T. Semmes Walmsley
Encyclopedia
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.
. He was the son of wealthy cotton factor Sylvester Pierce Walmsley and his wife, the former Myra E. Semmes. He attended Spring Hill College
in Mobile
, Alabama
, and then Tulane University
in New Orleans, where he was a student athlete. In 1912, he graduated from Tulane University Law School
. After graduation, he became a lawyer for a New Orleans firm. On April 15, 1914, he wed the former Julia Havard of New Orleans, and the couple had one daughter, Augusta, later Mrs. Frederick J. King. He served in the First World War as a major in the United States Army Air Corps
, forerunner of the Air Force
.
From 1919-1924, Walmsley served as an assistant attorney general of Louisiana. In 1925, he was appointed city attorney by Mayor Martin Behrman
, and he became a prominent figure in Behrman’s Regular Democratic Organization
political machine. The Old Regulars helped him become elected as commissioner of public finance from 1926 to 1929. In July 1929, Walmsley was appointed acting mayor of New Orleans to fill in for Behrman’s successor Arthur J. O'Keefe
, who resigned because of illness.
by municipal streetcar workers. In one memorable scene he confronted an angry crowd of striking workers who had come to the city council chambers to protest the banning of improvised ‘jitney’ transportation. He based his election campaign in April 1930
on his response to the strike and on his credentials in restoring ‘law and order,’ and beat opponent Francis Williams
by a comfortable margin, winning 14 of 17 wards. Continuing in this vein, Walmsley later passed an ordinance banning the spread of "anarchistic, communistic, or radical doctrines" in New Orleans. He also fired almost two thousand black city employees by enforcing a Jim Crow
law banning the employment of non-voters.
Walmsley's term as mayor continued an alliance between the city's social and economic elite and the city's most powerful political machine. Owing his political success to his membership in the Old Regular machine's Choctaw Club, Walmsley benefited from their ability to turn out votes and dispense patronage.
In 1933, Walmsley was elected president of the National Conference of Mayors.
's election as governor in 1928 had brought a new force to Louisiana's political scene and threatened the hold of the Old Regulars on New Orleans. At first, Long had reached out to the Old Regulars by offering an alliance, but the Old Regulars participated in an attempt to impeach Long in 1929. Though initially reluctant, Walmsley accepted an alliance with Long after the Old Regular's uncharacteristically weak showing in the 1930 U.S. Senate race which had sent Long to Washington. In return for the political support of the New Orleans machine, Long promised a bridge over the Mississippi River
, a Lakefront Airport
, and money for infrastructure improvements. The alliance brought overwhelming Old Regular support for Long's chosen successor as governor, Oscar K. Allen
, who won 70% of the New Orleans vote in the gubernatorial election of 1932
. The alliance continued until December 1933, when Walmsley and the Old Regulars formally severed the relationship going into Walmsley's mayoral reelection campaign of 1934
. Angered by Walmsley's repudiation of the alliance, Long picked John Klorer, Sr. to oppose Walmsley in a vitriolic campaign, culminating in a political crisis that only narrowly averted armed conflict between Long's and Walmsley's factions. Walmsley won the election, but the campaign strengthened the mayor and the governor's hatred of each other.
In response to attacks on Long by Walmsley's supporters in the state legislature in 1934, Long unleashed an unprecedented attack on Walmsley's power in New Orleans. He proposed a series of bills cutting off state funding for the city and stripping municipal government of its traditional rights to issue licenses, assess property taxes, regulate public utilities, and control the police department. In response, Walmsley invoked the memory of the white supremacist White League
's armed resistance to 'despotism' during Reconstruction in order to arouse New Orleanians to attend a rally against Long in Baton Rouge in the summer of 1934. Many attendees came armed and called for the lynching of the governor, but Walmsley belatedly toned down his rhetoric and asked for restraint.
After the rally, Long stepped up his assault on Walmsley by sending National Guard troops to occupy the registrar of voters office across the street from New Orleans City Hall, setting up machine guns in the windows and declaring martial law. The confrontation escalated; Walmsley had 400 city police sent to City Hall, while Long increased his own troop strength to 3,000 and had them equipped with tear gas guns. The standoff climaxed during the congressional election of September 1934; but just as in the mayoral election in January 1934, the potential for armed conflict was averted by a last-minute truce in which both Long’s National Guard and Walmsley’s police agreed to stay off the streets on election day to prevent voter intimidation.
Long also initiated a wide-ranging corruption investigation of the Walmsley administration, staging lurid radio testimonials from witnesses. The legislative attacks continued through 1934 and 1935; Long had laws passed stripping the municipal government of its remaining powers by having the state set budget amounts for the city and forbidding the firing of any city employee without state approval. Without the ability to collect its own revenue, New Orleans was on the verge of bankruptcy by the summer of 1935. Huey Long’s assassination on September 8, 1935 did not end the state’s discriminatory policies towards New Orleans, and dissatisfaction with this state of conflict with Long and caused Walmsley’s own Old Regular ward leaders to ask the mayor to resign in the hopes of lifting the legislative siege. Walmsley continued to resist this pressure and remained in office despite the defection of nearly the entire Old Regular organization; the Old Regular controlled city council stripped him of all remaining powers. Walmsley finally agreed to resign in June 1936; after several interim mayors, Walmsley would be succeeded by Robert Maestri
, a Longite loyalist, and the municipal government would regain the powers stripped from it by the state legislature during the feud.
on June 19, 1942.
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...
Governor Huey P. Long.
Early life and career
Walmsley was born on June 10, 1889, to a prominent family in Uptown New OrleansUptown 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...
. He was the son of wealthy cotton factor Sylvester Pierce Walmsley and his wife, the former Myra E. Semmes. He attended Spring Hill College
Spring Hill College
Spring Hill College is a private, Roman Catholic Jesuit liberal arts college in the United States. It was founded in 1830 on the Gulf Coast in Mobile, Alabama, by Most Rev. Michael Portier, Bishop of Mobile, Alabama...
in Mobile
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
, 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...
, and then Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
in New Orleans, where he was a student athlete. In 1912, he graduated from Tulane University Law School
Tulane University Law School
Tulane University Law School is the law school of Tulane University. It is located on Tulane's Uptown campus in New Orleans, Louisiana. Established in 1847, it is the 12th oldest law school in the United States....
. After graduation, he became a lawyer for a New Orleans firm. On April 15, 1914, he wed the former Julia Havard of New Orleans, and the couple had one daughter, Augusta, later Mrs. Frederick J. King. He served in the First World War as a major in the United States Army Air Corps
United States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps was a forerunner of the United States Air Force. Renamed from the Air Service on 2 July 1926, it was part of the United States Army and the predecessor of the United States Army Air Forces , established in 1941...
, forerunner of the Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
.
From 1919-1924, Walmsley served as an assistant attorney general of Louisiana. In 1925, he was appointed city attorney by Mayor Martin Behrman
Martin Behrman
Martin Behrman , an American Democratic politician, was the longest-serving mayor in New Orleans history.-Biography:...
, and he became a prominent figure in Behrman’s Regular Democratic Organization
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...
political machine. The Old Regulars helped him become elected as commissioner of public finance from 1926 to 1929. In July 1929, Walmsley was appointed acting mayor of New Orleans to fill in for Behrman’s successor Arthur J. O'Keefe
Arthur J. O'Keefe
Arthur Joseph O’Keefe was mayor of New Orleans from 1926 through 1929.Born in New Orleans, O’Keefe was the son of Arthur O’Keefe and Sarah O'Keefe. He was educated at St. Aloysius High School and later went into business, eventually running his own coffee import company...
, who resigned because of illness.
Walmsley as mayor
Walmsley, a member of the New Orleans's exclusive Boston Club, moved in the highest social circles of the city. The conservative patrician mayor set a pro-business tone for his administration when as one of his first acts as mayor he confronted a militant strikeStrike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
by municipal streetcar workers. In one memorable scene he confronted an angry crowd of striking workers who had come to the city council chambers to protest the banning of improvised ‘jitney’ transportation. He based his election campaign in April 1930
New Orleans mayoral election, 1930
The New Orleans mayoral election of 1930, held in January of that year, resulted in the election of T. Semmes Walmsley to his first full term as Mayor of New Orleans....
on his response to the strike and on his credentials in restoring ‘law and order,’ and beat opponent Francis Williams
Francis Williams
Francis Williams was a scholar and poet born in Kingston, Jamaica.Francis Williams was born around 1700 to John and Dorothy Williams, a free black couple in Jamaica. John Williams had been freed by the will of his former master and within ten years was able to acquire property...
by a comfortable margin, winning 14 of 17 wards. Continuing in this vein, Walmsley later passed an ordinance banning the spread of "anarchistic, communistic, or radical doctrines" in New Orleans. He also fired almost two thousand black city employees by enforcing a Jim Crow
Jim Crow laws
The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws in the United States enacted between 1876 and 1965. They mandated de jure racial segregation in all public facilities, with a supposedly "separate but equal" status for black Americans...
law banning the employment of non-voters.
Walmsley's term as mayor continued an alliance between the city's social and economic elite and the city's most powerful political machine. Owing his political success to his membership in the Old Regular machine's Choctaw Club, Walmsley benefited from their ability to turn out votes and dispense patronage.
In 1933, Walmsley was elected president of the National Conference of Mayors.
Walmsley and Huey Long
Huey LongHuey 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...
's election as governor in 1928 had brought a new force to Louisiana's political scene and threatened the hold of the Old Regulars on New Orleans. At first, Long had reached out to the Old Regulars by offering an alliance, but the Old Regulars participated in an attempt to impeach Long in 1929. Though initially reluctant, Walmsley accepted an alliance with Long after the Old Regular's uncharacteristically weak showing in the 1930 U.S. Senate race which had sent Long to Washington. In return for the political support of the New Orleans machine, Long promised a bridge over the Mississippi River
Huey P. Long Bridge (Jefferson Parish)
The Huey P. Long Bridge in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, is a cantilevered steel through truss bridge that carries a two-track railroad line over the Mississippi River at mile 106.1 with two lanes of US 90 on each side of the central tracks....
, a Lakefront Airport
New Orleans Lakefront Airport
Lakefront Airport is a public use airport located four nautical miles northeast of the central business district of New Orleans, in Orleans Parish, Louisiana, United States...
, and money for infrastructure improvements. The alliance brought overwhelming Old Regular support for Long's chosen successor as governor, Oscar K. Allen
Oscar K. Allen
Oscar Kelly Allen, Sr. , also known as O. K. Allen, was the 42nd Governor of Louisiana from 1932 to 1936. He was a key lieutenant in the political machine of Huey Pierce Long, Jr., that dominated the state during the first half of the 1930s...
, who won 70% of the New Orleans vote in the gubernatorial election of 1932
Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1932
The Louisiana gubernatorial election of 1932 was held on January 19, 1932. Like most Southern states between Reconstruction and the civil rights era, Louisiana'sRepublican Party was virtually nonexistent in terms of electoral...
. The alliance continued until December 1933, when Walmsley and the Old Regulars formally severed the relationship going into Walmsley's mayoral reelection campaign of 1934
New Orleans mayoral election, 1934
The New Orleans mayoral election of 1934 was held on January 23, 1934. It resulted in the re-election of T. Semmes Walmsley as Mayor of New Orleans.- Candidates :The incumbent mayor, T...
. Angered by Walmsley's repudiation of the alliance, Long picked John Klorer, Sr. to oppose Walmsley in a vitriolic campaign, culminating in a political crisis that only narrowly averted armed conflict between Long's and Walmsley's factions. Walmsley won the election, but the campaign strengthened the mayor and the governor's hatred of each other.
In response to attacks on Long by Walmsley's supporters in the state legislature in 1934, Long unleashed an unprecedented attack on Walmsley's power in New Orleans. He proposed a series of bills cutting off state funding for the city and stripping municipal government of its traditional rights to issue licenses, assess property taxes, regulate public utilities, and control the police department. In response, Walmsley invoked the memory of the white supremacist White League
White League
The White League was a white paramilitary group started in 1874 that operated to turn Republicans out of office and intimidate freedmen from voting and political organizing. Its first chapter in Grant Parish, Louisiana was made up of many of the Confederate veterans who had participated in the...
's armed resistance to 'despotism' during Reconstruction in order to arouse New Orleanians to attend a rally against Long in Baton Rouge in the summer of 1934. Many attendees came armed and called for the lynching of the governor, but Walmsley belatedly toned down his rhetoric and asked for restraint.
After the rally, Long stepped up his assault on Walmsley by sending National Guard troops to occupy the registrar of voters office across the street from New Orleans City Hall, setting up machine guns in the windows and declaring martial law. The confrontation escalated; Walmsley had 400 city police sent to City Hall, while Long increased his own troop strength to 3,000 and had them equipped with tear gas guns. The standoff climaxed during the congressional election of September 1934; but just as in the mayoral election in January 1934, the potential for armed conflict was averted by a last-minute truce in which both Long’s National Guard and Walmsley’s police agreed to stay off the streets on election day to prevent voter intimidation.
Long also initiated a wide-ranging corruption investigation of the Walmsley administration, staging lurid radio testimonials from witnesses. The legislative attacks continued through 1934 and 1935; Long had laws passed stripping the municipal government of its remaining powers by having the state set budget amounts for the city and forbidding the firing of any city employee without state approval. Without the ability to collect its own revenue, New Orleans was on the verge of bankruptcy by the summer of 1935. Huey Long’s assassination on September 8, 1935 did not end the state’s discriminatory policies towards New Orleans, and dissatisfaction with this state of conflict with Long and caused Walmsley’s own Old Regular ward leaders to ask the mayor to resign in the hopes of lifting the legislative siege. Walmsley continued to resist this pressure and remained in office despite the defection of nearly the entire Old Regular organization; the Old Regular controlled city council stripped him of all remaining powers. Walmsley finally agreed to resign in June 1936; after several interim mayors, Walmsley would be succeeded by 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 :...
, a Longite loyalist, and the municipal government would regain the powers stripped from it by the state legislature during the feud.
After City Hall
After his resignation as mayor, Walmsley went to Washington to become deputy director of the office of Civilian Defense under Fiorello La Guardia. In March 1942, Walmsley returned to active service with the Air Force, but died three months later of a heart attack in San Antonio, TexasSan Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
on June 19, 1942.
Sources
- Boulard, Garry. Huey Long Invades New Orleans: The Siege of a City, 1934-36. Pelican, 1998.
- Glenn R. Conrad, ed. Dictionary of Louisiana Biography. Louisiana Historical Association, 1988
- New Orleans Public Library, Louisiana Division. “Administration of T. Semmes Walmsley.” http://nutrias.org/~nopl/info/louinfo/admins/walmsley.htm