Crusades for Freedom: Memphis and the Political Transformation of the American South

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Description

During the first half of the 20 th century, the city of Memphis was once governed by the Shelby County Democratic Party controlled by Edward Hull Crump, described by Time magazine as “essentially the most absolute political boss within the U.S.” Crusades for Freedom chronicles the demise of the Crump political machine and the corresponding upward thrust to power of the South’s two minorities, African Americans and Republicans.

Between the years 1948 and 1968, Memphis emerged as a battleground within the struggle to create a strong two-party South. For the first time in its history, both Republican and Democratic presidential candidates campaigned vigorously for the Bluff City’s votes. Closely tied to those changing political fortunes was once the struggle of African Americans to overturn two centuries of discrimination. On the same time, many believed that the city needed a more up to date political structure to satisfy the challenges of the 1950s and 1960s, preferably a mayor-city council governmental structure. By 1968 the segregated social order had collapsed, black politicians were firmly entrenched inside the Democratic party, southern whites had swelled the ranks of the GOP, and Memphis had adopted a new city charter.

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