was an American politician, serving as a U.S. Representative and a U.S. Senator for the Democratic Party from Tennessee....
for
United States SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate and the House are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution . Each U.S state is represented by two senators,...
in 1952 marked another turning point, and the days of his massive influence over Tennessee politics were almost over, his death coming less than two years later. A final triumph for Crump was the victory of his chosen candidate,
Frank G. ClementFrank Goad Clement served as Governor of Tennessee from 1953 to 1959, and again from 1963 to 1967.-Early life:...
, over Browning for governor in the same election. Crump was interred at Memphis' Elmwood Cemetery.
Legacy
Crump's marks on Memphis can be seen even today. Crump was a strong supporter of fire service and for many years the Memphis Fire Department was considered one of the very best in the country, and is still quite well-regarded. He felt separate operations for each municipal
utilityIn economics, utility is a measure of the relative satisfaction from, or desirability of, consumption of various goods and services. Given this measure, one may speak meaningfully of increasing or decreasing utility, and thereby explain economic behavior in terms of attempts to increase one's utility...
were inherently inefficient; today,
Memphis Light, Gas and WaterMemphis Light, Gas and Water is the largest three-service municipal utility in the U.S. with more than 420,000 customers. Since 1939, MLGW has provided electricity, natural gas and water service for Memphis and Shelby County residents....
is one of the largest combined municipal utilities in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He believed that cities should not be unnecessarily noisy; Memphis has strong noise ordinances that are more aggressively enforced than those of many other jurisidictions. He was one of the early supporters of
automobileAn automobile, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
safety inspections; all Memphis-registered vehicles are inspected annually (twice a year until the 1990s). The city's
Crump StadiumCrump Stadium was a sports stadium in Memphis, Tennessee, built in 1934 and largely demolished in 2006. It was built as a WPA project with a capacity of 7,500. In 1939 it was enlarged to hold 25,000 spectators. In 1948 and 1949 it staged the NCAA football Delta Bowl; in 1950 the college football...
and Crump Boulevard are named after him as well. Although many of these projects and innovations are said to have benefited Crump personally in one way or another, it is inarguable that they have benefited the city of Memphis greatly as well.
Crump's association with
Georgia TannGeorgia Tann operated the Tennessee Children's Home Society, an adoption agency in Memphis, Tennessee. Tann used the unlicensed home as a front for her black market baby adoption scheme from the 1920s until a state investigation closed the institution in 1950...
suggests a less flattering view of his legacy. Tann enjoyed Crump's powerful protection in Memphis as she illegally placed babies in adoptive homes; often these babies were stolen. Tann's legacy—and by extension, Crump's—lives on today, in that 32 states (as of January 2007) still have sealed birth certificates for adoptees.
Further reading
- Miller, William D. 1964. Mr. Crump of Memphis. Southern biography series. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.
- Dowdy, G. Wayne. 2006. Mayor Crump don't like it: Machine politics in Memphis. University Press of Mississippi. Jackson, MS.
- Biles, Roger. 1986. Memphis In The Great Depression. The University of Tennessee Press. Knoxville, TN.