E. H. (Boss) Crump

Born: 1874

Died: 1954

Edward Hull Crump was born into poverty in the post Civil War era of reconstruction. Reconstruction was another word for Northern occupation. The Civil War had devastated many areas of the South and what was left was brought down by repeated epidemics of Yellow Fever. Crump's father succumbed to Yellow Fever himself when Crump was one year old.

Crump moved to Memphis at the age of 17 and became a bookkeeper. After being successful in his earliest business career he married into money. Crump was able to buy the carriage factory where he was previously employed. Burning with ambition Crump set out to add political power to wealth. At the age of 35 Crump won his first election to the City Council. Four years later, in 1914 Crump was elected to the first of three two year terms as Memphis Mayor. He won the mayor's office narrowly, by 78 votes. In a reform era Crump was a reform candidate running against a former mayor with "reformist credentials". Crump was in office when the “commission form“ of government was instituted. As mayor Crump soon learned, it was often easier to control politics from behind the scenes.

Crump's dual nature soon became evident. The corruption under Crump's rule was infamous throughout the state. At the same time the local utilities were restructured in a manner that made Memphis' Civil Services envied throughout the country. His passion for effective fire control led the Memphis to what was arguably the best fire department in the country. Deeply in bed with Memphis's bar owners and other bosses of minor street politics, Crump declined to enforce prohibition. This was what some political enemies had waited for. Soon the Governor initiated actions, including the signing into law of the “Ouster Law“ to remove Crump from office. Quick on his feet Crump resigned and continued to influence events in a much less public way.

In the end what Crump had done to be oustered was to try to run a city like a business. He continued in that pursuit throughout his life. He became rich on the back of Memphians, but he dedicated his life to those very same Memphians. In a 1946 Time magazine article Time stated that, "Crump has given Memphis everything but a freely elected government."

For ten years Crump was less visible in politics as he worked to make himself a millionaire through Coca-Cola distribution and insurance. In 1927 he returned to local politics with a vengeance. Forming what was to be known as the Crump Machine, Crump virtually appointed all city officers. This influence eventually spread state wide with Crump strongly influencing the occupancy of the State House. Crump ran succeffully for Congress twice in 1931 and 1933, and was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention seven times. He was elected mayor for the final time in 1939.

Crump's iron hand was a two-edged sword for the community. While he kept taxes low and made the city services run smoothly. The utilities were dependable and affordable. He even initiated the first safety inspections of automobiles the South had ever seen. On the other hand he forced political rivals to leave town, had reporters beaten, Unions were harrassed and allowed no new businesses to open without purchasing an insurance policy from the Crump Company. Even the charges for auto inspection were said to benefit Crump directly. Testimony in open court claimed Crump used underworld payments to pay the poll taxes of his supporters.

The election to the U.S. Senate of Estes Kefauver in 1948 began the decline of Crump's state-wide political control. By 1952 the Governor and both U.S. Senators from Tennesse were his political opponents. His poor treatment of blacks and lifetime of strong-armed tactics led to many enemies locally as well, but his control of Memphis politics was still firm on the day he died, October 16, 1954.

The city honored Crump with an 8 foot tall bronze statue. A complex man, full of seeming contradictions, E.H. Crump was probably the person who has most shaped the city of Memphis for better and for worse.

Source: Internet