De Lesseps Story Morrison
Encyclopedia
DeLesseps Story "Chep" Morrison, Sr., (January 18, 1912—May 22, 1964) was the mayor of New Orleans from 1946-1961 who failed in three hard-fought bids for the then-pivotal Louisiana
Democratic
gubernatorial nomination. He also served as an appointee of U.S. President John F. Kennedy
as the United States ambassador
to the Organization of American States
between 1961 and 1963. New Orleans' peak population was reached during Morrison's mayoralty, when the 1960 census
recorded 627,525 inhabitants, a 10 percent increase from the 1950 figures. Though the population of metropolitan New Orleans
would continue to grow pre-Hurricane Katrina
, the city itself has yet to regain its 1960 high-water mark.
DeLesseps Morrison was born in New Roads
, the seat of Pointe Coupee Parish. He died in an airplane crash in Ciudad Victoria, Mexico.
in Pointe Coupee Parish, and the former Anita Olivier, a New Orleans socialite. As a boy in New Roads, Morrison once worked for an ice dealer, Alton Gaudin, father of future Louisiana state Representative Clark Gaudin
of Baton Rouge. He had a half-brother, Jacob Haight Morrison, IV
(1905–1974), son of his father's first marriage to the former Eloise Yancy (1876–1905) of Jonesville
in Catahoula Parish.
In 1932, Morrison graduated from Louisiana State University
in Baton Rouge. In 1934, he completed his law degree from LSU. After graduation, he moved to New Orleans, where he became an attorney with the National Recovery Administration
, a New Deal
agency. Thereafter, he was a law partner with both Jacob Morrison and the future Democratic U.S. Representative Thomas Hale Boggs, Sr
. He was a second cousin of Marie Corinne Morrison Claiborne Boggs
, who succeeded her husband Hale Boggs in Congress in 1973.
As an active Democrat, Morrison in 1939 helped to organize the People's League of Independent Voters in New Orleans. In 1940, Morrison was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives
for the 12th Ward
; he became a reliable floor leader for the reform faction led by Governor Sam Houston Jones. One of his colleagues was his future ally and rival on occasions, William J. "Bill" Dodd, from Allen Parish
.
During World War II, Morrison left the legislature to join the United States Army
. He first rose to the rank of colonel
, and became chief of staff of the occupation forces stationed in the city of Bremen. In 1942, he married Corinne Waterman of New Orleans. He received the Bronze Star
and also served in England, France, and Belgium. He and Bill Dodd were both reelected to the legislature in absentia in 1944.
After the war, he returned to New Orleans to practice law. He remained, however, in the U.S. Army Reserve and attained the rank of major general
.
reformers in December 1945 to run for mayor in the election of 1946
. The attractive and dynamic young veteran ran a campaign emphasizing the need to clean up the corruption of incumbent Mayor Robert Maestri
, who had been affiliated with the Long
faction
of Louisiana Democratic politics. Maestri's Old Regulars
had dominated New Orleans for decades. Morrison pulled a major upset when he defeated Maestri in the first primary. He was among many returning World War II veterans to gain political office during that period.
metropolis
. His administration attracted significant private investment and welcomed the establishment of numerous oil industry white collar corporate offices in downtown New Orleans, as well as several sizable new industrial plants elsewhere. To favorably contrast himself with the alleged dictatorial inclinations of his predecessor Maestri, Morrison worked to get a law passed to reduce the powers of the mayor. He created a new city planning commission
and moved to make administration more efficient by firing many of Maestri's patronage
appointments (though some were replaced with Morrison's own supporters). He also downsized city operations by selling off most of the city's public markets, which led to most of them being torn down. He addressed a housing crisis by building veterans’ housing operated by the Housing Authority of New Orleans, and engaged in more large-scale urban renewal
than any other New Orleans mayor. Morrison's administration demolished low-income neighborhoods to build new or expand existing public housing projects
, and further private property was expropriated to permit the construction of the New Orleans Civic Center
, the New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal
and several street widening projects in the city's downtown
. One of his most popular actions was to create the New Orleans Recreation Department (NORD), which included segregated facilities for whites and blacks. He began an extensive citywide street improvement program financed though a bond issue, and located funding sufficient to construct numerous street overpasses and underpasses, eliminating most at-grade railway crossings within the city limits. Morrison acquiesced in New Orleans Public Service's
dismantling of the city's extensive streetcar
network in the 1950s.
A proponent of increased international trade
, Morrison lent his support to the construction of the International Trade Mart - precursor to the city's World Trade Center
- and traveled extensively in Latin America to promote trade with New Orleans. He became friends with dictators Rafael Trujillo and Juan Perón
. Morrison's wish to reinforce ties with Latin America even found expression in his urban renewal efforts, as new central area circulators
were embellished with monuments to Central and South American historical figures. In particular, the widened Basin Street
was outfitted with monuments to Simón Bolívar
, Benito Juárez
, and Francisco Morazán
. The statue of Simón Bolívar was particularly prominently sited and still stands at the corner of Canal and Basin streets. Another new circulator, in Central City
, was bestowed with the name Simon Bolivar Avenue.
Despite running on a platform stressing the elimination of the Old Regular machine, after his election Morrison quickly built his own political organization, the Crescent City Democratic Association. Modelling itself on the Old Regular system of ward and precinct captains, the CCDA began finding its supporters jobs in City Hall and in municipal construction contracts. Further proof of Morrison's ability to be hard-nosed was provided in October 1946, when he broke a garbage collectors’ strike by organizing volunteer scab labor to take over the duties of the striking workers. His organization's power quickly eclipsed that of the Old Regulars, and he secured easy re-elections in 1950, 1954, and 1958. Morrison also pushed for a new city charter in 1954, which replaced the at-large council commission system with a legislative city council which combined five district-based and two at-large members. The system of municipal government established by the 1954 charter still operates in New Orleans.
In 1954, Morrison attended the inauguration of newly-elected Mayor James Creswell Gardner
of Shreveport
, who served a single four-year term. Gardner undertook similar reforms in Shreveport of the kind that Morrison had initiated in New Orleans. The two became good friends over the years though Gardner was considered more conservative than Morrison.
In 1950, Morrison was elected president of the National Municipal Association. In 1953, he won the organization's LaGuardia Award, named for former New York City Mayor Fiorello Henry LaGuardia.
(NOPD) in an effort to eliminate corruption. But tensions developed when Watters moved to suppress gambling
, prostitution
, and other vice too zealously for Morrison's liking. Watters resigned in February 1949 because of Morrison's political interference with NOPD activities.
Throughout most of the 1950s, scandals continued to emerge concerning the involvement of the NOPD in graft
and vice
. Not only was the NOPD accused of refusing to stop prostitution and gambling, but there was evidence of NOPD involvement in protection rackets
for vice operations. In 1952, the Metropolitan Crime Commission of New Orleans was established as an independent monitor of the NOPD and the Morrison administration's approach to vice. State Police Colonel Francis Grevemberg
, later a two-time gubernatorial candidate, led a series of high-profile raids on New Orleans gambling establishments that embarrassed Morrison and the NOPD for its inactivity. Eventually, retired FBI Agent Aaron Kohn was sent from Chicago
to investigate NOPD involvement in vice. Kohn later recalled,
He soon complained that Morrison was obstructing his efforts. Morrison refused to fire Joseph Schuering, the NOPD superintendent implicated in the scandals, until sustained political pressure forced the mayor to ask for Schuering's resignation in 1955.
, and spent money on street and infrastructure
improvements in black neighborhoods. NORD built playgrounds, swimming pools and recreational centers for African Americans. These actions earned him the enmity of hard-line segregationists
. In 1950, he oversaw the NOPD's hiring of its first black policeman since the advent of the Jim Crow era. Morrison nevertheless remained a committed supporter of segregation and was known to use racial slurs in private conversations. The facilities he did create in black neighborhoods remained segregated and received inferior funding compared to civic projects in white neighborhoods. Historian Adam Fairclough interprets Morrison's building programs for blacks as a way of "shoring up segregation" by defusing dissatisfaction with inferior facilities. Many black leaders found him sympathetic but unwilling to take meaningful action to address their concerns. Morrison's approach to race relations increasingly fell behind the times as the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 60s
gained momentum.
New Orleans gained national notoriety during the fall of 1960 as the city's school board implemented a federal integration
order for its public schools
. A handful of black students entered two white schools in the city's Ninth Ward
, but were greeted with mobs of white women and youths screaming racial slurs and throwing bottles and refuse. While Morrison did not join Governor James Houston "Jimmie" Davis
' drive to prevent integration by shutting the schools down, he also did nothing to prevent intimidating segregationist demonstrations. The NOPD passively stood by while mobs heckled parents bringing their children to school, while at the same time police arrested civil rights
activists holding lunch counter sit-ins in the city. Morrison's lack of action stemmed from his political need to avoid alienating black supporters while at the same time retaining a segregationist stance. His position resulted in criticism from both sides; black New Orleanians and supporters of civil rights felt he had betrayed them, while hard-line segregationists accused him of supporting integration. Ultimately, his fence-straddling on civil rights was a significant contribution to the fatigue and disenchantment with which the citizenry received his administration's actions in its final years - a sharp contrast with the comparatively ebullient 1950s. Arguably, Morrison's leadership failures on civil rights did much to compromise his earlier achievements and resulted in New Orleans being more poorly positioned socially and economically for the post-Civil Rights era than its (at that time) peer cities like Atlanta
, Houston
and Dallas
.
, in which Morrison had endorsed former Governor Sam Houston Jones, the gubernatorial winner, Earl Kemp Long
, convinced the legislature to enact a series of measures to punish New Orleans for its support of Morrison. Long's brother, Huey Pierce Long, Jr.
, had used similar tactics in his feud with then New Orleans Mayor T. Semmes Walmsley
. Long had the legislature pass laws which limited the city government's control over taxation, control over the police and fire departments, operation of the port, and civil service
appointments. Long's anti-Morrison constitutional amendments, however, were defeated. Moreover, the support of the Old Regulars for Long's punitive measures further eroded the machine's support among New Orleans voters.
Morrison had a longstanding ambition to become governor of Louisiana, and he ran unsuccessfully for that office three times. Each time he ran, he was strongly opposed in the northern half of the state because of his perceived liberal views, particularly on race (though he was a declared segregationist), and his Roman Catholicism.
In the election of 1956
, Morrison lost to Earl Long. The acerbic Long ridiculed Morrison as a "city slicker" out of touch with residents of small towns and rural areas. Long laughed at his opponent's unusual first name deLesseps : "Ole De la Soups is the only man that can talk out of both sides of his mouth, whistle, and strut all at once." Trailing both Long and Morrison in the 1956 primary were Fred Preaus
of Farmerville
, the choice of outgoing Governor Robert Kennon, Francis Grevemberg
, the former state police superintendent, and James M. McLemore, the Alexandria
auction-barn owner who ran his second consecutive unsuccessful race on a strictly segregationist platform.
Three LSU scholars described Morrison, as he launched his second bid for governor, accordingly:
"Morrison was different from the typical anti-Long candidate inasmuch as he had demonstrated liberal proclivities, particularly in giving support to the national Democratic Party and his attitude on labor and race relations. In many respects, Morrison seemed to represent the combination that Louisiana voters had unsuccessfully groped for over a long period of time: respectability and integrity in combination with a welfare-state programmatic outlook. . . . Morrison was faced with two awesome handicaps: he was from New Orleans, and he was of the Roman Catholic faith. The traditional suspicion of the 'big-city' counted against him in many areas of the state, and the predominantly Protestant north Louisiana sector has long contended that no Catholic could or should be governor of the state."
In the election of 1959-60
, Morrison lost to former Governor Jimmie Davis, a singer of both popular songs and gospel hymns. He polled 414,110 votes (45.5 percent) in the runoff to Davis' 487,681 (54.1 percent). Davis was endorsed in the runoff by the third-place candidate, segregationist William Monroe Rainach
of Claiborne Parish. Morrison was endorsed by the fifth-place candidate, Bill Dodd, but Dodd's showing had been insufficient to help Morrison that much. Rainach later expressed disappointment with the second Davis administration.
In the primary runoff, Morrison's lieutenant governor choice, then Alexandria
Mayor W. George Bowdon, Jr.
, lost his race to Clarence C. "Taddy" Aycock
of Franklin
in St. Mary Parish
, a former Speaker of the Louisiana House.
In the election of 1963-64
, he lost to Public Service Commissioner John Julian McKeithen
from the small town of Columbia
in rural Caldwell Parish
. In the 1964 primary, Morrison ran with the Houma
(Terrebonne Parish
) attorney Claude B. Duval
, who sought the office of lieutenant governor. Duval, a longtime personal friend of Morrison's, also lost and was defeated by his St. Mary Parish neighbor, C.C. Aycock, who ran as an independent that year, meaning that though he was a Democrat, he was not allied with a gubernatorial slate of candidates. Two other Morrison-backed candidates were State Representative Jack M. Dyer
of Baton Rouge for insurance commissioner and then Mayor Raymond Laborde
of Marksville
for custodian of voting machines. Dyer lost to Dudley A. Guglielmo
, and Laborde fell to the incumbent Douglas Fowler
of Coushatta
in Red River Parish
. Laborde had argued for the abolition of the office, which was finally ended in 2004.
, were met with widespread opposition. He moved surprisingly slowly to construct a passenger terminal for New Orleans' international airport; for its first thirteen years of operation New Orleanians departed from a glorified barn while its regional economic rivals invested in constructing modern facilities. Morrison also failed in his efforts to keep the Pelicans
baseball
team in New Orleans, and in general the energy that had characterized his early years in office was thoroughly dissipated. Former political allies like City Councilman and future Lieutenant Governor James Edward "Jimmy" Fitzmorris, Jr.
, began to express their independence and positioned themselves for a future without Morrison.
His reputation was further tarnished in the aftermath of the school integration crisis, and his political future was uncertain. He was the first of many New Orleans mayors to attempt to amend his 1954 city charter to allow a third consecutive term as mayor, but the failure of this effort left him without a certain political future.
Seeking a political base from which to stage another run for governor, he approached the John F. Kennedy
administration and was appointed Ambassador to the Organization of American States
on July 17, 1961. In a further sign of his declining political fortunes, his chosen candidate for mayor in the New Orleans election of 1962
– State Senator Adrian G. Duplantier
– lost the Democratic runoff to Victor Schiro.
"The Morrison funeral was a moving and impressive event. A motorcade formed in front of the Capitol House Hotel [in Baton Rouge] at 8:45 a.m. on Tuesday, May 26, 1964. There were about twenty automobiles led by the governor [John McKeithen]. I rode down with four other state representatives in Representative Spencer Todd's brand new Cadillac
. Others in the car were Conway LeBleu, Joe Henry Cooper
, and Steve Dupuis. It turned out that Steve lived next door to my cousin . . . in Opelousas
.
"When we arrived in New Orleans we went to the new City Hall and were joined by Mayor Victor Schiro and thence to Gallier Hall
, where the bodies [Morrison and son] were in state. Gallier Hall is an architecturally magnificent old building that had been the City Hall for most of Chep's tenure. It was there that I had attended one of his staff meetings in 1955.
"The public viewing was now completed and our visit was special. The body was in the former waiting room for the mayor's office. . . At the door were smartly uniformed firemen
and policemen. The room itself was still adorned with large fine paintings . . . The two-star flag of a major general with black streamers hung over the flag-draped coffin
which was attended by a military honor guard
. Chep loved things military and would have approved of the arrangements.
"We were officially greeted by Jimmy Fitzmorris (later lieutenant governor) who was chairman of the New Orleans City Council. Jimmy, also a friend of mine, had been asked by the Morrison family to handle all of the arrangements which he did in splendid fashion. Everything seemed so right. I found it easy to visualize the excitement of the room when Chep ruled from there."
". . . The mass lasted about an hour. . . . A military presence was still evident as all of the pallbearer
s were Army officers. . . . Life was going on as a great and good friend departed it."
Morrison married Corinne on October 3, 1942. Mrs. Morrison (born August 17, 1921) died at the age of thirty-seven on February 26, 1959, just a few months before her husband launched his second gubernatorial bid.
His older son, DeLesseps Story "Toni" Morrison, Jr.
, who like his father had been a state representative, ran unsuccessfully for mayor in the 1977 New Orleans mayoral election
. "Toni" Morrison died of lung cancer
on August 21, 1996. Both Chep and Toni Morrison died at the age of fifty-two. All four Morrisons are buried in Metairie Cemetery
in New Orleans.
The Morrisons had a daughter too, Corinne Ann Morrison (born 1947), a New Orleans attorney.
Chep Morrison was inducted posthumously in 1995 into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame
in Winnfield
, the seat of Winn Parish.
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
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...
gubernatorial nomination. He also served as an appointee of U.S. President John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
as the United States ambassador
United States Ambassador to the Organization of American States
The following is a list of people who have served as United States Ambassador to the Organization of American States, or the full title, Representative of the United States of America to the Organization of American States, with the rank and status of Ambassador Extraordinary and...
to the Organization of American States
Organization of American States
The Organization of American States is a regional international organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States...
between 1961 and 1963. New Orleans' peak population was reached during Morrison's mayoralty, when the 1960 census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
recorded 627,525 inhabitants, a 10 percent increase from the 1950 figures. Though the population of metropolitan New Orleans
New Orleans metropolitan area
New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner, or the Greater New Orleans Region is a metropolitan area designated by the United States Census encompassing seven parishes in the state of Louisiana, centering on the city of New Orleans...
would continue to grow pre-Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
, the city itself has yet to regain its 1960 high-water mark.
DeLesseps Morrison was born in New Roads
New Roads, Louisiana
New Roads is a city in and the parish seat of Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, United States. The center of population of Louisiana is located in New Roads . The population was 4,996 at the 2000 census. The city's ZIP code is 70760...
, the seat of Pointe Coupee Parish. He died in an airplane crash in Ciudad Victoria, Mexico.
Early life, education, military
Morrison was the son of Jacob Haight Morrison, III (1875–1929), a district attorneyDistrict attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
in Pointe Coupee Parish, and the former Anita Olivier, a New Orleans socialite. As a boy in New Roads, Morrison once worked for an ice dealer, Alton Gaudin, father of future Louisiana state Representative Clark Gaudin
Clark Gaudin
Edward Clark Gaudin is a Baton Rouge attorney who served for twenty-one years in the Louisiana House of Representatives as the first Republican member from East Baton Rouge Parish in the 20th century....
of Baton Rouge. He had a half-brother, Jacob Haight Morrison, IV
Jacob Haight Morrison
Jacob Haight Morrison IV , was a 20th century New Orleans, Louisiana, attorney, preservationist, and author. He was the half-brother of former Mayor deLesseps Story "Chep" Morrison, Sr. , and the half-uncle of deLesseps Story "Toni" Morrison, Jr...
(1905–1974), son of his father's first marriage to the former Eloise Yancy (1876–1905) of Jonesville
Jonesville, Louisiana
Jonesville is a town in Catahoula Parish, Louisiana, at the confluence of the Ouachita, Tensas, and Little rivers. The three rivers become the Black River at Jonesville though the "Black" is primarily the continuation of the Ouachita River. A new bridge has been built over the Black River...
in Catahoula Parish.
In 1932, Morrison graduated from Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
in Baton Rouge. In 1934, he completed his law degree from LSU. After graduation, he moved to New Orleans, where he became an attorney with the National Recovery Administration
National Recovery Administration
The National Recovery Administration was the primary New Deal agency established by U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933. The goal was to eliminate "cut-throat competition" by bringing industry, labor and government together to create codes of "fair practices" and set prices...
, a New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
agency. Thereafter, he was a law partner with both Jacob Morrison and the future Democratic U.S. Representative Thomas Hale Boggs, Sr
Hale Boggs
Thomas Hale Boggs Sr. , was an American Democratic politician and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Orleans, Louisiana...
. He was a second cousin of Marie Corinne Morrison Claiborne Boggs
Lindy Boggs
Marie Corinne Morrison Claiborne Boggs, usually known as Lindy Boggs , is a United States political figure who served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and later as ambassador to the Vatican. She was the first woman elected to Congress from Louisiana...
, who succeeded her husband Hale Boggs in Congress in 1973.
As an active Democrat, Morrison in 1939 helped to organize the People's League of Independent Voters in New Orleans. In 1940, Morrison was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives
Louisiana House of Representatives
The Louisiana House of Representatives is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the US state of Louisiana. The House is composed of 105 Representatives, each of whom represents approximately 42,500 people . Members serve four-year terms with a term limit of...
for the 12th Ward
12th Ward of New Orleans
The 12th Ward or Twelfth Ward is a division of the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, one of the 17 Wards of New Orleans. The Ward was formerly part of the old Jefferson City annexed by New Orleans in 1870....
; he became a reliable floor leader for the reform faction led by Governor Sam Houston Jones. One of his colleagues was his future ally and rival on occasions, William J. "Bill" Dodd, from Allen Parish
Allen Parish, Louisiana
Allen Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Oberlin. As of the 2000 census, the population was 25,440. Allen Parish is in southwestern Louisiana, southwest of Alexandria....
.
During World War II, Morrison left the legislature to join the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
. He first rose to the rank of colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
, and became chief of staff of the occupation forces stationed in the city of Bremen. In 1942, he married Corinne Waterman of New Orleans. He received the Bronze Star
Bronze Star Medal
The Bronze Star Medal is a United States Armed Forces individual military decoration that may be awarded for bravery, acts of merit, or meritorious service. As a medal it is awarded for merit, and with the "V" for valor device it is awarded for heroism. It is the fourth-highest combat award of the...
and also served in England, France, and Belgium. He and Bill Dodd were both reelected to the legislature in absentia in 1944.
After the war, he returned to New Orleans to practice law. He remained, however, in the U.S. Army Reserve and attained the rank of major general
Major general (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general-officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general...
.
Election as mayor
Morrison was approached by a group of UptownUptown New Orleans
Uptown is a section of New Orleans, Louisiana on the East Bank of the Mississippi River encompassing a number of neighborhoods between the French Quarter and the Jefferson Parish line. It remains an area of mixed residential and small commercial properties, with a wealth of 19th century architecture...
reformers in December 1945 to run for mayor in the election of 1946
New Orleans mayoral election, 1946
The New Orleans mayoral election of 1946 was held on January 22, 1946. It resulted in the defeat of incumbent mayor Robert Maestri and the election of deLesseps Morrison as Mayor of New Orleans.- Background :...
. The attractive and dynamic young veteran ran a campaign emphasizing the need to clean up the corruption of incumbent Mayor Robert Maestri
Robert Maestri
Robert Sidney Maestri was mayor of New Orleans from 1936 to 1946 and a key ally of Huey P. Long, Jr., and Earl Kemp Long.- Early life :...
, who had been affiliated with the Long
Earl Long
Earl Kemp Long was an American politician and the 45th Governor of Louisiana for three non-consecutive terms. Long termed himself the "last of the red hot poppas" of politics, referring to his stump-speaking skills...
faction
Political faction
A political faction is a grouping of individuals, such as a political party, a trade union, or other group with a political purpose. A faction or political party may include fragmented sub-factions, “parties within a party," which may be referred to as power blocs, or voting blocs. The individuals...
of Louisiana Democratic politics. Maestri's Old Regulars
Regular Democratic Organization
The Regular Democratic Organization , or Old Regulars, or the New Orleans Ring, is a conservative political organization based in New Orleans. It has existed for 130 years and as of 2006 is still active. The symbol of the RDO is the rooster...
had dominated New Orleans for decades. Morrison pulled a major upset when he defeated Maestri in the first primary. He was among many returning World War II veterans to gain political office during that period.
Morrison as mayor
As mayor, Morrison put together a strong public relations team which helped him cultivate an image as a dynamic reformer and won him widespread praise in the national press. Morrison marketed the city effectively, and was instrumental in creating the post-World War II image of New Orleans as a growing and progressive Sun BeltSun Belt
The Sun Belt or Spanish Belt is a region of the United States generally considered to stretch across the South and Southwest . Another rough boundary of the region is the area south of the 36th parallel, north latitude. It is the largest region which the U.S government does not recognize officially...
metropolis
Metropolis
A metropolis is a very large city or urban area which is a significant economic, political and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections and communications...
. His administration attracted significant private investment and welcomed the establishment of numerous oil industry white collar corporate offices in downtown New Orleans, as well as several sizable new industrial plants elsewhere. To favorably contrast himself with the alleged dictatorial inclinations of his predecessor Maestri, Morrison worked to get a law passed to reduce the powers of the mayor. He created a new city planning commission
Urban planning
Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....
and moved to make administration more efficient by firing many of Maestri's patronage
Patronage
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows to another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings or popes have provided to musicians, painters, and sculptors...
appointments (though some were replaced with Morrison's own supporters). He also downsized city operations by selling off most of the city's public markets, which led to most of them being torn down. He addressed a housing crisis by building veterans’ housing operated by the Housing Authority of New Orleans, and engaged in more large-scale urban renewal
Urban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
than any other New Orleans mayor. Morrison's administration demolished low-income neighborhoods to build new or expand existing public housing projects
Public housing
Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is owned by a government authority, which may be central or local. Social housing is an umbrella term referring to rental housing which may be owned and managed by the state, by non-profit organizations, or by a combination of the...
, and further private property was expropriated to permit the construction of the New Orleans Civic Center
Civic center
A civic center or civic centre is a prominent land area within a community that is constructed to be its focal point or center. It usually contains one or more dominant public buildings, which may also include a government building...
, the New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal
New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal
New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal is the main train station in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is served by Amtrak passenger trains, and played a role in the recovery efforts from Hurricane Katrina in 2005.- History :...
and several street widening projects in the city's downtown
New Orleans Central Business District
The Central Business District is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the French Quarter/CBD Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: Iberville, Decatur and Canal Streets to the north, the Mississippi River to the east, the New Orleans Morial...
. One of his most popular actions was to create the New Orleans Recreation Department (NORD), which included segregated facilities for whites and blacks. He began an extensive citywide street improvement program financed though a bond issue, and located funding sufficient to construct numerous street overpasses and underpasses, eliminating most at-grade railway crossings within the city limits. Morrison acquiesced in New Orleans Public Service's
New Orleans Public Service Incorporated
New Orleans Public Service Incorporated is a former electric and natural gas utility and mass transit provider that was based in New Orleans, Louisiana....
dismantling of the city's extensive streetcar
Streetcars in New Orleans
Streetcars in New Orleans have been an integral part of the city's public transportation network since the first half of the 19th century. The longest of New Orleans' streetcar lines, the St. Charles Avenue Streetcar, is the oldest continuously operating street railway system in the world,...
network in the 1950s.
A proponent of increased international trade
International trade
International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories. In most countries, such trade represents a significant share of gross domestic product...
, Morrison lent his support to the construction of the International Trade Mart - precursor to the city's World Trade Center
World Trade Center New Orleans
Prior to June 2011, the World Trade Center of New Orleans was housed in the historic World Trade Center Building, located at 2 Canal Street in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana...
- and traveled extensively in Latin America to promote trade with New Orleans. He became friends with dictators Rafael Trujillo and Juan Perón
Juan Perón
Juan Domingo Perón was an Argentine military officer, and politician. Perón was three times elected as President of Argentina though he only managed to serve one full term, after serving in several government positions, including the Secretary of Labor and the Vice Presidency...
. Morrison's wish to reinforce ties with Latin America even found expression in his urban renewal efforts, as new central area circulators
Downtown circulator
A downtown circulator is a general term in the United States for a road or bus system to distribute traffic or people through a downtown area.Specific examples include:*Miami, Florida's Downtown Distributor*Pawtucket, Rhode Island's Downtown Circulator...
were embellished with monuments to Central and South American historical figures. In particular, the widened Basin Street
Basin Street
Basin Street or Rue Basin in French, is a street in New Orleans, Louisiana. It parallels Rampart Street one block lakeside, or inland, from the boundary of the French Quarter, running from Canal Street down 5 blocks past Saint Louis Cemetery...
was outfitted with monuments to Simón Bolívar
Simón Bolívar
Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte y Yeiter, commonly known as Simón Bolívar was a Venezuelan military and political leader...
, Benito Juárez
Benito Juárez
Benito Juárez born Benito Pablo Juárez García, was a Mexican lawyer and politician of Zapotec origin from Oaxaca who served five terms as president of Mexico: 1858–1861 as interim, 1861–1865, 1865–1867, 1867–1871 and 1871–1872...
, and Francisco Morazán
Francisco Morazán
General Francisco Morazán was a Honduran general and a politician who ruled several Central American states at different times during the turbulent period from 1827 to 1842. He rose to prominence at the legendary Battle of La Trinidad on November 11, 1827...
. The statue of Simón Bolívar was particularly prominently sited and still stands at the corner of Canal and Basin streets. Another new circulator, in Central City
Central City, New Orleans
Central City is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. It is located at the lower end of Uptown, just above the New Orleans Central Business District, on the "lakeside" of St. Charles Avenue...
, was bestowed with the name Simon Bolivar Avenue.
Despite running on a platform stressing the elimination of the Old Regular machine, after his election Morrison quickly built his own political organization, the Crescent City Democratic Association. Modelling itself on the Old Regular system of ward and precinct captains, the CCDA began finding its supporters jobs in City Hall and in municipal construction contracts. Further proof of Morrison's ability to be hard-nosed was provided in October 1946, when he broke a garbage collectors’ strike by organizing volunteer scab labor to take over the duties of the striking workers. His organization's power quickly eclipsed that of the Old Regulars, and he secured easy re-elections in 1950, 1954, and 1958. Morrison also pushed for a new city charter in 1954, which replaced the at-large council commission system with a legislative city council which combined five district-based and two at-large members. The system of municipal government established by the 1954 charter still operates in New Orleans.
In 1954, Morrison attended the inauguration of newly-elected Mayor James Creswell Gardner
James C. Gardner
James Creswell Gardner, I, known as Jim Gardner , was a power company executive best known as the mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana, who served a single term from 1954-1958....
of Shreveport
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....
, who served a single four-year term. Gardner undertook similar reforms in Shreveport of the kind that Morrison had initiated in New Orleans. The two became good friends over the years though Gardner was considered more conservative than Morrison.
In 1950, Morrison was elected president of the National Municipal Association. In 1953, he won the organization's LaGuardia Award, named for former New York City Mayor Fiorello Henry LaGuardia.
Morrison, crime, and the NOPD
After assuming office in 1946, Morrison appointed Adair Watters superintendent of the New Orleans Police DepartmentNew Orleans Police Department
The New Orleans Police Department has primary responsibility for law enforcement in New Orleans, Louisiana. The department's jurisdiction covers all of Orleans Parish, while the city is divided into eight police districts....
(NOPD) in an effort to eliminate corruption. But tensions developed when Watters moved to suppress gambling
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
, prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
, and other vice too zealously for Morrison's liking. Watters resigned in February 1949 because of Morrison's political interference with NOPD activities.
Throughout most of the 1950s, scandals continued to emerge concerning the involvement of the NOPD in graft
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
and vice
Vice
Vice is a practice or a behavior or habit considered immoral, depraved, or degrading in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a defect, an infirmity, or merely a bad habit. Synonyms for vice include fault, depravity, sin, iniquity, wickedness, and corruption...
. Not only was the NOPD accused of refusing to stop prostitution and gambling, but there was evidence of NOPD involvement in protection rackets
Racket (crime)
A racket is an illegal business, usually run as part of organized crime. Engaging in a racket is called racketeering.Several forms of racket exist. The best-known is the protection racket, in which criminals demand money from businesses in exchange for the service of "protection" against crimes...
for vice operations. In 1952, the Metropolitan Crime Commission of New Orleans was established as an independent monitor of the NOPD and the Morrison administration's approach to vice. State Police Colonel Francis Grevemberg
Francis Grevemberg
Francis Carroll Grevemberg , was the superintendent of the Louisiana State Police from 1952 to 1955, best remembered for his fight against organized crime....
, later a two-time gubernatorial candidate, led a series of high-profile raids on New Orleans gambling establishments that embarrassed Morrison and the NOPD for its inactivity. Eventually, retired FBI Agent Aaron Kohn was sent from Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
to investigate NOPD involvement in vice. Kohn later recalled,
"After about a year, I began to realize something about the system down here. In Chicago , people were generally on one side of the fence or the other—honest or crooked. But in LouisianaLouisianaLouisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, there just isn’t any fence."
He soon complained that Morrison was obstructing his efforts. Morrison refused to fire Joseph Schuering, the NOPD superintendent implicated in the scandals, until sustained political pressure forced the mayor to ask for Schuering's resignation in 1955.
Morrison and race
Early in his administration, Morrison supported the construction of a suburban-style black neighborhood named Pontchartrain Park, built public housing for low-income blacksBlack people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
, and spent money on street and infrastructure
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
improvements in black neighborhoods. NORD built playgrounds, swimming pools and recreational centers for African Americans. These actions earned him the enmity of hard-line segregationists
Racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
. In 1950, he oversaw the NOPD's hiring of its first black policeman since the advent of the Jim Crow era. Morrison nevertheless remained a committed supporter of segregation and was known to use racial slurs in private conversations. The facilities he did create in black neighborhoods remained segregated and received inferior funding compared to civic projects in white neighborhoods. Historian Adam Fairclough interprets Morrison's building programs for blacks as a way of "shoring up segregation" by defusing dissatisfaction with inferior facilities. Many black leaders found him sympathetic but unwilling to take meaningful action to address their concerns. Morrison's approach to race relations increasingly fell behind the times as the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 60s
African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968)
The African-American Civil Rights Movement refers to the movements in the United States aimed at outlawing racial discrimination against African Americans and restoring voting rights to them. This article covers the phase of the movement between 1955 and 1968, particularly in the South...
gained momentum.
New Orleans gained national notoriety during the fall of 1960 as the city's school board implemented a federal integration
Racial integration
Racial integration, or simply integration includes desegregation . In addition to desegregation, integration includes goals such as leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity regardless of race, and the development of a culture that draws on diverse traditions, rather than merely...
order for its public schools
New Orleans Public Schools
New Orleans Public Schools is a public school system that serves all of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Schools within the system are governed by a multitude of entities, including the Orleans Parish School Board , which directly administers 4 schools and has granted charters to another 12,...
. A handful of black students entered two white schools in the city's Ninth Ward
Ninth Ward of New Orleans
The Ninth Ward or 9th Ward is a distinctive region of New Orleans, Louisiana that is located in the easternmost downriver portion of the city. It is geographically the largest of the 17 Wards of New Orleans....
, but were greeted with mobs of white women and youths screaming racial slurs and throwing bottles and refuse. While Morrison did not join Governor James Houston "Jimmie" Davis
Jimmie Davis
James Houston Davis , better known as Jimmie Davis, was a noted singer of both sacred and popular songs who served two nonconsecutive terms as the 47th Governor of Louisiana...
' drive to prevent integration by shutting the schools down, he also did nothing to prevent intimidating segregationist demonstrations. The NOPD passively stood by while mobs heckled parents bringing their children to school, while at the same time police arrested civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
activists holding lunch counter sit-ins in the city. Morrison's lack of action stemmed from his political need to avoid alienating black supporters while at the same time retaining a segregationist stance. His position resulted in criticism from both sides; black New Orleanians and supporters of civil rights felt he had betrayed them, while hard-line segregationists accused him of supporting integration. Ultimately, his fence-straddling on civil rights was a significant contribution to the fatigue and disenchantment with which the citizenry received his administration's actions in its final years - a sharp contrast with the comparatively ebullient 1950s. Arguably, Morrison's leadership failures on civil rights did much to compromise his earlier achievements and resulted in New Orleans being more poorly positioned socially and economically for the post-Civil Rights era than its (at that time) peer cities like Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, Houston
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
and Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
.
Morrison and Louisiana politics
Following the 1948 gubernatorial electionLouisiana gubernatorial election, 1948
The Louisiana gubernatorial election of 1948 was held in two rounds on January 20 and February 24, 1948. Like most Southern statesbetween Reconstruction and the civil rights era, Louisiana'sRepublican Party was virtually nonexistent in terms of electoral...
, in which Morrison had endorsed former Governor Sam Houston Jones, the gubernatorial winner, Earl Kemp Long
Earl Long
Earl Kemp Long was an American politician and the 45th Governor of Louisiana for three non-consecutive terms. Long termed himself the "last of the red hot poppas" of politics, referring to his stump-speaking skills...
, convinced the legislature to enact a series of measures to punish New Orleans for its support of Morrison. Long's brother, Huey Pierce Long, Jr.
Huey Long
Huey Pierce Long, Jr. , nicknamed The Kingfish, served as the 40th Governor of Louisiana from 1928–1932 and as a U.S. Senator from 1932 to 1935. A Democrat, he was noted for his radical populist policies. Though a backer of Franklin D...
, had used similar tactics in his feud with then New Orleans Mayor T. Semmes Walmsley
T. Semmes Walmsley
Thomas Semmes Walmsley was Mayor of New Orleans from July 1929 to June 1936. He is best known for his intense rivalry with Louisiana Governor Huey P. Long.- Early life and career :...
. Long had the legislature pass laws which limited the city government's control over taxation, control over the police and fire departments, operation of the port, and civil service
Civil service
The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....
appointments. Long's anti-Morrison constitutional amendments, however, were defeated. Moreover, the support of the Old Regulars for Long's punitive measures further eroded the machine's support among New Orleans voters.
Morrison had a longstanding ambition to become governor of Louisiana, and he ran unsuccessfully for that office three times. Each time he ran, he was strongly opposed in the northern half of the state because of his perceived liberal views, particularly on race (though he was a declared segregationist), and his Roman Catholicism.
In the election of 1956
Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1956
The Louisiana gubernatorial election of 1956 was held on January 17, 1956. The 1956 election saw the election of Earl K. Long to his second full term as Governor of Louisiana...
, Morrison lost to Earl Long. The acerbic Long ridiculed Morrison as a "city slicker" out of touch with residents of small towns and rural areas. Long laughed at his opponent's unusual first name deLesseps : "Ole De la Soups is the only man that can talk out of both sides of his mouth, whistle, and strut all at once." Trailing both Long and Morrison in the 1956 primary were Fred Preaus
Fred Preaus
Frederick T. Preaus, known as Fred Preaus , was a businessman and politician in the U.S. state of Louisiana, a native of Farmerville, the seat of Union Parish near the Arkansas state line...
of Farmerville
Farmerville, Louisiana
Farmerville is a town in and the parish seat of Union Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 3,808 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Monroe Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, the choice of outgoing Governor Robert Kennon, Francis Grevemberg
Francis Grevemberg
Francis Carroll Grevemberg , was the superintendent of the Louisiana State Police from 1952 to 1955, best remembered for his fight against organized crime....
, the former state police superintendent, and James M. McLemore, the Alexandria
Alexandria, Louisiana
Alexandria is a city in and the parish seat of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River in almost the exact geographic center of the state. It is the principal city of the Alexandria metropolitan area which encompasses all of Rapides and Grant parishes....
auction-barn owner who ran his second consecutive unsuccessful race on a strictly segregationist platform.
Three LSU scholars described Morrison, as he launched his second bid for governor, accordingly:
"Morrison was different from the typical anti-Long candidate inasmuch as he had demonstrated liberal proclivities, particularly in giving support to the national Democratic Party and his attitude on labor and race relations. In many respects, Morrison seemed to represent the combination that Louisiana voters had unsuccessfully groped for over a long period of time: respectability and integrity in combination with a welfare-state programmatic outlook. . . . Morrison was faced with two awesome handicaps: he was from New Orleans, and he was of the Roman Catholic faith. The traditional suspicion of the 'big-city' counted against him in many areas of the state, and the predominantly Protestant north Louisiana sector has long contended that no Catholic could or should be governor of the state."
In the election of 1959-60
Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1959-60
The Louisiana gubernatorial election of 1959-60 was held in two rounds on December 5, 1959 and January 9, 1960. After an election which featured some of the most racially-charged campaign rhetoric in Louisiana political history, Jimmie Davis was elected to his second nonconsecutive term as...
, Morrison lost to former Governor Jimmie Davis, a singer of both popular songs and gospel hymns. He polled 414,110 votes (45.5 percent) in the runoff to Davis' 487,681 (54.1 percent). Davis was endorsed in the runoff by the third-place candidate, segregationist William Monroe Rainach
William M. Rainach
William Monroe Rainach, Sr., known as Willie Rainach , was a state legislator from rural Summerfield in Claiborne Parish who led Louisiana's "Massive Resistance" to desegregation during the last half of the 1950s...
of Claiborne Parish. Morrison was endorsed by the fifth-place candidate, Bill Dodd, but Dodd's showing had been insufficient to help Morrison that much. Rainach later expressed disappointment with the second Davis administration.
In the primary runoff, Morrison's lieutenant governor choice, then Alexandria
Alexandria, Louisiana
Alexandria is a city in and the parish seat of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River in almost the exact geographic center of the state. It is the principal city of the Alexandria metropolitan area which encompasses all of Rapides and Grant parishes....
Mayor W. George Bowdon, Jr.
W. George Bowdon, Jr.
William George Bowdon, Jr., was the Democratic mayor of Alexandria, the largest city in central Louisiana, from 1953–1969. At thirty-one, he was the youngest mayor in his city's history and the first to serve a four-year, instead of a two-year, term...
, lost his race to Clarence C. "Taddy" Aycock
Clarence C. Aycock
Clarence C. "Taddy" Aycock , a conservative Democrat from Franklin in St. Mary Parish, was the only three-term lieutenant governor in modern Louisiana history. He served from 1960 to 1972. Aycock failed in his only bid for governor in the 1971 Democratic primary...
of Franklin
Franklin, Louisiana
Franklin is a city in and the parish seat of St. Mary Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 8,354 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Morgan City Micropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
in St. Mary Parish
St. Mary Parish, Louisiana
St. Mary Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Franklin. As of 2000, the population was 53,500.The Morgan City Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of St. Mary Parish.-Geography:...
, a former Speaker of the Louisiana House.
In the election of 1963-64
Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1963-64
The Louisiana gubernatorial election of 1963–64 was held in three rounds. The two Democratic Party primaries were held on December 7, 1963 and January 11, 1964. The general election was held on March 3, 1964...
, he lost to Public Service Commissioner John Julian McKeithen
John McKeithen
John Julian McKeithen was the 49th Governor of Louisiana, serving from 1964 to 1972. A Democrat from the town of Columbia, he was the first governor of his state in the twentieth century to serve two consecutive terms...
from the small town of Columbia
Columbia, Louisiana
Columbia is a town in and the parish seat of Caldwell Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 477 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Columbia is located at ....
in rural Caldwell Parish
Caldwell Parish, Louisiana
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 10,560 people, 3,941 households, and 2,817 families residing in the parish. The population density was 20 people per square mile . There were 5,035 housing units at an average density of 10 per square mile...
. In the 1964 primary, Morrison ran with the Houma
Houma, Louisiana
Houma is a city in and the parish seat of Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, and the largest principal city of the Houma–Bayou Cane–Thibodaux Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city's powers of government have been absorbed by the parish, which is now run by the Terrebonne Parish...
(Terrebonne Parish
Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana
Terrebonne Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Houma. Its population was 111,860...
) attorney Claude B. Duval
Claude B. Duval
Claude Berwick Duval, I , was a Houma, Louisiana, attorney and a conservative Democratic state senator from Terrebonne and St. Mary parishes, having served from 1968 to 1980...
, who sought the office of lieutenant governor. Duval, a longtime personal friend of Morrison's, also lost and was defeated by his St. Mary Parish neighbor, C.C. Aycock, who ran as an independent that year, meaning that though he was a Democrat, he was not allied with a gubernatorial slate of candidates. Two other Morrison-backed candidates were State Representative Jack M. Dyer
Jack M. Dyer
Jack M. Dyer is a Democrat who served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, from 1960-1964....
of Baton Rouge for insurance commissioner and then Mayor Raymond Laborde
Raymond Laborde
Raymond Julian Laborde, I , is a department store owner and a retired Democratic politician in his native Marksville, the seat of Avoyelles Parish in south Central Louisiana. He was the mayor of Marksville from 1958–1970 and thereafter served five terms from 1972–1992 in the Louisiana House of...
of Marksville
Marksville, Louisiana
Marksville is a city in and the parish seat of Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 5,537 at the 2000 census. Louisiana's first land-based casino, Paragon Casino Resort, opened in Marksville in June 1994...
for custodian of voting machines. Dyer lost to Dudley A. Guglielmo
Dudley A. Guglielmo
Dudley Anthony Guglielmo, Sr. , was the Louisiana insurance commissioner from 1964 to 1972. He served two terms until he was denied renomination in the 1971 Democratic primary by Sherman A. Bernard, a house mover from Westwego in Jefferson Parish...
, and Laborde fell to the incumbent Douglas Fowler
Douglas Fowler
Wiley Douglas Fowler, Sr. , was a local politician from rural Red River Parish in north Louisiana, a loyal supporter of Governor Earl Kemp Long, and his state's chief elections officer from 1959, until declining health forced his retirement, effective December 31, 1979...
of Coushatta
Coushatta, Louisiana
Coushatta is a town in and the parish seat of rural Red River Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is situated on the east bank of the Red River. The community is approximately forty-five miles south of Shreveport on U.S. Highway 71...
in Red River Parish
Red River Parish, Louisiana
Red River Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Its seat is Coushatta. It was one of the newer parishes created in 1871 by the state legislature under Reconstruction...
. Laborde had argued for the abolition of the office, which was finally ended in 2004.
Declining political fortunes
By his final term as mayor, Morrison's luster had faded somewhat. Some of his ideas, such as the unsuccessful 1959 proposal for a monorailMonorail
A monorail is a rail-based transportation system based on a single rail, which acts as its sole support and its guideway. The term is also used variously to describe the beam of the system, or the vehicles traveling on such a beam or track...
, were met with widespread opposition. He moved surprisingly slowly to construct a passenger terminal for New Orleans' international airport; for its first thirteen years of operation New Orleanians departed from a glorified barn while its regional economic rivals invested in constructing modern facilities. Morrison also failed in his efforts to keep the Pelicans
New Orleans Pelicans
The New Orleans Pelicans were a Minor league professional baseball team based in New Orleans, Louisiana.-Team history:Founded in 1887, the Pelicans became part of the Southern Association in 1901...
baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
team in New Orleans, and in general the energy that had characterized his early years in office was thoroughly dissipated. Former political allies like City Councilman and future Lieutenant Governor James Edward "Jimmy" Fitzmorris, Jr.
Jimmy Fitzmorris
James Edward "Jimmy" Fitzmorris, Jr. , is a New Orleans businessman and civic leader who was the Democratic Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana from 1972–1980...
, began to express their independence and positioned themselves for a future without Morrison.
His reputation was further tarnished in the aftermath of the school integration crisis, and his political future was uncertain. He was the first of many New Orleans mayors to attempt to amend his 1954 city charter to allow a third consecutive term as mayor, but the failure of this effort left him without a certain political future.
Seeking a political base from which to stage another run for governor, he approached the John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
administration and was appointed Ambassador to the Organization of American States
Organization of American States
The Organization of American States is a regional international organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States...
on July 17, 1961. In a further sign of his declining political fortunes, his chosen candidate for mayor in the New Orleans election of 1962
New Orleans mayoral election, 1962
The New Orleans mayoral election of 1962 resulted in the election of interim mayor Victor Schiro to his first full term as mayor of New Orleans.- Results :First Democratic Party Primary, January 27, 1962...
– State Senator Adrian G. Duplantier
Adrian G. Duplantier
Adrian Guy Duplantier, Sr. , served from May 31, 1978, until his death as a judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana...
– lost the Democratic runoff to Victor Schiro.
Death
Only four months after his final election defeat, on May 22, 1964, Morrison was killed in a plane crash in Mexico.Morrison funeral
Former Shreveport Mayor Jim Gardner, in his memoirs, recalls details of the Morrison funeral:"The Morrison funeral was a moving and impressive event. A motorcade formed in front of the Capitol House Hotel [in Baton Rouge] at 8:45 a.m. on Tuesday, May 26, 1964. There were about twenty automobiles led by the governor [John McKeithen]. I rode down with four other state representatives in Representative Spencer Todd's brand new Cadillac
Cadillac
Cadillac is an American luxury vehicle marque owned by General Motors . Cadillac vehicles are sold in over 50 countries and territories, but mostly in North America. Cadillac is currently the second oldest American automobile manufacturer behind fellow GM marque Buick and is among the oldest...
. Others in the car were Conway LeBleu, Joe Henry Cooper
Joe Henry Cooper
Joe Henry Cooper was a businessman in Mansfield, the seat of DeSoto Parish in northwestwen Louisiana, who served five consecutive terms in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1960 to 1980, having at various times represented DeSoto, Red River, Sabine, and Caddo parishes...
, and Steve Dupuis. It turned out that Steve lived next door to my cousin . . . in Opelousas
Opelousas, Louisiana
Opelousas is a city in and the parish seat of St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies at the junction of Interstate 49 and U.S. Route 190. The population was 22,860 at the 2000 census. Although the 2006 population estimate was 23,222, a 2004 annexation should put the city's...
.
"When we arrived in New Orleans we went to the new City Hall and were joined by Mayor Victor Schiro and thence to Gallier Hall
Gallier Hall
Gallier Hall is a historic building on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the former New Orleans city hall, and continues in civic use....
, where the bodies [Morrison and son] were in state. Gallier Hall is an architecturally magnificent old building that had been the City Hall for most of Chep's tenure. It was there that I had attended one of his staff meetings in 1955.
"The public viewing was now completed and our visit was special. The body was in the former waiting room for the mayor's office. . . At the door were smartly uniformed firemen
Firefighter
Firefighters are rescuers extensively trained primarily to put out hazardous fires that threaten civilian populations and property, to rescue people from car incidents, collapsed and burning buildings and other such situations...
and policemen. The room itself was still adorned with large fine paintings . . . The two-star flag of a major general with black streamers hung over the flag-draped coffin
Coffin
A coffin is a funerary box used in the display and containment of dead people – either for burial or cremation.Contemporary North American English makes a distinction between "coffin", which is generally understood to denote a funerary box having six sides in plan view, and "casket", which...
which was attended by a military honor guard
Honor guard
An honor guard, or ceremonial guard, is a ceremonial unit, usually military in nature and composed of volunteers who are carefully screened for their physical ability and dexterity...
. Chep loved things military and would have approved of the arrangements.
"We were officially greeted by Jimmy Fitzmorris (later lieutenant governor) who was chairman of the New Orleans City Council. Jimmy, also a friend of mine, had been asked by the Morrison family to handle all of the arrangements which he did in splendid fashion. Everything seemed so right. I found it easy to visualize the excitement of the room when Chep ruled from there."
". . . The mass lasted about an hour. . . . A military presence was still evident as all of the pallbearer
Pallbearer
A pall-bearer is one of several funeral participants who helps carry the casket of a deceased person from a religious or memorial service or viewing either directly to a cemetery or mausoleum, or to and from the hearse which carries the coffin....
s were Army officers. . . . Life was going on as a great and good friend departed it."
The Morrison family
The Morrison family faced many tragedies. Seven-year-old John Randolph Waterman "Randy" Morrison (born September 24, 1956) died with his father in the plane crash.Morrison married Corinne on October 3, 1942. Mrs. Morrison (born August 17, 1921) died at the age of thirty-seven on February 26, 1959, just a few months before her husband launched his second gubernatorial bid.
His older son, DeLesseps Story "Toni" Morrison, Jr.
DeLesseps Morrison, Jr.
deLesseps Story "Toni" Morrison, Jr. , the older son of four-term New Orleans Mayor DeLesseps Story "Chep" Morrison, Sr. , was an American attorney and international business consultant who was a Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1974–1980...
, who like his father had been a state representative, ran unsuccessfully for mayor in the 1977 New Orleans mayoral election
New Orleans mayoral election, 1977
The New Orleans mayoral election of 1977 resulted in the election of Ernest Morial as the first African-American mayor of New Orleans.- Background :...
. "Toni" Morrison died of lung cancer
Lung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
on August 21, 1996. Both Chep and Toni Morrison died at the age of fifty-two. All four Morrisons are buried in Metairie Cemetery
Metairie Cemetery
Metairie Cemetery is a cemetery in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. The name has caused some people to mistakenly presume that the cemetery is located in Metairie, Louisiana, but it is located within the New Orleans city limits, on Metairie Road .-History:This site was previously a horse...
in New Orleans.
The Morrisons had a daughter too, Corinne Ann Morrison (born 1947), a New Orleans attorney.
Chep Morrison was inducted posthumously in 1995 into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame
Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame
The Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame in Winnfield, Louisiana, highlights the careers of more than a hundred of the state’s leading politicians and political journalists. Because three governors, Huey P. Long, Jr., Oscar K...
in Winnfield
Winnfield, Louisiana
Winnfield is a city in and the parish seat of Winn Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 5,749 at the 2000 census. It has long been associated with the Long faction of the Louisiana Democratic Party and was home to three governors of Louisiana.-Geography:Winnfield is located at ...
, the seat of Winn Parish.