Percy Sutton
Encyclopedia
Percy Ellis Sutton was a prominent black
American political and business leader. A civil-rights activist and lawyer, he was also a Freedom Rider and the legal representative for Malcolm X
. He was the highest-ranking African-American elected official in New York City when he was Manhattan
borough
president from 1966 to 1977, the longest tenure at that position. He later became an entrepreneur whose investments included the New York Amsterdam News and the Apollo Theater
in Harlem
.
His father, born during the time of slavery and an early civil-rights activist, was one of the first blacks in Bexar County
, Texas, and used the initials "S.J." for fear it would be shortened to Sambo.In addition to being a full-time educator, S.J. farmed, sold real estate and owned a mattress factory, funeral home and skating rink.
All of Sutton's siblings graduated from college. His brothers included G.J. Sutton, who became the first black elected official in San Antonio, and Oliver Sutton, who became a judge on the New York Supreme Court
(Manhattan).
Young Sutton milked cows and rode around San Antonio with his father in the same Studebaker
vehicle that was used for funerals and distributing milk to the poor. He liked to attach strings to cans to pretend to be a radio broadcaster.
At age twelve, he stowed away on a passenger train to New York City, where he slept under a sign on 155th Street
in the Harlem
neighborhood of the Manhattan
borough
of the city. Ironically, his oldest sister, Lillian Sutton Taylor who was 20 years his senior, was attending Columbia Teacher's College at the time. His oldest brother John Sutton, a food scientist who had studied under George Washington Carver, and also in Russia, was living in New York at the time Percy arrived there. His family clearly had resources, a sense of adventure and determination during a time when many African-Americans were extremely limited in options.
His family was committed to civil rights, and he bristled at prejudice. At age thirteen, while passing out leaflets in an all-white neighborhood for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP), he was beaten by a policeman.
Sutton had joined the Boy Scouts of America
and attained the rank of Eagle Scout
in 1936 and was recognized with the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award
as an adult. Sutton stated that scouting
was a key factor in shaping his life.
He and Leatrice Sutton were married in 1943.
He took up stunt-flying
on the barnstorming
circuit, but gave it up after a friend crashed. Later, during World War II, he served as an intelligence officer
with the Tuskegee Airmen
– the popular name of a group of African American pilots who flew with distinction during World War II as the 332nd Fighter Group
of the U.S. Army Air Forces
. He won combat stars
in the Italian
and Mediterranean theaters.
Sutton attended Prairie View A&M University
in Prairie View
, Texas; the Tuskegee Institute
in Tuskegee
, Alabama; and the Hampton Institute in Hampton
, Virginia without receiving a degree. He went on to attend Columbia Law School
and then Brooklyn Law School
in Brooklyn
, a borough
of New York City.
. After the murder of Malcolm X in 1965, Sutton and his brother Oliver helped to cover the expenses of his widow, Betty Shabazz
. Sutton's civil-rights advocacy took him even further in the minds of many. Being jailed with Stokely Carmichael
and other activists endeared him to the Harlem community and showed many that he was willing to place himself in harm's way for his client's sake.
Sutton was a longtime leader in Harlem politics, and was a leader of the Harlem Clubhouse, also known as the "Gang of Four
". The Clubhouse has dominated Democratic
politics in Harlem since the 1960s. His allies in running the Clubhouse were New York City Mayor
David Dinkins
, U.S. Representative
Charles Rangel, and New York Secretary of State Basil Paterson
– whose son, David Paterson
, became New York Governor in 2008. He also was a life member of the Kappa Alpha Psi
fraternity.
He served in the New York Assembly in 1965–1966.
He ran for borough president
of Manhattan in 1965, and won with 80% of the vote. He served in that post until 1977, when he ran for the Democratic nomination
for New York City Mayor against Bella Abzug
, a former U.S. Representative; U.S. Representative Herman Badillo
; incumbent New York City Mayor Abraham Beame
; New York Secretary of State Mario Cuomo
; and U.S. Representative Ed Koch
; Koch won the nomination and mayoralty.
In 1971, Sutton cofounded the Inner City Broadcasting Corporation
which purchased New York City's WLIB
-AM, the city's first African-American-owned radio station.
Sutton served as an Auxiliary Police officer with the NYPD in the late 1970s.
He initiated the revitalization of the Apollo Theater
in Harlem. He also produced It's Showtime at the Apollo, a syndicated, music television show first broadcast on September 12, 1987. Sutton is buried at the Gates of Heaven Memorial Cemetery in his hometown of San Antonio, Texas.
, an award presented annually by the NAACP for outstanding achievement by an African American.
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
American political and business leader. A civil-rights activist and lawyer, he was also a Freedom Rider and the legal representative for Malcolm X
Malcolm X
Malcolm X , born Malcolm Little and also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz , was an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate for the rights of African Americans, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its...
. He was the highest-ranking African-American elected official in New York City when he was Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
borough
Borough
A borough is an administrative division in various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely....
president from 1966 to 1977, the longest tenure at that position. He later became an entrepreneur whose investments included the New York Amsterdam News and the Apollo Theater
Apollo Theater
The Apollo Theater in New York City is one of the most famous, and older, music halls in the United States, and the most famous club associated almost exclusively with Black performers...
in Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
.
Early life, military service, education, and family
Sutton was born in San Antonio, Texas, the last of fifteen children born to Samuel Johnson("S.J.") Sutton and Lillian Sutton.His father, born during the time of slavery and an early civil-rights activist, was one of the first blacks in Bexar County
Bexar County, Texas
As of the census of 2000, there were 1,392,931 people, 488,942 households, and 345,681 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,117 people per square mile . There were 521,359 housing units at an average density of 418 per square mile...
, Texas, and used the initials "S.J." for fear it would be shortened to Sambo.In addition to being a full-time educator, S.J. farmed, sold real estate and owned a mattress factory, funeral home and skating rink.
All of Sutton's siblings graduated from college. His brothers included G.J. Sutton, who became the first black elected official in San Antonio, and Oliver Sutton, who became a judge on the New York Supreme Court
New York Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in thestate court system of New York, United States. There is a supreme court in each of New York State's 62 counties, although some smaller counties share judges with neighboring counties...
(Manhattan).
Young Sutton milked cows and rode around San Antonio with his father in the same Studebaker
Studebaker
Studebaker Corporation was a United States wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 under the name of the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company, the company was originally a producer of wagons for farmers, miners, and the...
vehicle that was used for funerals and distributing milk to the poor. He liked to attach strings to cans to pretend to be a radio broadcaster.
At age twelve, he stowed away on a passenger train to New York City, where he slept under a sign on 155th Street
155th Street (Manhattan)
155th Street is a major crosstown street in the Harlem neighborhood, in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is the northernmost of the 155 crosstown streets mapped out in the Commissioner's Plan of 1811 that established the numbered street grid in Manhattan.155th Street starts on the West...
in the Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
neighborhood of the Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
borough
Borough (New York City)
New York City, one of the largest cities in the world, is composed of five boroughs. Each borough now has the same boundaries as the county it is in. County governments were dissolved when the city consolidated in 1898, along with all city, town, and village governments within each county...
of the city. Ironically, his oldest sister, Lillian Sutton Taylor who was 20 years his senior, was attending Columbia Teacher's College at the time. His oldest brother John Sutton, a food scientist who had studied under George Washington Carver, and also in Russia, was living in New York at the time Percy arrived there. His family clearly had resources, a sense of adventure and determination during a time when many African-Americans were extremely limited in options.
His family was committed to civil rights, and he bristled at prejudice. At age thirteen, while passing out leaflets in an all-white neighborhood for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, usually abbreviated as NAACP, is an African-American civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909. Its mission is "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to...
(NAACP), he was beaten by a policeman.
Sutton had joined the Boy Scouts of America
Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...
and attained the rank of Eagle Scout
Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America)
Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Boy Scouting program of the Boy Scouts of America . A Scout who attains this rank is called an Eagle Scout or Eagle. Since its introduction in 1911, the Eagle Scout rank has been earned by more than 2 million young men...
in 1936 and was recognized with the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award
Distinguished Eagle Scout Award
The Distinguished Eagle Scout Award is a distinguished service award of the Boy Scouts of America . It is awarded to an Eagle Scout for distinguished service in his profession and to his community for a period of at least 25 years after attaining the level of Eagle Scout...
as an adult. Sutton stated that scouting
Scouting
Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement with the stated aim of supporting young people in their physical, mental and spiritual development, that they may play constructive roles in society....
was a key factor in shaping his life.
He and Leatrice Sutton were married in 1943.
He took up stunt-flying
Aerobatics
Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in normal flight. Aerobatics are performed in airplanes and gliders for training, recreation, entertainment and sport...
on the barnstorming
Barnstorming
Barnstorming was a popular form of entertainment in the 1920s in which stunt pilots would perform tricks with airplanes, either individually or in groups called a flying circus. Barnstorming was the first major form of civil aviation in the history of flight...
circuit, but gave it up after a friend crashed. Later, during World War II, he served as an intelligence officer
Intelligence officer
An intelligence officer is a person employed by an organization to collect, compile and/or analyze information which is of use to that organization...
with the Tuskegee Airmen
Tuskegee Airmen
The Tuskegee Airmen is the popular name of a group of African American pilots who fought in World War II. Formally, they were the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group of the U.S. Army Air Corps....
– the popular name of a group of African American pilots who flew with distinction during World War II as the 332nd Fighter Group
332nd Fighter Group
The 332d Fighter Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit, last assigned to the 332d Fighter Wing at Lockbourne AFB, Ohio. It was deactivated on 1 July 1949....
of the U.S. Army Air Forces
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....
. He won combat stars
Awards and decorations of the United States Air Force
Awards and decorations of the United States Air Force are military decorations which are issued by the Department of the Air Force to Air Force service members and members of other military branches serving under Air Force commands...
in the Italian
Italian Campaign (World War II)
The Italian Campaign of World War II was the name of Allied operations in and around Italy, from 1943 to the end of the war in Europe. Joint Allied Forces Headquarters AFHQ was operationally responsible for all Allied land forces in the Mediterranean theatre, and it planned and commanded the...
and Mediterranean theaters.
Sutton attended Prairie View A&M University
Prairie View A&M University
Prairie View A&M University is a historically black university located in Prairie View, Texas and is a member of the Texas A&M University System. PVAMU offers baccalaureate degrees in 50 academic majors, 37 master’s degrees and four doctoral degree programs through nine colleges and schools...
in Prairie View
Prairie View, Texas
Prairie View is a city in Waller County, Texas, United States. The population was 4,410 at the 2000 census.Prairie View A&M University is located in the city.-Geography:Prairie View is located at ....
, Texas; the Tuskegee Institute
Tuskegee University
Tuskegee University is a private, historically black university located in Tuskegee, Alabama, United States. It is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund...
in Tuskegee
Tuskegee, Alabama
Tuskegee is a city in Macon County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 11,846 and is designated a Micropolitan Statistical Area. Tuskegee has been an important site in various stages of African American history....
, Alabama; and the Hampton Institute in Hampton
Hampton, Virginia
Hampton is an independent city that is not part of any county in Southeast Virginia. Its population is 137,436. As one of the seven major cities that compose the Hampton Roads metropolitan area, it is on the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula. Located on the Hampton Roads Beltway, it hosts...
, Virginia without receiving a degree. He went on to attend Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School, founded in 1858, is one of the oldest and most prestigious law schools in the United States. A member of the Ivy League, Columbia Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Columbia University in New York City. It offers the J.D., LL.M., and J.S.D. degrees in...
and then Brooklyn Law School
Brooklyn Law School
Brooklyn Law School is a law school located in Brooklyn Heights, in Downtown Brooklyn, New York.-History:Founded in 1901 by William Payson Richardson and Norman P. Heffley, Brooklyn Law School was the first law school on Long Island. Using space provided by Heffley’s business school, the law...
in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, a borough
Borough (New York City)
New York City, one of the largest cities in the world, is composed of five boroughs. Each borough now has the same boundaries as the county it is in. County governments were dissolved when the city consolidated in 1898, along with all city, town, and village governments within each county...
of New York City.
Legal, business, and political career
During the 1950s and 1960s, Sutton became one of America's best-known lawyers.He represented many controversial figures, such as Malcolm XMalcolm X
Malcolm X , born Malcolm Little and also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz , was an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate for the rights of African Americans, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its...
. After the murder of Malcolm X in 1965, Sutton and his brother Oliver helped to cover the expenses of his widow, Betty Shabazz
Betty Shabazz
Betty Shabazz , born Betty Dean Sanders and also known as Betty X, was an American educator and civil rights advocate. She was the wife of Malcolm X....
. Sutton's civil-rights advocacy took him even further in the minds of many. Being jailed with Stokely Carmichael
Stokely Carmichael
Kwame Ture , also known as Stokely Carmichael, was a Trinidadian-American black activist active in the 1960s American Civil Rights Movement. He rose to prominence first as a leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and later as the "Honorary Prime Minister" of the Black Panther Party...
and other activists endeared him to the Harlem community and showed many that he was willing to place himself in harm's way for his client's sake.
Sutton was a longtime leader in Harlem politics, and was a leader of the Harlem Clubhouse, also known as the "Gang of Four
Gang of Four (Harlem)
The Gang of Four, also known as the Harlem Clubhouse, was an African-American political coalition from Harlem whose members later ascended to top political posts. It is named after the Gang of Four of China...
". The Clubhouse has dominated Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
politics in Harlem since the 1960s. His allies in running the Clubhouse were New York City Mayor
Mayor of New York City
The Mayor of the City of New York is head of the executive branch of New York City's government. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property, police and fire protection, most public agencies, and enforces all city and state laws within New York City.The budget overseen by the...
David Dinkins
David Dinkins
David Norman Dinkins is a former politician from New York City. He was the Mayor of New York City from 1990 through 1993; he was the first and is, to date, the only African American to hold that office.-Early life:...
, U.S. Representative
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
Charles Rangel, and New York Secretary of State Basil Paterson
Basil Paterson
Basil Alexander Paterson , a labor lawyer, is a longtime political leader in New York and Harlem and father of the 55th Governor of New York, David Paterson. His mother was Jamaican, his father Grenadian.-Early life:...
– whose son, David Paterson
David Paterson
David Alexander Paterson is an American politician who served as the 55th Governor of New York, from 2008 to 2010. During his tenure he was the first governor of New York of African American heritage and also the second legally blind governor of any U.S. state after Bob C. Riley, who was Acting...
, became New York Governor in 2008. He also was a life member of the Kappa Alpha Psi
Kappa Alpha Psi
Kappa Alpha Psi is a collegiate Greek-letter fraternity with a predominantly African American membership. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911 at Indiana University Bloomington, the fraternity has never limited membership based on color, creed or national origin...
fraternity.
He served in the New York Assembly in 1965–1966.
He ran for borough president
Borough president
Borough President is an elective office in each of the five boroughs of New York City.-Reasons for establishment:...
of Manhattan in 1965, and won with 80% of the vote. He served in that post until 1977, when he ran for the Democratic nomination
New York City mayoral election, 1977
The New York City mayoral election of 1977 occurred on Tuesday, November 8, 1977.Incumbent mayor Abraham Beame, a Democrat, was challenged by five other Democrats, including Representative Ed Koch, New York Secretary of State Mario Cuomo, and feminist activist and former Representative Bella Abzug...
for New York City Mayor against Bella Abzug
Bella Abzug
Bella Savitsky Abzug was an American lawyer, Congresswoman, social activist and a leader of the Women's Movement. In 1971, Abzug joined other leading feminists such as Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan to found the National Women's Political Caucus...
, a former U.S. Representative; U.S. Representative Herman Badillo
Herman Badillo
Herman Badillo is a Bronx, New York politician who has been a borough president, United States Representative, and candidate for Mayor of New York City. He was the first Puerto Rican to be elected to these posts and be a mayoral candidate in the continental United States.-Early years:Badillo was...
; incumbent New York City Mayor Abraham Beame
Abraham Beame
Abraham David "Abe" Beame was mayor of New York City from 1974 to 1977. As such, he presided over the city during the fiscal crisis of the mid-1970s, during which the city was almost forced to declare bankruptcy....
; New York Secretary of State Mario Cuomo
Mario Cuomo
Mario Matthew Cuomo served as the 52nd Governor of New York from 1983 to 1994, and is the father of Andrew Cuomo, the current governor of New York.-Early life:...
; and U.S. Representative Ed Koch
Ed Koch
Edward Irving "Ed" Koch is an American lawyer, politician, and political commentator. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and three terms as mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989...
; Koch won the nomination and mayoralty.
In 1971, Sutton cofounded the Inner City Broadcasting Corporation
Inner City Broadcasting Corporation
The Inner City Broadcasting Corporation is an American media company based in New York City. ICBC is notable for being one of the first broadcasting companies wholly owned by black people...
which purchased New York City's WLIB
WLIB
WLIB is an urban contemporary gospel AM radio station located in New York City. WLIB is owned by Inner City Broadcasting Corporation along with sister station WBLS...
-AM, the city's first African-American-owned radio station.
Sutton served as an Auxiliary Police officer with the NYPD in the late 1970s.
He initiated the revitalization of the Apollo Theater
Apollo Theater
The Apollo Theater in New York City is one of the most famous, and older, music halls in the United States, and the most famous club associated almost exclusively with Black performers...
in Harlem. He also produced It's Showtime at the Apollo, a syndicated, music television show first broadcast on September 12, 1987. Sutton is buried at the Gates of Heaven Memorial Cemetery in his hometown of San Antonio, Texas.
Awards and honors
In 1987, Sutton was awarded the Spingarn MedalSpingarn Medal
The Spingarn Medal is awarded annually by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People for outstanding achievement by an African American....
, an award presented annually by the NAACP for outstanding achievement by an African American.
External links
- Boyd, Herb. "'Mr. Chairman,' Percy Ellis Sutton, passes at 89," New York Amsterdam News, Sunday, December 27, 2009.
- One of Texas Finest
- Synematics, Inc
- Percy Sutton's oral history video excerpts at The National Visionary Leadership Project