Claude I. Bakewell

Claude I. Bakewell
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Missouri's 11th district
In office January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1949
Preceded by	John B. Sullivan
Succeeded by	John B. Sullivan
In office March 9, 1951 – January 3, 1953
Preceded by	John B. Sullivan
Succeeded by	Morgan M. Moulder
Personal details
Born	Claude Ignatius Bakewell August 9, 1912 St. Louis, Missouri
Died	March 18, 1987 (aged 74) University City, Missouri
Resting place	Calvary Cemetery
Political party	Republican
Alma mater	Georgetown University Saint Louis University School of Law
Profession	Lawyer

Claude Ignatius Bakewell (August 9, 1912 – March 18, 1987) was a lawyer, U.S. Representative from Missouri's 11th congressional district, and U.S. Postmaster for St. Louis, Missouri.

Early life and career

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Bakewell was one of the five children of Paul Bakewell, Jr. and Mary Morgan Fullerton Bakewell.^[1][2] When she was to be married to Paul, Mary was reportedly "the richest girl" in St. Louis; she was also a grand-niece of J. P. Morgan.^[3] Claude Bakewell's grandfather Paul Bakewell was a patent and trademark lawyer in the firm Bakewell & Church whose wife was a granddaughter of the first Missouri governor Alexander McNair, and Claude's great-grandfather was Missouri judge Robert Armytage Bakewell, who was married to Nancy de Laureal.^[1] Claude Bakewell graduated from St. Louis University High School and then in 1932 from Georgetown University. In 1935, he graduated from St. Louis University School of Law and became a lawyer in private practice.^[4]

In the 25th Ward, he served as member of the board of aldermen of St. Louis, Missouri from 1941 to 1945 and was chairman of the legislation committee.^[5] From 1944 to 1946, Bakewell served in the United States Navy.^[4]

Congress

Bakewell sat on the House Judiciary Committee while serving. In 1952, Bakewell was one of three representatives who opposed bringing an unamended bill by Representatives Joseph Bryson and Estes Kefauver to the House floor. That bill would have required royalty fees for jukeboxes that played music on disks.^[6] Bakewell was the only Republican who signed the minority report of House Bill 4484, a quitclaim bill regarding tidelands, because he felt that it empowered Congress to remove the sovereignty of U.S. public lands rather than disposing of the lands themselves.^[7]

Responding to an anti-segregation plan by the St. Louis Committee of Racial Equality by sending interracial dining groups to three mall restaurants, Bakewell wrote: "It appears utterly inconsistent that the department stores would welcome the patronage of a large segment of the population at all counters and in all departments but would arbitrarily exclude them from the dining facilities."^[8]

Electoral history

Bakewell was elected as a Republican to the 80th United States Congress in 1946. Phyllis Schlafly, conservative activist and founder of Eagle Forum, managed Bakewell's 1946 campaign.^[9] However, Bakewell lost his 1948 re-election bid to John B. Sullivan, a Democrat.

Following the death of Sullivan, Bakewell was re-elected to the 11th district seat in a special election in March 1951. Bakewell linked his Democratic opponent Harry Schendel to the political machine dominated by Morris Shenker and Larry Callanan; Democrats whom they backed usually won most elections.^[10] As it was the midst of the Second Red Scare, Bakewell also labeled Schendel a "stooge" of the political action committee of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, a committee he considered "Moscow-inspired."^[11] Bakewell won the election by 6,187 votes, and his victory was hailed as a defeat of an otherwise powerful political machine.^[12] However, Bakewell lost the regular 1952 election to Sullivan's widow, Leonor K. Sullivan. To date, he is the last Republican to represent a significant portion of St. Louis in the House.

After Congress

From 1958 to 1982, Bakewell was the postmaster for St. Louis.^[13]

He died in University City, Missouri on March 18, 1987 and was interred at Calvary Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri.^[4]

References

1. Centennial history of Missouri: (the center state) one hundred years in the Union, 1820-1921, Volume 4. S. J. Clarke Publishing Company. 1921. p. 545.
2. "Delta Theta Phi Politician members in Missouri". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved January 24, 2011.
3. "Miss Fullerton Weds". The New York Times. June 3, 1909. p. 9.
4. "Bakewell, Claude Ignatius". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. United States Congress. Retrieved January 24, 2011.
5. "St. Louis Cuts License Tax Drastically on All Machines", Billboard 55 (36), September 4, 1943, p. 78, ISSN 0006-2510
6. "ASCAP to Revive Drive for Juke Box Royalty", Billboard 64 (29), July 19, 1952, pp. 21, 73, ISSN 0006-2510
7. Bartley, Ernest R. (1979). The Tidelands oil controversy. Ayer Publishing. pp. 220–221. ISBN 0-405-11368-4.
8. Kimbrough, Mary; Dagen, Margaret W. (2000). Victory without violence: the first ten years of the St. Louis Committee of Racial Equality (CORE), 1947-1957. Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Press. pp. 52–53. ISBN 0-8262-1303-0.
9. Critchlow, Donald T. (2005). Phyllis Schlafly and grassroots conservatism: a woman's crusade. Princeton University Press. pp. 28–29. ISBN 0-691-07002-4.
10. Stein, Lana (2002). St. Louis politics: the triumph of tradition. St. Louis: Missouri History Museum. p. 81. ISBN 1-883982-44-8.
11. Fried, Richard M. (1991). Nightmare in red: the McCarthy era in perspective. Oxford University Press USA. p. 64. ISBN 0-19-504361-8.
12. "National Affairs: Gamblers: Note", Time 47 (12), March 19, 1951
13. "A former U.S. representative and...". Orlando Sentinel. March 20, 1987.