Bull Connor

Bull Connor
Birmingham Commissioner of Public Safety
In office
1937–1952
Preceded by W. O. Downs
Succeeded by Robert Lindbergh
In office
1957–1963
Preceded by Robert Lindbergh
Succeeded by Position abolished
12th President of the Alabama Public Service Commission
In office
January 18, 1965 – January 17, 1972
Preceded by Jack Owen
Succeeded by Kenneth Hammond
Personal details
Born Theophilus Eugene Connor
(1897-07-11)July 11, 1897
Selma, Alabama, U.S.
Died March 10, 1973(1973-03-10) (aged 75)
Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
Political party Democratic, States' Rights Democratic

Theophilus Eugene Connor, known as Bull Connor (July 11, 1897 – March 10, 1973), was an American politician who served as a Commissioner of Public Safety for the city of Birmingham, Alabama, during the American Civil Rights Movement. Connor's office, under the city commission government, gave him responsibility for administrative oversight of the Birmingham Fire Department and the Birmingham Police Department, which had their own chiefs.

A Democrat, Connor's actions to enforce racial segregation and deny civil rights to black citizens, especially during the Southern Christian Leadership Conference's Birmingham campaign of 1963, made him an international symbol of racism. Bull Connor directed the use of fire hoses and police attack dogs against civil rights activists; this included the children of many protestors.[1][2] These tactics exposed the extent of racism when shown on national television. They served as one of the catalysts for major social and legal change in the Southern United States and contributed to passage by the United States Congress of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.[3]

Early career

Connor was born in 1897 in Selma, Alabama, the son of Molly (Godwin) and Hugh King Connor, a train dispatcher and telegraph operator.[4] Connor entered politics as a Democrat in 1934 (and never left the DNC), winning a seat in the Alabama House of Representatives.[5] As a legislator he supported populist measures and pro-union issues for white people. He voted for extending the poll tax and against an anti-sedition bill meant to stifle union activity.[6] He did not stand for a second term in 1936, instead running for Commissioner of Public Safety for the City of Birmingham. In 1936, Connor was elected to the office of Commissioner of Public Safety, beginning the first of two stretches that spanned a total of 26 years. Connor's first term ended in 1952, but he resumed the post four years later.

In 1938, Connor became a candidate for Governor of Alabama. He announced he would be campaigning on a platform of "protecting employment practices, law enforcement, segregation and other problems that have been historically classified as states' rights by the Democratic party".

In 1948, Connor's officers arrested U.S. Senator from Idaho, Glen H. Taylor, the running mate of Progressive Party presidential candidate and former Democratic Vice President Henry Wallace. Taylor, who had attempted to speak to the Southern Negro Youth Congress, was arrested for violating Birmingham's segregation laws. Connor's effort to enforce the law was sparked by the group's reported communist philosophy, with Connor noting at the time, "There's not enough room in town for Bull and the Commies."

During the 1948 Democratic National Convention, Connor led the Alabama delegation in a walkout when the national party included a civil rights plank in its platform.[3] The offshoot States' Rights Democratic Party (Dixiecrats) nominated Strom Thurmond for president at its convention in Birmingham's Municipal Auditorium.[7]

A second run for governor fell flat in 1954, but Connor remained a focal point of controversy that year by pushing through a city ordinance in Birmingham that outlawed "communism".

Civil Rights era

Before returning to office in 1956, Connor quickly resumed his brutal approach to dealing with perceived threats. One prominent instance came when a meeting at the Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth's house with three Montgomery ministers was raided, with Connor fearing that the Montgomery Bus Boycott would spread to Birmingham. The ministers were arrested for vagrancy, which did not allow a prisoner bail, nor any visitors during the first three days of their incarceration. A federal investigation followed, but Connor refused to cooperate.

Shuttlesworth had been frequently in danger in the previous two years, having seen his church bombed twice. He, his wife, and a white minister were also attacked by a racist mob after attempting to use white restrooms at the local bus station.

In 1960, Connor was elected Democratic National Committeeman for Alabama, soon after filing a lawsuit against The New York Times for $1.5 million, for what he said was insinuating that he had promoted racial hatred. Later dropping the amount to $400,000, the case dragged on for six years until Connor lost a $40,000 judgment on appeal.

In November 1962, Birmingham voters changed the city's form of government, with the mayor now working with nine council members instead of three commissioners. The move had been in response to the extremely negative perception of the city (which had been derisively nicknamed "Bombingham") among outsiders. The most prominent example of this continuing embarrassment came in 1961 when the president of the city's Chamber of Commerce was visiting Japan, only to see a newspaper photo of a Birmingham bus engulfed in flames.

Endorsed by Governor George C. Wallace, Connor attempted to run for mayor, but lost on April 2, 1963. Bull and his fellow commissioners then filed suit to block the change in power, but on May 23, the Supreme Court of Alabama ruled against Connor's position, ending his 23-year tenure in the post. Birmingham had voted to change from a commission form of government to a mayor-council form of government. Connor, citing a general law, contended that the change could not take effect until the October 1 following the date of the election, but the Supreme Court of Alabama held that the general law was preempted by a special law applicable only to the City of Birmingham.

The day after the April election, civil rights leaders, led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., began "Project 'C'" (for "confrontation") in Birmingham against the police tactics used by Connor and his subordinates (and, by extension, other Southern police officials). King's arrest during this period would provide him the opportunity to write his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail. The goal of this movement was to cause mass arrests and subsequent inability of the judicial and penal systems to deal with this volume of activity.

Freedom Riders and Project C

On May 2, 1961, Connor won a landslide election for his sixth term as Commissioner of Public Safety in Birmingham. As Commissioner, Connor had administrative authority over the police and fire departments, schools, public health service and libraries.[8] Tom King, a candidate running for mayor of Birmingham met up with Connor on May 8, 1961, to pay respects for winning the election. King also called for the meeting because in the past Connor had shown support for the other leading mayoral candidate, Art Hanes. In a way King was trying to get Connor to not publicize his support for Hanes because it would be detrimental for King in the race. Connor and King met briefly and at the end of the meeting Connor brought up how he was expecting the Freedom Riders on the following Sunday, Mother's Day. Connor stated, "We'll be ready for them, too" and King responding, "I bet you will, Commissioner" as he walked out.[9]

By that Sunday on Mother's Day the Freedom Riders arrived in Birmingham. This was after a rough experience in Anniston, Alabama where one of their buses had been firebombed and burned in an act of violence by members of the Ku Klux Klan. A new Greyhound bus left for Birmingham. KKK members boarded the bus then beat the Riders, leaving them semi-conscious in the back. As they reached the terminal in Birmingham, a large mob of white Klansmen and news reporters was waiting for them. The Riders and some reporters were beaten viciously with metal bars, pipes and bats until, after fifteen minutes, the police finally arrived.[10] No arrests were made at the scene, even though the police department and Connor knew the Riders were going to be there on that Sunday. That Connor explicitly knew when the Riders were set to arrive is clear from the exchange with King a week before. He purposely let the Klansmen beat the Riders for fifteen minutes with no police interference. Connor blamed this incident on many factors including such ludicrous ones as, "No policemen were in sight as the buses arrived, because they were visiting their mothers on Mother's Day".[11] Connor also insisted that the violence came from out-of-town meddlers and that police had rushed to the scene as quickly as possible. He then issued this warning, "As I have said on numerous occasions, we are not going to stand for this in Birmingham. And if necessary we will fill the jail full and we don't care whose toes we step on. I am saying now to these meddlers from out of our city the best thing for them to do is stay out if they don't want to get slapped in jail. Our people of Birmingham are a peaceful people and we never have any trouble here unless some people come into our city looking for trouble. And I've never seen anyone yet look for trouble who wasn't able to find it".[12]

In 1962, Connor ordered the closing of sixty Birmingham parks rather than follow a court order to desegregate public facilities. After the failed attempt at the Albany movement, Martin Luther King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference decided to put their efforts on the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States: Birmingham. It was called Project C (for "Confrontation"). The SCLC wanted to target the business section of Birmingham through economic boycott and demonstrations. Throughout April 1963 Martin Luther King led smaller demonstrations, which resulted in his arrest along with many others.[13]

Children's Crusade

In the final phase of Project C SCLC's Director of Direct Action, James Bevel, introduced a revolutionary and controversial new tactic that used young people in the demonstrations. On May 2, 1963, the first children walked out of the 16th Street Baptist Church and attempted to march to Birmingham's City Hall to talk to the Mayor. By the end of the day 959 children, ranging from ages 6–18, had been arrested.

By May 3, massive numbers of young demonstrators were participating, and Connor ordered the use of fire hoses and attack dogs. This did not stop the demonstrators, but generated bad publicity for Connor through the news media. The use of fire hoses continued, and by May 7, Connor and the police department had jailed over three thousand demonstrators.[13] Due to problematic race relations and crippling economic status the SCLC and the Senior Citizens Committee, who represented a majority of Birmingham businesses, came to an agreement. On May 10, they agreed on the desegregation of lunch counters, restrooms, fitting rooms and drinking fountains, the upgrading and hiring of blacks, cooperation with SCLC legal representatives in releasing all jailed persons, and the establishment of communication between black and whites through the Senior Citizens Committee.[14]

Because of the attack on the Freedom Riders, Project C, and Birmingham's worsening reputation, voters had become dissatisfied with Connor. In November 1962, when the voters of Birmingham decided to switch to a Mayor-Council form of government, Connor sued to have the election thrown out. On May 11, 1963, Connor was ordered to vacate his office following the Alabama Supreme Court decision in favor of a Mayor-Council government, ending his 22-year run as the Commissioner of Public Safety.[8]

Later life and death

On June 3, 1964, Connor resumed his place in government when he was elected President of the Alabama Public Service Commission. He suffered a stroke on December 7, 1966, and he used a wheelchair for the rest of his life. He was present on February 16, 1968, when the Haleyville, Alabama police station made the first use of 9-1-1 as an emergency telephone number in the United States. Months later, Connor won another term, but he was defeated in 1972.

He suffered another stroke on February 26, 1973, which left him unconscious. He died a few weeks later, in March of that year.[15] Survivors included his widow, Beara, a daughter, a son, and a brother, King Edward Connor.

Legacy

Spike Lee's documentary 4 Little Girls (about the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Alabama in 1963) includes footage of Connor and interviews with people describing police tactics during his tenure.

Footage of Connor also appears in the film Our Friend, Martin, in which he is voiced by veteran voice artist Frank Welker.

Connor is mentioned in contemporary folk singer Phil Ochs' 1965 song Talking Birmingham Jam.

References

  1. ↑ PBS's Eyes on the Prize segment, including video of Connor.
  2. ↑ Connor's Tank Returns to Birmingham
  3. 1 2 Baggett, James L. (October 12, 2009). "Eugene "Bull" Connor". Encyclopedia of Alabama. Retrieved February 18, 2011.
  4. ↑ http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1091
  5. ↑ Politicalgraveyard.com Eugene Connor
  6. ↑ Baggett, James L. "Eugene 'Bull' Connor." Encyclopedia of Alabama.
  7. ↑ J. Barton Starr, "Birmingham and the 'Dixiecrat' Convention of 1948," Alabama Historical Quarterly 1970 32(1–2): 23–50
  8. 1 2 Baggett, James. "Eugene "Bull" Connor". Encyclopedia of Alabama. March 9, 2007. April 7, 2011.< http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1091>
  9. ↑ Nunnelley, William. Bull Connor. Tuscaloosa and London: The University of Alabama Press, 1991, p. 93.
  10. ↑ Arsenault, Raymond. Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006, p. 154.
  11. ↑ Dierenfield, Bruce. The Civil Rights Movement. Great Britain: Pearson Education Limited, 2004.
  12. ↑ Nunnelley, William. Bull Connor. Tuscaloosa and London: The University of Alabama Press, 1991, p. 154.
  13. 1 2 "Segregation at All Costs: Bull Connor and the Civil Rights Movement." YouTube. Web. 8 Apr 2011. < http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9kT1yO4MGg>.
  14. ↑ Nunnelley, William. Bull Connor. Tuscaloosa and London: The University of Alabama Press, 1991, p. 157.
  15. ↑ "Eugene 'Bull' Connor Dies at 75", Associated Press, March 11, 1973

Further reading

External links

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