Louis B. Anderson

{{infobox officeholder

|name=Louis B. Anderson

|image= File:Louis B. Anderson, 1921.png

|caption= Alderman Anderson depicted in the Chicago Tribune, 1921

|office=Alderman of the Chicago City Council from the 2nd ward

|alongside= Hugh Norris (1917–1918)
Robert R. Jackson (1918–1923)

|term_start=1917

|term_end=1933

|predecessor=Oscar Stanton De Priest

|successor=William L. Dawson

|birth_date=April 17, 1870

|birth_place=Petersburg, Virginia, U.S.

|death_date={{Death date and age|1946|5|28|1870|4|17}}

|death_place=Chicago, Illinois, U.S.

|party=Republican

}}

Louis Bernard Anderson (April 17, 1870 – May 28, 1946) was an American politician who served as alderman of Chicago's 2nd ward from 1917 to 1933. A Republican, he served most of the Douglas community area, including much of the African-American neighborhood of Bronzeville. He was a prominent ally of mayor William Hale Thompson, and served as his floor leader throughout the 1920s.

Early life

Born on April 17, 1870, in Petersburg, Virginia, Anderson moved to Washington, D.C., in 1889 to work in journalism as an exchange reader,{{cite news |title=The Exchange Editor. His Daily Grind Is Heavy But There Are Some Compensations |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=LAH18981225.2.146&e= |accessdate=17 May 2019 |work=Los Angeles Herald |date=25 December 1898 |location=Los Angeles |page=9 |quote=He sees so many newspapers (for) ... any news justifying reprinting|via=CDNC California Digital Newspaper Collection}} and journalist. At some point he was employed by the newspaperman Major Moses P. Handy;{{cite web |title=Moses P. Handy Papers |url=https://www.chipublib.org/fa-moses-p-handy-papers/ |website=chipublib.org |publisher=Chicago Public Library |accessdate=17 May 2019}} when Handy was appointed promoter general of the World's Columbian Exposition in 1892, he would follow him to Chicago as his assistant.{{cite book |last1=Reed |first1=Christopher Robert |title=All the World is Here!: The Black Presence at White City |date=2000 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=0253215358 |page=8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n_smrzqiQtgC&pg=PA8 |accessdate=17 May 2019 |quote=The young journalist (Anderson) eagerly prepared for his assignment as exchange reader, perhaps sensing that a journey to Chicago might change his life forever, as in fact it did.}}{{cite web |title=Louis B. Anderson, Class of 1897 |url=https://alumni.kentlaw.iit.edu/alumni-distinction-louis-anderson |website=Illinois Institute of Technology |accessdate=April 9, 2019}}

After working as Handy's assistant Anderson worked as a secretary for Buffalo Bill,Michaeli p. 17 following the showman's Wild West Show to its ranch in North Platte, Nebraska. Unsatisfied with prairie life he returned to Chicago and attended the Chicago-Kent College of Law. After graduating in 1897 he befriended Robert S. Abbott, threatening a printer with the loss of city contracts unless it employed Abbott, and became a contributing editor of Abbott's Chicago Defender. He then became an attorney, serving as a county attorney and assistant corporation counsel under Mayor Fred Busse.

He was the victim of an attempted robbery at 29th Street and Wabash Avenue on March 1, 1905. He was not intimidated and was armed. He shot one of the two assailants through his overcoat, the bullet passing through his lung, mortally wounding him.{{cite news |title=Fatally shoots a highwayman |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31620146/louis_b_anderson/ |url-access=subscription |accessdate=16 May 2019 |work=Alton Evening Telegraph |date=2 March 1905 |page=3|via=newspapers.com}}{{cite news |title=Robbers Busy; One is Shot |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31632288/louis_b_anderson_shooting_full_story/ |accessdate=16 May 2019 |work=Chicago Tribune |date=1 March 1905 |location=Chicago, Illinois |page=1 |quote=Later, the police say, St Amand confessed trying to hold up Anderson. He is shot through the lungs and the physicians say be cannot recover.}}

Political career

A Republican, Anderson was elected to represent Chicago's 2nd ward in 1917, becoming Chicago's second African-American alderman after his predecessor Oscar Stanton De Priest.{{cite web |title=DE PRIEST, Oscar Stanton |url=https://history.house.gov/People/Detail/12155?ret=True#biography |website=US House of Representatives: History, Art, and Archives |publisher=United States House of Representatives |accessdate=April 9, 2019}} De Priest had resigned in scandal after being indicted of accepting a bribe from a gambling establishment, of which he would eventually be acquitted. Anderson was one of four African-American candidates for the office and was backed by City Hall and De Priest supporters.{{cite news |title=Faction battle splits Negroes in Second Ward |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/355246792/ |accessdate=April 9, 2019 |work=Chicago Tribune |date=February 16, 1917 |url-access=subscription |via=Newspapers.com}} His main opponent in the race was William Rudolph Cowan, an African-American real-estate broker who had the backing of reformers. He won the contest, joining fellow Republican Hugh Norris in representing the 2nd ward on the City Council.{{cite news |title=The Common Council |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/78261920/ |accessdate=April 9, 2019 |work=Chicago Eagle |date=April 21, 1917|url-access=subscription |via=Newspapers.com}} De Priest attempted to retake his seat in 1918 but narrowly fell in the Republican primary to Major Robert R. Jackson,{{cite news |title=City Hall men lose at polls; Lundin beaten |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/355148407/ |accessdate=April 9, 2019 |work=Chicago Tribune |date=February 27, 1918 |url-access=subscription |via=Newspapers.com}}{{efn|Anderson did not run, as Chicago aldermen served staggered two-year terms at the time.}} who would go on to win the general election.

Throughout the 1920s he was a prominent ally of mayor William Hale Thompson and served as his floor leader in the Council. "Big Bill" Thompson had previously been alderman of the 2nd ward from 1900 to 1902{{cite web |title=Centennial List of Mayors, City Clerks, City Attorneys, City Treasurers, and Aldermen, elected by the people of the city of Chicago, from the incorporation of the city on March 4, 1837, to March 4, 1937, arranged in alphabetical order, showing the years during which each official held office. |url=http://chsmedia.org/media/fa/fa/LIB/AldermansList.htm |publisher=Chicago Historical Society |accessdate=May 16, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180904052355/http://chsmedia.org/media/fa/fa/LIB/AldermansList.htm |archive-date=September 4, 2018 |url-status=dead }} and was immensely popular with the city's African-American community.Schottenhamel p. 43 In 1921, when R. E. Parker of the Chicago Advocate confronted Thompson with the problems of 20,000 unemployed African-Americans and charged that the 2nd ward was full of graft and corruption, Anderson defended the mayor, calling Parker a "trouble maker among his own people", denying allegations of racism in Thompson's layoff practices, and responding to the charges of graft thus:

{{Quote|If he has the proof why doesn't he take it to the grand jury? There is no use to worry the mayor with it. The grand jury is investigating crime conditions in Chicago now, and I'm sure [it] would be glad to get evidence such as Parker says he has.{{cite news |title=Negroes to put job problems up to the Mayor |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/355060480/ |url-access=subscription |accessdate=May 16, 2019 |work=Chicago Tribune |volume=80 |issue=44 |page=5 |date=February 21, 1921 |via=Newspapers.com}}}}

In 1922 he had the architects Michaelsen & Rognstad, build him a house at 3800 S. Calumet, the surrounding area would take on the name of this house Bronzeville.{{cite web |title=Landmark Designation Report – Giles-Calumet District |url=https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/city/depts/zlup/Historic_Preservation/Publications/Giles_Calumet_District.pdf |website=chicago.gov |publisher=City of Chicago |accessdate=17 May 2019 |page=2 |date=10 July 2008}}

Also in 1922 Anderson served on a committee looking into the Ku Klux Klan's alleged activities in the City's affairs, he and two other aldermen announced to the press that they had received death threats.{{cite news |title=Says Chicago Klan threatens lives |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31632410/louis_b_anderson_life_threatened/ |url-access=subscription |accessdate=16 May 2019 |work=The Decatur Daily Review |date=23 December 1922 |location=Decatur, Illinois |page=5 |quote=Robert J Mulchy, Louis B. Anderson and U. S. Schwartz, city aldermen, who are members of a committee investigating alleged activities of the Kn Klux In city affairs, announced Friday they had received letters threatening their lives.|via= Newspapers.com}}

In 1923 Chicago's wards were increased from 35 to 50, while the number of aldermen per ward was decreased from two to one. Jackson was redistricted to the new 3rd ward, while Anderson kept his 2nd ward seat. In 1923 he was implicated in collecting more than $15,000{{efn|${{Inflation|US|15000|1923|2018|r=-4|fmt=c}} in 2018}} in protection money in the span of twenty months from a black and tan resort.{{cite news |title=Hit in Vice Quiz |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/354937482/ |accessdate=April 12, 2019 |work=Chicago Tribune |date=February 14, 1923|url-access=subscription |via=Newspapers.com}} In light of a related grand jury investigation, an illness, and the fact that Thompson declined to seek re-election that year, it was rumored that he would step down as alderman as well.{{cite news |title=Thompson's fall alters face of aldermanic race |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/354952334/ |url-access=subscription |accessdate=May 16, 2019 |work=Chicago Tribune |volume=82 |issue=4 |page=5 |date=January 28, 1923 |via=Newspapers.com}} He still contested the election and won with a majority of 1,037 votes,{{cite news |title=Elected aldermen |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/355115457/ |url-access=subscription |accessdate=May 16, 2019 |work=Chicago Tribune |volume=82 |issue=51 |page=1 |date=February 28, 1923 |via=Newspapers.com}} defeating eight opponents to avoid a runoff.{{cite news |title=Aldermanic vote by wards |url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/355115468/ |url-access=subscription |accessdate=May 16, 2019 |work=Chicago Tribune |volume=82 |issue=51 |page=2 |date=February 28, 1923 |via=Newspapers.com}}

Democrat William Emmett Dever was elected mayor in 1923; Anderson opposed his 1924 budget, claiming that his proposed reclassification of hundreds of civil service jobs was meant to eliminate the current civil service workers.{{cite news |title=Council tears holes in Dever budget plans |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/355039303/ |url-access=subscription |accessdate=May 16, 2019 |work=Chicago Tribune |volume=83 |issue=55 |page=2 |date=March 4, 1924 |via=Newspapers.com}} In that same year he served as a delegate to the 1924 Republican National Convention.{{cite web |last1=Kestenbaum |first1=Lawrence |title=Index to Politicians: Anderson, K to N |url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/anderson6.html |website=The Political Graveyard |accessdate=April 9, 2019}} Upon Thompson's return to the mayoral office following the 1927 election rumor had it that Anderson was likely to receive the "prize plum" of the chairmanship of the Council's finance committee,{{cite news |title=Start reshaping Council today on Thompson model |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/354945767/ |url-access=subscription |accessdate=May 16, 2019 |work=Chicago Tribune |volume=86 |issue=83 |page=5 |date=April 7, 1927 |via=Newspapers.com}} but Council Democrats worked to keep him off the committee and it seemed likely that the position would go instead to 30th ward alderman John Clark.{{cite news |last1=Warren |first1=Carl |title=Pick Ald. Kaindl again to guide terminal group |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/354947070/ |url-access=subscription |accessdate=May 16, 2019 |work=Chicago Tribune |volume=86 |issue=15 |page=5 |agency=Chicago Tribune Press Service |date=April 10, 1927 |via=Newspapers.com}}

In the 1931 election he initially had five opponents, but rulings by the board of election commissioners invalidated the nominating petitions for all of them, leaving him unopposed.{{cite news |title=Board removes 64 from race for aldermen |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/355107433/ |url-access=subscription |accessdate=May 16, 2019 |work=Chicago Tribune |volume=90 |issue=6 |page=12 |date=February 8, 1931 |via=Newspapers.com}} In that year's mayoral election he abandoned Thompson,Schottenhamel p. 47 whose popularity had plummeted due to crime and the Great Depression and who would be decisively defeated in the contest by Democrat Anton Cermak.Schottenhamel p. 48 Nevertheless, the 2nd ward was one of five in the city that voted Thompson, and having campaigned expressly against Anderson Cermak removed him from the finance committee.{{cite book |last1=Reed |first1=Christopher Robert |title=The Depression comes to the South Side: Protest and politics in the Black Metropolis 1930–1933 |url=https://archive.org/details/depressioncomest00reed |url-access=limited |date=2011 |publisher=Indiana University Press |location=Bloomington, Indiana |isbn=978-0-253-35652-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/depressioncomest00reed/page/n78 58]}} Later in the year he considered running for the United States House of Representatives against De Priest, then the only African-American in Congress.{{cite news |title=Opposing Congressman DePriest |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/40794223/ |url-access=subscription |accessdate=May 16, 2019 |work=The New York Age |volume=45 |issue=4 |page=4 |date=October 3, 1931 |via=Newspapers.com}} The Chicago Review, despite its dislike for De Priest, suggested that such a course of action was ill-advised, a conclusion also reached by The New York Age.

He did not run for re-election in 1933, and was succeeded in office by William L. Dawson, who had the backing of the De Priest organization.{{cite news |title=M. V. L. favors Cusack, Butler, Hess, and Egan |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/354927980/ |url-access=subscription |accessdate=May 16, 2019 |work=Chicago Tribune |volume=92 |issue=9 Part 7 |page=2 |date=February 26, 1933 |via=Newspapers.com}} In 1936 he ran for the Republican nomination for Illinois's 1st congressional district,{{cite news |title=Congressional and State Committee Petitions |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/355256071/ |url-access=subscription |accessdate=May 16, 2019 |work=Chicago Tribune |volume=95 |issue=6 |page=4 |date=February 9, 1936 |via=Newspapers.com}} falling to De Priest. De Priest would in turn lose to Democrat Arthur Wergs Mitchell.{{cite news |title=State Demos hold seats in Congress |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/94331157/ |url-access=subscription |accessdate=May 16, 2019 |work=The Decatur Herald |volume=56 |page=7 |agency=Associated Press |date=November 5, 1936 |via=Newspapers.com}}

Personal life

Anderson was a partner of Chicago-based Anderson-Watkins Film Co., which in 1913 produced and distributed a three-reel film known as A Day at Tuskegee.{{cite book |last1=Harlan |first1=Louis R. |last2=Smock |first2=Raymond W. |title=Booker T. Washington Papers Volume 9: 1906–1908 |date=1980 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |location=Urbana, Illinois; Chicago, Illinois; and London |isbn=0-252-00771-9 |page=443}} Anderson was married to Julia E. Anderson prior to her death in 1931.{{cite news |title=Wife of Ald. Anderson of Second Ward Is Dead |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/354922470/ |accessdate=April 9, 2019 |work=Chicago Tribune |date=May 17, 1931 |url-access=subscription |via=Newspapers.com}} He eloped with Oneita Starks in 1933,{{cite news |title=Rumored that Louis B. Anderson secretly married |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/40870973/ |url-access=subscription |accessdate=May 16, 2019 |work=The New York Age |agency=CNS |date=April 15, 1933 |via=Newspapers.com}} remaining married to her until his death.

Having been ill since Christmas, he died in his Chicago home on May 28, 1946, of bronchial pneumonia.{{cite news |title=Louis Anderson, Ex-Alderman of 2d ward, dies |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/370238791/ |accessdate=April 3, 2019 |work=Chicago Tribune |date=May 29, 1946 |url-access=subscription |via=Newspapers.com}} Services were held in St. Thomas' Episcopal Church on June 1.