Lee Emmett Thomas
Encyclopedia
Lee Emmett Thomas was an attorney and banker who served as the mayor of Shreveport
, Louisiana
, from 1922–1930. He was also from 1912–1916 the Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives.
in Union Parish
north of Ruston
, a son of B. B. Thomas and the former of Susan S. George of Perry County
, Alabama
. Thomas was educated at the former Concord Institute in the community of Shiloh in Union Parish. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Baptist
-affiliated Samford University
, then known as Howard College in Marion
, Alabama
, but since located in Birmingham
, Alabama. Thomas also obtained a Master of Accounts degree, a 14-week course, from the defunct Eastman Business College
in Poughkeepsie
, New York
. Thereafter for two years he kept the books in his father's mercantile business in Farmerville
, the parish seat of Union Parish. In 1889, Thomas procured his law degree from the University of Virginia
at Charlottesville
, Virginia.
From 1889 to 1896, he practiced law in Farmerville, where he married the former Florence Smith. Thomas's biographical sketches in A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography and The Chronicles of Shreveport does not indicate if the couple had children. In 1896, the Thomases came to Shreveport, where he continued in the practice of law. He was a member of the First Baptist Church of Shreveport. Thomas also served as president of the Shreveport Chamber of Commerce
and was affiliated with several fraternal orders, including the Masonic lodge
, the Shriners
, the Order of the Eastern Star
, Knights Templar
, and the Knights of Pythias
. Thomas worked to establish the Shriner's Hospital for Children
in Shreveport, the first in the United States
. Thomas was also the chairman of the board of the orphanage
, the Masonic Home for Children in Alexandria
, Louisiana, established ca. 1928.
, who was like Thomas a native of Union Parish. Thomas served as banking commissioner until 1906, when he formed Continental Bank and Trust Company, of which he served as president until 1917.
In 1908, Thomas, an active Democrat
, was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives
. Reelected in 1912, he served his second term in the House as the Speaker. In his second term, he served with David B. Samuel
, Perry P. Keith, and Joseph E. Johnston, Jr., no relation to the Confederate
general Joseph E. Johnston
. One of his at-large successors in the House, John McWilliams Ford, was also Thomas' predecessor as mayor. Ford also served from 1930 until his death in 1965 as the municipal finance commissioner.
From 1916–1920, Thomas was the chairman of the Louisiana Democratic Central Committee, an influential body in a one-party state at the time. He also served on the Democratic National Committee
through his role as the party's Louisiana national committeeman. Thomas was chairman of the Louisiana Tax Commission from 1917–1919 under Governor Ruffin G. Pleasant
, of Shreveport and like Heard and Thomas a Union Parish native. Thomas was again the state banking commissioner from 1919–1922, under the Pleasant and successor John M. Parker
administrations. In 1924, Thomas ran unsuccessfully for the United States Senate
, losing the Democratic nomination to incumbent
Joseph Ransdell of Alexandria
. Ransdell polled 104,312 votes (54.9 percent) to Thomas' 85,547 ballots (45.1 percent). In 1930, Ransdell was unseated in the primary by Governor Huey Pierce Long, Jr., who did not immediately take his seat in the chamber.
service personnel, which was restored in 1994. From 1948–1960, the auditorium staged the Louisiana Hayride
Country music
program. Later, Elvis Presley
performed at the auditorium on several occasions between 1954 and 1956. While Thomas was mayor, W. K. Henderson
launched KWKH
Radio
. Thomas was active too in building the viaduct
on Market Street, the Cross Lake
Reservoir (the city's principal water supply), and the construction of ten parks and playgrounds.Thomas worked for the purchase of Barksdale Field.
Thomas died in Shreveport at the age of sixty-eight and is interred there at Forest Park Cemetery.
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....
, Louisiana
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...
, from 1922–1930. He was also from 1912–1916 the Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives.
Background
Thomas was born in MarionMarion, Louisiana
Marion is a town in Union Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 806 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Monroe Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Marion is located at ....
in Union Parish
Union Parish, Louisiana
Union Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Farmerville....
north of Ruston
Ruston, Louisiana
Ruston is a city in and the parish seat of Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 20,546 at the 2000 census. Ruston is near the eastern border of the Ark-La-Tex and is the home of Louisiana Tech University. Its economy caters to its college population...
, a son of B. B. Thomas and the former of Susan S. George of Perry County
Perry County, Alabama
Perry County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama. It was established in 1819, and is named in honor of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry of Rhode Island and the United States Navy. As of 2010 the population was 10,591...
, Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
. Thomas was educated at the former Concord Institute in the community of Shiloh in Union Parish. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
-affiliated Samford University
Samford University
Samford University, founded as Howard College is a private, coeducational, Alabama Baptist Convention-affiliated university located in Homewood, a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, United States. It includes the , Cumberland School of Law, McWhorter School of Pharmacy, Brock School of Business, Ida V....
, then known as Howard College in Marion
Marion, Alabama
Marion is the county seat of Perry County, Alabama. As of the 2000 census, the population of the city is 3,511. First called Muckle Ridge, the city was renamed after a hero of the American Revolution, Francis Marion.-Geography:...
, Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, but since located in Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
, Alabama. Thomas also obtained a Master of Accounts degree, a 14-week course, from the defunct Eastman Business College
Eastman Business College
The Eastman Business College was a business school located in Poughkeepsie, New York.It was founded in 1859 by Harvey G. Eastman, and was for a time one of the largest commercial schools in the United States....
in Poughkeepsie
Poughkeepsie (city), New York
Poughkeepsie is a city in the state of New York, United States, which serves as the county seat of Dutchess County. Poughkeepsie is located in the Hudson River Valley midway between New York City and Albany...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. Thereafter for two years he kept the books in his father's mercantile business in 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 parish seat of Union Parish. In 1889, Thomas procured his law degree from the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
at Charlottesville
Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville is an independent city geographically surrounded by but separate from Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom.The official population estimate for...
, Virginia.
From 1889 to 1896, he practiced law in Farmerville, where he married the former Florence Smith. Thomas's biographical sketches in A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography and The Chronicles of Shreveport does not indicate if the couple had children. In 1896, the Thomases came to Shreveport, where he continued in the practice of law. He was a member of the First Baptist Church of Shreveport. Thomas also served as president of the Shreveport Chamber of Commerce
Chamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...
and was affiliated with several fraternal orders, including the Masonic lodge
Masonic Lodge
This article is about the Masonic term for a membership group. For buildings named Masonic Lodge, see Masonic Lodge A Masonic Lodge, often termed a Private Lodge or Constituent Lodge, is the basic organisation of Freemasonry...
, the Shriners
Shriners
The Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, also commonly known as Shriners and abbreviated A.A.O.N.M.S., established in 1870, is an appendant body to Freemasonry, based in the United States...
, the Order of the Eastern Star
Order of the Eastern Star
The Order of the Eastern Star is a fraternal organization that both men and women can join. It was established in 1850 by Rob Morris, a lawyer and educator from Boston, Massachusetts, who had been an official with the Freemasons. It is based on teachings from the Bible, but is open to people of all...
, Knights Templar
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
, and the Knights of Pythias
Knights of Pythias
The Knights of Pythias is a fraternal organization and secret society founded at Washington, DC, on 19 February 1864.The Knights of Pythias was the first fraternal organization to receive a charter under an act of the United States Congress. It was founded by Justus H. Rathbone, who had been...
. Thomas worked to establish the Shriner's Hospital for Children
Shriners Hospitals for Children
Shriners Hospitals for Children is a network of 22 non-profit hospitals across North America. Children with orthopaedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries, and cleft lip and palate are eligible for care and receive all services in a family-centered environment, regardless of the patients’...
in Shreveport, the first in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Thomas was also the chairman of the board of the orphanage
Orphanage
An orphanage is a residential institution devoted to the care of orphans – children whose parents are deceased or otherwise unable or unwilling to care for them...
, the Masonic Home for Children in 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....
, Louisiana, established ca. 1928.
Public career
In 1903, Thomas was appointed state banking commissioner by Governor William Wright HeardWilliam Wright Heard
William Wright Heard was the 32nd Governor of Louisiana from 1900 to 1904.-Early life:Heard was educated in a local school in Union Parish. In years to come, he remembered the challenges of educating children that rural residents met...
, who was like Thomas a native of Union Parish. Thomas served as banking commissioner until 1906, when he formed Continental Bank and Trust Company, of which he served as president until 1917.
In 1908, Thomas, an active 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...
, was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives
Louisiana State Legislature
The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...
. Reelected in 1912, he served his second term in the House as the Speaker. In his second term, he served with David B. Samuel
David B. Samuel
David B. Samuel , was an attorney, jurist, and Democratic politician in Shreveport, the seat of Caddo Parish in northwestern Louisiana....
, Perry P. Keith, and Joseph E. Johnston, Jr., no relation to the Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
general Joseph E. Johnston
Joseph E. Johnston
Joseph Eggleston Johnston was a career U.S. Army officer, serving with distinction in the Mexican-American War and Seminole Wars, and was also one of the most senior general officers in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War...
. One of his at-large successors in the House, John McWilliams Ford, was also Thomas' predecessor as mayor. Ford also served from 1930 until his death in 1965 as the municipal finance commissioner.
From 1916–1920, Thomas was the chairman of the Louisiana Democratic Central Committee, an influential body in a one-party state at the time. He also served on the Democratic National Committee
Democratic National Committee
The Democratic National Committee is the principal organization governing the United States Democratic Party on a day to day basis. While it is responsible for overseeing the process of writing a platform every four years, the DNC's central focus is on campaign and political activity in support...
through his role as the party's Louisiana national committeeman. Thomas was chairman of the Louisiana Tax Commission from 1917–1919 under Governor Ruffin G. Pleasant
Ruffin Pleasant
Ruffin Golson Pleasant was the 36th Governor of Louisiana from 1916–1920, who is remembered for having mobilized his state for World War I...
, of Shreveport and like Heard and Thomas a Union Parish native. Thomas was again the state banking commissioner from 1919–1922, under the Pleasant and successor John M. Parker
John M. Parker
John Milliken Parker was an American Democratic politician from Louisiana, who served as the state's 37th Governor from 1920–1924. He was a friend and admirer of President Theodore Roosevelt....
administrations. In 1924, Thomas ran unsuccessfully for the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
, losing the Democratic nomination to 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...
Joseph Ransdell of 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....
. Ransdell polled 104,312 votes (54.9 percent) to Thomas' 85,547 ballots (45.1 percent). In 1930, Ransdell was unseated in the primary by Governor Huey Pierce Long, Jr., who did not immediately take his seat in the chamber.
Shreveport mayor
As the Shreveport mayor for two four-year terms, Thomas promoted the construction of the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium, originally a memorial to World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
service personnel, which was restored in 1994. From 1948–1960, the auditorium staged the Louisiana Hayride
Louisiana Hayride
Louisiana Hayride was a radio and later television country music show broadcast from the Shreveport Municipal Memorial Auditorium in Shreveport, Louisiana, that during its heyday from 1948 to 1960 helped to launch the careers of some of the greatest names in American music...
Country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
program. Later, Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
performed at the auditorium on several occasions between 1954 and 1956. While Thomas was mayor, W. K. Henderson
W. K. Henderson
William Kennon Henderson, Jr., usually known as W.K. Henderson , was a pioneer in the radio industry who in 1922 acquired WGAQ in Shreveport, Louisiana, expanded it, and renamed the call letters after himself as KWKH....
launched KWKH
KWKH
KWKH is a classic country music radio station serving Shreveport, Louisiana. The 50-kilowatt station broadcasts at 1130 kHz. Formerly owned by Clear Channel Communications and Gap Central Broadcasting, it is now owned by Townsquare Media....
Radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
. Thomas was active too in building the viaduct
Viaduct
A viaduct is a bridge composed of several small spans. The term viaduct is derived from the Latin via for road and ducere to lead something. However, the Ancient Romans did not use that term per se; it is a modern derivation from an analogy with aqueduct. Like the Roman aqueducts, many early...
on Market Street, the Cross Lake
Cross Lake (Shreveport, Louisiana)
Cross Lake is an lake located near Shreveport, Louisiana. The waterway provides the water supply for the City of Shreveport. Moss covered cypress trees line the banks of this open lake popular for fishing and recreational boating. Supporting waterfowl, alligators and an abundance of wildlife...
Reservoir (the city's principal water supply), and the construction of ten parks and playgrounds.Thomas worked for the purchase of Barksdale Field.
Thomas died in Shreveport at the age of sixty-eight and is interred there at Forest Park Cemetery.