Jerry Atkinson
Encyclopedia
Fitzgerald "Jerry" Atkinson, Jr. (January 25, 1921 – April 21, 2006) was vice mayor
of Nashville, Tennessee
, USA
from 1966 to 1971.
public schools, including the former Central High School, from which he graduated. Following high school Atkinson enrolled in the University of the South
in Sewanee, Tennessee
, but left in June 1942 to serve in the United States armed forces in World War II
. He enlisted into the United States Marine Corps
, serving primarily with the 1st Tank Battalion
, 1st Marine Division. He was wounded in the Battle of Okinawa
and was subsequently awarded the Purple Heart
and the Navy Cross
.
Atkinson was honorably discharged in 1946 and the same year was licensed as an insurance agent. Early in his insurance career, he was a partner
in the insurance firm of Stokes, Bandy & Atkinson.
. Like almost all members of the Tennessee General Assembly
from the western two-thirds of the state in that era, Atkinson was at least nominally a Democrat
. However, it must be noted that the party's Southern
wing, especially at this time, was not particularly liberal, and Atkinson was in many ways somewhat typical of his era. Atkinson was to serve a total of three terms in the Tennessee House, serving Davidson and Williamson
Counties as a "floterial representative", part of an arcane system which was then in use in Tennessee to avoid the constitutionally-mandated redistricting of the House according to population every ten years following the census
(and which was eventually invalidated by the United States Supreme Court in its landmark Baker v. Carr
ruling). In 1964 Atkinson left Stokes and Bandy to form his own insurance firm. Atkinson's service in the Tennessee General Assembly came at time when there was no actual salary but rather only an expense per diem for the days in which the legislature was actually in session; in no way was politics providing him with a substanstial living.
In 1966, Atkinson was elected to an unusual five-year term as vice mayor under the Metropolitan Charter, which had been adopted by voters four years earlier to merge many of the functions of Davidson County and the Nashville municipal government. In one of the charter's many compromise provisions, most of which had been included to overcome the objections which had led to the defeat of an earlier Metropolitan Charter proposed during the 1950s, it was agreed that the second group of office holders elected under the charter would serve for five years rather than the usual four in order to take the metropolitan offices out of the election cycle for statewide offices such as governor
and state legislature and holdover county offices such as property assessor, court clerk, and the like. Obstensibly this was in the interest of a shorter ballot and to give these offices the weight of importance that they deserved; to critics this provision meant to move the offices to being elected at a time when only persons with a strong interest in the local government — most notably municipal employees and their families and friends — were likely to vote.
Atkinson's primary role as vice mayor (other than to serve as the mayor's successor in the event of his death, resignation, removal from office, or excessive absence from the city) was to serve as speaker
of the Metropolitan Council. Atkinson's low-key leadership style and his desire for everyone, council member and member of the public alike, to be heard on any issue on which they desired to speak, was commended by some, but was harshly condemned by others, particularly some of the council members. Members of the Metropolitan Council, one of the largest U.S. municipal legislative
bodies, composed of 40 part-time members, most of whom had other jobs, often found themselves getting home after meetings in the early hours of morning after any meeting involving contentious issues, which were fairly frequent. Nonetheless, Atkinson was encouraged by some to run for mayor
in 1971, even after it became apparent that incumbent
mayor Beverly Briley
was going to seek a third term, permissible under the term limit
provision then in the Metropolitan Charter, making him the second consecutive vice mayor to challenge Briley for the top spot.
Unlike his previous races, Atkinson now faced several better-known and better-financed opponents. A total of nine candidates finally entered the race. Besides Briley and Atkinson, two other well-known Nashville political figure
s, Trustee Glenn Ferguson and Assessor of Property Clifford Allen
were in the race. A surprise opponent was movie
projectionist Casey Jenkins, who ran a campaign based on the idea of "massive resistance" to forced busing, which had just been ordered in the now-merged metropolitan school district
to foster racial desegregation
. Briley, Jenkins, Allen, and Ferguson all bought relatively large (for that period) amounts of television
air time, which was beyond the financial ability of Atkinson's campaign. Atkinson finished fifth in the race. (Briley eventually defeated Jenkins in a runoff.)
and Kiwanis
, as well as the United Methodist Church
. He eventually moved to suburb
an Williamson County, which he had represented years before in the legislature in addition to his native Davidson County. His death was attributed to congestive heart failure
. He is buried at Nashville's Woodlawn Memorial Park.
Deputy Mayor
Deputy mayor is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official in many local governments. Many elected deputy mayors are members of the city council who are given the title and serve as acting mayor in the mayor's absence...
of Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
from 1966 to 1971.
Early life and career
Atkinson was born to longtime Nashville-area residents Fitzgerald Atkinson, Sr. and Catherine Kerr Atkinson. He attended Davidson CountyDavidson County, Tennessee
Davidson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2010, the population was 626,681. Its county seat is Nashville.In 1963, the City of Nashville and the Davidson County government merged, so the county government is now known as the "Metropolitan Government of Nashville and...
public schools, including the former Central High School, from which he graduated. Following high school Atkinson enrolled in the University of the South
Sewanee, The University of the South
The University of the South is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Sewanee, Tennessee. It is owned by twenty-eight southern dioceses of the Episcopal Church and its School of Theology is an official seminary of the church. The university's School of Letters offers graduate...
in Sewanee, Tennessee
Sewanee, Tennessee
Sewanee is an unincorporated locality in Franklin County, Tennessee, United States, treated by the U.S. Census as a census-designated place . The population was 2,361 at the 2000 census...
, but left in June 1942 to serve in the United States armed forces in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He enlisted into the United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
, serving primarily with the 1st Tank Battalion
1st Tank Battalion
The 1st Tank Battalion is an armor battalion of the United States Marine Corps which is based out of the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, California...
, 1st Marine Division. He was wounded in the Battle of Okinawa
Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War of World War II. The 82-day-long battle lasted from early April until mid-June 1945...
and was subsequently awarded the Purple Heart
Purple Heart
The Purple Heart is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those who have been wounded or killed while serving on or after April 5, 1917 with the U.S. military. The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor is located in New Windsor, New York...
and the Navy Cross
Navy Cross
The Navy Cross is the highest decoration that may be bestowed by the Department of the Navy and the second highest decoration given for valor. It is normally only awarded to members of the United States Navy, United States Marine Corps and United States Coast Guard, but can be awarded to all...
.
Atkinson was honorably discharged in 1946 and the same year was licensed as an insurance agent. Early in his insurance career, he was a partner
Partnership
A partnership is an arrangement where parties agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests.Since humans are social beings, partnerships between individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments, and varied combinations thereof, have always been and remain commonplace...
in the insurance firm of Stokes, Bandy & Atkinson.
Politics
While with Stokes, Bandy & Atkinson, Atkinson was first elected to the Tennessee House of RepresentativesTennessee House of Representatives
The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee.-Constitutional requirements:...
. Like almost all members of the Tennessee General Assembly
Tennessee General Assembly
The Tennessee General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee.-Constitutional structure:According to the Tennessee State Constitution of 1870, the General Assembly is a bicameral legislature and consists of a Senate of thirty-three members and a House of Representatives of...
from the western two-thirds of the state in that era, Atkinson was at least nominally a Democrat
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...
. However, it must be noted that the party's Southern
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
wing, especially at this time, was not particularly liberal, and Atkinson was in many ways somewhat typical of his era. Atkinson was to serve a total of three terms in the Tennessee House, serving Davidson and Williamson
Williamson County, Tennessee
Williamson County is a county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2010 US Census, the population was 183,182. The County's seat is Franklin, and it is part of the Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county is named after Hugh Williamson, a...
Counties as a "floterial representative", part of an arcane system which was then in use in Tennessee to avoid the constitutionally-mandated redistricting of the House according to population every ten years following the 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...
(and which was eventually invalidated by the United States Supreme Court in its landmark Baker v. Carr
Baker v. Carr
Baker v. Carr, , was a landmark United States Supreme Court case that retreated from the Court's political question doctrine, deciding that redistricting issues present justiciable questions, thus enabling federal courts to intervene in and to decide reapportionment cases...
ruling). In 1964 Atkinson left Stokes and Bandy to form his own insurance firm. Atkinson's service in the Tennessee General Assembly came at time when there was no actual salary but rather only an expense per diem for the days in which the legislature was actually in session; in no way was politics providing him with a substanstial living.
In 1966, Atkinson was elected to an unusual five-year term as vice mayor under the Metropolitan Charter, which had been adopted by voters four years earlier to merge many of the functions of Davidson County and the Nashville municipal government. In one of the charter's many compromise provisions, most of which had been included to overcome the objections which had led to the defeat of an earlier Metropolitan Charter proposed during the 1950s, it was agreed that the second group of office holders elected under the charter would serve for five years rather than the usual four in order to take the metropolitan offices out of the election cycle for statewide offices such as governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
and state legislature and holdover county offices such as property assessor, court clerk, and the like. Obstensibly this was in the interest of a shorter ballot and to give these offices the weight of importance that they deserved; to critics this provision meant to move the offices to being elected at a time when only persons with a strong interest in the local government — most notably municipal employees and their families and friends — were likely to vote.
Atkinson's primary role as vice mayor (other than to serve as the mayor's successor in the event of his death, resignation, removal from office, or excessive absence from the city) was to serve as speaker
Speaker (politics)
The term speaker is a title often given to the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body. The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the...
of the Metropolitan Council. Atkinson's low-key leadership style and his desire for everyone, council member and member of the public alike, to be heard on any issue on which they desired to speak, was commended by some, but was harshly condemned by others, particularly some of the council members. Members of the Metropolitan Council, one of the largest U.S. municipal legislative
Legislature
A legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...
bodies, composed of 40 part-time members, most of whom had other jobs, often found themselves getting home after meetings in the early hours of morning after any meeting involving contentious issues, which were fairly frequent. Nonetheless, Atkinson was encouraged by some to run for mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
in 1971, even after it became apparent that incumbent
Incumbent
The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...
mayor Beverly Briley
Beverly Briley
Clifton Beverly Briley was the first mayor of the newly consolidated metropolitan government of Nashville and Davidson County. A Democrat, he served from 1963 to 1975.-Biography:...
was going to seek a third term, permissible under the term limit
Term limit
A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method to curb the potential for monopoly, where a leader effectively becomes "president for...
provision then in the Metropolitan Charter, making him the second consecutive vice mayor to challenge Briley for the top spot.
Unlike his previous races, Atkinson now faced several better-known and better-financed opponents. A total of nine candidates finally entered the race. Besides Briley and Atkinson, two other well-known Nashville political figure
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
s, Trustee Glenn Ferguson and Assessor of Property Clifford Allen
Clifford Allen
Clifford Robertson Allen was a Tennessee attorney and Democratic politician.-Early life and career:Allen was born in Jacksonville, Florida, and graduated from Friends High School in Washington, D.C.. He graduated from the Cumberland School of Law in Lebanon, Tennessee in 1931 and was admitted to...
were in the race. A surprise opponent was movie
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
projectionist Casey Jenkins, who ran a campaign based on the idea of "massive resistance" to forced busing, which had just been ordered in the now-merged metropolitan school district
School district
School districts are a form of special-purpose district which serves to operate the local public primary and secondary schools.-United States:...
to foster racial desegregation
Desegregation
Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups usually referring to races. This is most commonly used in reference to the United States. Desegregation was long a focus of the American Civil Rights Movement, both before and after the United States Supreme Court's decision in...
. Briley, Jenkins, Allen, and Ferguson all bought relatively large (for that period) amounts of television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
air time, which was beyond the financial ability of Atkinson's campaign. Atkinson finished fifth in the race. (Briley eventually defeated Jenkins in a runoff.)
Later life
Although Atkinson never sought elected office again, he was nonetheless active in many civic and charitable activities. He was an active member of CivitanCivitan
Civitan International, based in Birmingham, Alabama, is an association of community service clubs founded in 1917. The organization aims "to build good citizenship by providing a volunteer organization of clubs dedicated to serving individual and community needs with an emphasis on helping people...
and Kiwanis
Kiwanis
Kiwanis International is an international, coeducational service club founded in 1915. It is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. Current membership is 240,000 members in 7,700 clubs in 80 nations...
, as well as the United Methodist Church
United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination which is both mainline Protestant and evangelical. Founded in 1968 by the union of The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church, the UMC traces its roots back to the revival movement of John and Charles Wesley...
. He eventually moved to suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
an Williamson County, which he had represented years before in the legislature in addition to his native Davidson County. His death was attributed to congestive heart failure
Congestive heart failure
Heart failure often called congestive heart failure is generally defined as the inability of the heart to supply sufficient blood flow to meet the needs of the body. Heart failure can cause a number of symptoms including shortness of breath, leg swelling, and exercise intolerance. The condition...
. He is buried at Nashville's Woodlawn Memorial Park.
See also
- Navy CrossNavy CrossThe Navy Cross is the highest decoration that may be bestowed by the Department of the Navy and the second highest decoration given for valor. It is normally only awarded to members of the United States Navy, United States Marine Corps and United States Coast Guard, but can be awarded to all...
- Battle of OkinawaBattle of OkinawaThe Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War of World War II. The 82-day-long battle lasted from early April until mid-June 1945...