Ted Blakey
{{Short description|American historian and businessman (1925–2004}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name =
| image =
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| birth_name = Theodore Robert Blakey
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1925|08|31}}
| birth_place = Yankton, South Dakota, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2004|10|14|1925|08|31}}
| death_place = Yankton, South Dakota
| burial_place = Garden of Memories Cemetery, Yankton, South Dakota
| other_names =
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| spouse = {{Plainlist|
- {{Marriage|Dorothy Edwards|1948|1981|end=d.}}
- {{Marriage|Chessie Wheeler|1991|end=}}
}}
}}
Theodore Robert Blakey (August 31, 1925 – October 14, 2004) was an American historian, businessman, and activist. He was instrumental in the civil rights movement in South Dakota and was leader of the committee that helped the state ratify the Twenty-fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Blakey was among the first African American leaders of Junior Chamber International, Kiwanis, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He was named the state's black historian in 1995 and was inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame in 1997.
Early life
Theodore Robert Blakey was born in Yankton, South Dakota, on August 31, 1925. His parents were Henry Blakey and Mary Fristoe, and Ted had ten older siblings. His parents had migrated from Missouri to South Dakota in 1905. He attended Grove Elementary School and earned his general education diploma in 1967.
Career
Blakey founded his first business, Blakey's Janitor Service, in 1956 and expanded into a pest control business in 1968. He created Ted Blakey Bail Bonds in 1975.
Blakey was active in several social organizations. He served as president of the local parent teacher association and school board. He was a member of Junior Chamber International and became the organization's first African-American senator in 1965. He became president of a local Kiwanis chapter in 1971, becoming one of the first African Americans to do so. In 1998, he was appointed the grandmaster of the South Dakota Chapter of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, making him the first African-American leader of any state lodge.
Political career
Blakey was a Republican and served as a delegate to several state and national Republican conventions. Governor Archie Gubbrud appointed him commissioner of South Dakota's Emancipation Proclamation Committee in 1963, overseeing the state's passage of the Twenty-fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which eliminated the poll tax.
In 1969, Governor Frank Farrar appointed Blakey to the State Human Relations Commission, which had been formed the previous year to address civil rights issues in South Dakota.
In 1995, Governor Bill Janklow appointed Blakey as the state's black historian.
Personal life
Awards and honors
Death
Blakey died in Yankton on October 14, 2004. He was buried on October 18 at the Garden of Memories Cemetery in Yankton.
See also
References
{{Reflist|refs=
{{cite news |last1=Bies |first1=Jarett C. |title=Chessie Blakey, civil rights marcher, dies at age 66 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/argus-leader-chessie-blakey-obituary/20677274/ |location=Washington, D.C. |access-date=November 25, 2024 |work=Argus Leader |date=June 8, 2000 |page=4B |department=Obituaries |via=Newspapers.com}}
{{cite news |last1=Hascall |first1=Randy |title=Dreams of freedom: Search for equality brought black pioneers to South Dakota |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/argus-leader-blakey-history-dreams-of-fr/15579546/ |access-date=November 25, 2024 |work=Argus Leader |date=January 17, 1994 |pages=[https://www.newspapers.com/article/argus-leader-blakey-history-dreams-of-fr/15579546/ 1B], [https://www.newspapers.com/article/argus-leader-blakey-history-dreams-of-fr/15579572/ 2B] |via=Newspapers.com}}
{{cite news |last1=Tucker |first1=Denise D. |title=Historian chronicles blacks in S.D. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/argus-leader-historian-chronicles-blacks/159761500/ |access-date=November 25, 2024 |work=Argus Leader |date=January 15, 2001 |location=Yankton |page=[Historian chronicles blacks in S.D. 1A], [https://www.newspapers.com/article/argus-leader-ted-blakey/20699626/ 5A] |via=Newspapers.com}}
{{cite news |last1=Tucker |first1=Denise D. |title=State's black historian, Ted Blakey, dies at 79 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/argus-leader-ted-blakey-dies-at-79/20699668/ |access-date=November 25, 2024 |work=Argus Leader |date=October 15, 2004 |pages=[https://www.newspapers.com/article/argus-leader-ted-blakey-dies-at-79/20699668/ 1B], [https://www.newspapers.com/article/argus-leader-ted-blakey-dies-at-79/20699734/ 8B] |department=Sioux Empire |via=Newspapers.com}}
{{cite news |title=Farrar Names Ted Blakey To Commission |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/argus-leader-ted-blakey-sr/29767614/ |access-date=November 25, 2024 |work=Sioux Falls Argus-Leader |agency=Associated Press |date=February 3, 1969 |location=Pierre |page=2 |via=Newspapers.com}}
{{cite news |title=Man named official black historian |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/argus-leader-ted-blakey-sr/29767542/ |access-date=November 25, 2024 |work=Argus Leader |department=Sioux Empire |date=March 8, 1995 |location=Yankton |page=2D |via=Newspapers.com}}
}}
External links
- [https://lib-umbra-prd-01.oit.umn.edu/catalog/c5dbca51f2018f5880d6230ff57ccbb8e2daa0e0 Oral history interview with Ted Blakey] from the University of South Dakota
- [https://sdarchives.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/accessions/2819 Theodore Blakey Collection] at the South Dakota State Historical Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blakey, Ted}}
Category:Politicians from Yankton, South Dakota
Category:African Americans in South Dakota
Category:American civil rights activists
Category:Activists from South Dakota
Category:South Dakota Republicans
Category:People of the African Methodist Episcopal church