Follow Us
Like Us
Historical records matching Henry Loeb, III
view all
Immediate Family
-
Privatespouse -
Private Userchild
-
Privatechild
-
Privatechild
-
father -
mother
-
brother
About Henry Loeb, III
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Loeb
Henry Loeb III (December 9, 1920 – September 8, 1992) was an American politician of the Democratic party, who was mayor of Memphis, Tennessee for two separate terms in the 1960s, from 1960 through 1963, and 1968 through 1971. He gained national notoriety in his second term for his role in opposing the demands of striking sanitation workers in early 1968.
Henry Loeb, who was mayor when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated here during a sanitation workers' strike in 1968, died Tuesday. He was 71. Loeb died at 5:40 p.m. at Baptist Memorial Hospital. He had been a patient there for a month. A stroke in 1988 left Loeb unable to talk. Loeb had an aggressive, sometimes confrontational style, which many blamed for the situation that led to the assassination of King. Early in his second term as mayor, Loeb faced a strike by city sanitation workers organized by Local 1733 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The strike started after 22 black sewer-and-drain workers had work canceled due to rain and were paid for only two hours, while their white supervisors were paid for a full day's work. The incident was aggravated by the accidental death of two workers, who were crushed by a garbage compressor. Although AFSCME had only 40 dues-paying members out of 1,300 sanitation employees when union president T. O. Jones called a strike meeting, more than 400 workers showed up. The next day, more than 1,100 workers stayed off the job. Loeb declared the strike to be illegal under state law, and insisted workers return to their jobs. He refused to recognize the union as the bargaining agent for the employees, and turned back conciliation efforts by political moderates and friends. Black clergy and NAACP officials brought in prominent civil rights leaders, including King, who was slain April 4, 1968, at the Lorraine Motel. King's death touched off rioting, sparked national outrage, and prompted President Lyndon Johnson and others to urge Loeb to settle the garbage strike. Although the strike ended April 16, the city was left sharply divided and traumatized. Through the years, Loeb gave no indication he was wrong in his dispute with the sanitation workers or that he would change the way he handled it. His supporters have pointed to his strong conservative fiscal record as mayor and said Loeb's actions were based on concern for the city tax dollar and not any racial motivation. In a meeting with foreign journalists in 1971, Loeb said: "I intensely regret the death of Dr. King here, but we do not like to remind ourselves of something that has hurt the community so much. We are looking ahead, not back." As Loeb left office in January 1972, The Commercial Appeal editorially discussed his "apparent inability to tolerate differences with his own opinion." The editorial also said, in part: "Henry Loeb has acted as a man without doubts who did what he believed was right for the city. We all have to respect him for that." Loeb was fond of saying that The Commercial Appeal was a newspaper he could smell on his doorstep. He lived in Forrest City, Ark., where he had owned a farm equipment dealership, but still sponsored Henry Loeb 's Dutch Treat Luncheon in Memphis each month. He was born Dec. 9, 1920. His grandfather, Henry Loeb, founded Loeb's Laundry. His father, William Loeb, was active in civic affairs. Henry Loeb graduated from Brown University in Providence, R.I., in 1943 and served in the Navy in World War II. In 1951, Loeb was appointed to the Memphis Park Commision and served six years. He won as an independent for the old City Commission in 1955. Loeb announced for mayor in 1959 and was elected at the age of 39. He resigned Oct. 12, 1963, to take over the family business. During his first term as mayor, Loeb was an ardent segregationist and fiscal conservative, opposing projects such as construction of a new stadium, a civic center, a fine arts center. He became mayor for the second time on Jan. 1, 1968, after the city switched from a commission form of government to the present council-mayor system. Lawyer William W. Farris, who succeeded Loeb as public works commissioner on the old commission, said, "Henry was a hard worker and loved his job. He liked people. "We were friends...I remember that when I tried to change things he would jump on me, because he had had the job before I did; but it was fun." Shelby County Mayor Bill Morris, reached in Nashville, said, "We were friends for years. He sure had a lot of friends he had made throughout the years. He was mayor during some difficult times. I have received notes from him from time to time about what we were doing. It was always good to hear from him." Fred Davis, who was one of the first three blacks elected to the City Council, served from 1968 to 1979. "Mayor Loeb and I got along very well. We didn't always agree but one thing you could be assured of that he would shoot as straight as an arrow." July 29, Loeb's brother, William L. Loeb, died at 68. Funeral for Henry Loeb will be Thursday at St. John's Episcopal Church at 2 p.m. Memorial Park Funeral Home has charge. He leaves his wife, Mary Gregg Loeb; two sons, Henry Gregg Loeb of Memphis and Thomas Calhoun Loeb of Forrest City; a daughter, Elizabeth Loeb MacKenzie of Dallas, and two grandchildren. (Published in The Commercial Appeal 9/9/1992)
- Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Mar 16 2021, 3:02:49 UTC
view all
Henry Loeb, III's Timeline
| 1920 |
December 9, 1920
|
Memphis, Shelby, Tennessee, United States
|
|
| 1992 |
September 8, 1992
Age 71
|
Memphis, Shelby, Tennessee, United States
|
|
| ???? |
Memorial Park Cemetery, Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee, USA
|