Hulan Jack sworn in as Manhattan borough president - December 31, 1953

On this day in 1953, Democrat, Tammany Hall operative, and civil rights advocate Hulan Jack was sworn in as the borough president of Manhattan. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The day in history class. It's a production of I
Heart Radio. Hey, y'all, I'm closing out the decade from
the comfort of my own home, but I'm so glad
that you made it to the end of the year
with me. And still the show must go on. So
let's get into the last episode of the year. Today
is December one. The day was December thirty one, nineteen

(00:31):
fifty three, Quel and Jack was sworn in as Borough
President of Manhattan, making him the highest ranking black elected
municipal official in the US at the time. Jack was
born in St. Lucia. Jack's father was a minister and
was active in Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association. Jack's

(00:52):
family spent time on a various Caribbean islands, but when
he was a teenager, he accompanied his father on a
trip to New York City and stayed there even after
his father returned to the Caribbean. Jack's plan was to
get an American education, to find work, and to become
involved in politics, and he immediately set about reaching all
of those goals. Jack enrolled in the New York Evening

(01:15):
High School and got his diploma in ninety nine. He
later took evening classes at New York University, where he
completed three years of study towards a bachelor's degree in
business administration. Jack found work at a paper box factory,
and he managed to work his way from being a
box cutter there to being the vice president of sales.

(01:35):
But as he witnessed more racism and discrimination, Jack turned
toward a political career. In nineteen thirty Jack joined the
Democratic Party. The next year, he became a US citizen.
In nineteen thirty four, he married Gertrude Hewitt, with whom
he had one child. She died in nineteen thirty seven,
and four years later he married Almira Wilkinson. They also

(01:59):
had one child together. Jack entered politics as millions of
black people left the Republican Party to vote for Democrat
Franklin D. Roosevelt as president. He did face racism as
he became more involved in the Democratic Party, but in
nineteen forty he was elected to represent Harlem and the
New York State Assembly. He served as an assemblyman from

(02:20):
nineteen forty one to nineteen fifty three. After being re
elected several times, he became known as a Tammany Hall operative.
Tammany Hall was the Democratic Party, political machine that had
a lot of control in New York City and state
politics from the late eighteenth century to the nineteen sixties.
The organization was known for its support of impoverished people

(02:43):
in immigrants, as well as its corruption, but Jack was
also known for his advocacy for bills that struck down
segregation and discrimination. In nineteen fifty three, as the Republicans
moved towards choosing a black candidate for president of the
Borough of Manhattan, the Democrat Party decided to run Jack
for office. He won the election, becoming the first black

(03:05):
person to hold the office. Jack was the first Black
American to hold a major city elective posts since reconstruction.
It was a major win as the office came with
a decent salary of twenty five thou dollars and a
lot of recognition and power. During his time in office,
many improvements were made to the infrastructure in Manhattan and

(03:26):
more public housing was made available, even though some of
the projects he supported proved controversial. He was re elected
to a second term in nineteen fifty seven, but during
this term he ran into a political scandal that had
an impact on his position. Jack was convicted of accepting
an I legal gift of forty dollars after a contractor

(03:47):
refused to accept payment for renovations on his apartment. At
this point, Tammany Hall's power was waning and some people
were accusing Jack of being an uncle Tom for working
within the system. He resigned as borough president in nineteen sixty,
but he continued in politics and made good with constituents
despite becoming involved in another scandal. Jack argued that so

(04:12):
much heat was on him because of his race. He
was re elected to the New York State Assembly in
nineteen sixty eight, and he continued serving as district leader
of the Democratic Party, a position he held from nineteen
forty six to nineteen seventy two. But Jack would become
embroiled in political scandal yet again in nineteen seventy two,
when he was wrapped up in conflict of interest charges

(04:34):
related to a community service firm that he was a
partner in. He was convicted and sentenced to three months
in federal prison, which he served in nineteen seventy three.
Jack went on to advise other politicians endorsed the controversial
Lindon H. Laruge Jr. For the presidential nomination in nineteen
eighty and become the founder and executive board member of

(04:56):
the Schiller Institute, a political and economic think tank. Jack
died in New York City in nine His involvement in
political scandals, the decline of the Tammany Hall political machine,
changes to how political power was organized, and a shifting
landscape of race and politics all complicated his legacy. I'm

(05:17):
Eves Jeff Coote and hopefully you know a little more
about history today than you did yesterday. And if you
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(05:39):
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