Bull Connor facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Bull Connor
President of the Alabama Public Service Commission
In office January 18, 1965 – January 17, 1972
Preceded by	Jack Owen
Succeeded by	Kenneth Hammond
Birmingham Commissioner of Public Safety
In office 1957–1963
Preceded by	Robert Lindbergh
Succeeded by	Position abolished
In office 1937–1952
Preceded by	W. O. Downs
Succeeded by	Robert Lindbergh
Member of the Alabama House of Representatives
In office 1935–1937
Personal details
Born	Theophilus Eugene Connor (1897-07-11)July 11, 1897 Selma, Alabama, U.S.
Died	March 10, 1973(1973-03-10) (aged 75) Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
Political party	Democratic Dixiecrat
Spouse	Beara Levens
Children	2

Theophilus Eugene “Bull” Connor (July 11, 1897 – March 10, 1973) was an American politician. He was a member of the Democratic Party. For over two decades, he served as the Commissioner of Public Safety for Birmingham, Alabama. In this role, he was in charge of the city's police and fire departments.

Bull Connor was a strong opponent of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. He supported racial segregation, which meant keeping Black and white people separate. He also denied civil rights to Black citizens. This was especially true during the 1963 Birmingham campaign. This campaign was led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Connor became known around the world as a symbol of institutional racism and police brutality. He ordered police to use powerful fire hoses and police dogs against civil rights activists. This included using them against children who were supporting the protests. National news showed these actions on television, which shocked many people across the country. These events helped lead to big social and legal changes in the Southern United States. They also helped the United States Congress pass the important Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Early Life and Start in Politics

Connor was born in 1897 in Selma, Alabama. His father was a train dispatcher.

He began his political career in 1934. He won a seat in the Alabama House of Representatives. As a lawmaker, he supported ideas that helped white working-class people. He voted to keep the poll tax, which made it harder for poor Black and white people to vote. In 1936, he decided not to run for a second term. Instead, he ran for Commissioner of Public Safety in Birmingham. During this time, Connor also worked as a radio announcer for the Birmingham Barons baseball team.

Commissioner of Public Safety (1936–1963)

In 1936, Connor was elected Commissioner of Public Safety in Birmingham. He held this job for a total of 26 years over two periods. His first time in office ended in 1952. He was re-elected in 1956 and served until 1963.

In 1948, Connor's police officers arrested Glen H. Taylor. Taylor was a U.S. Senator from Idaho. He was arrested for breaking Birmingham's racial segregation laws. Connor said he was enforcing the law because he believed the group Taylor was with had communist ideas.

During the 1948 Democratic National Convention, Connor led the Alabama group in walking out. This happened when the national party added a civil rights plan to its goals. The group that walked out formed the States' Rights Democratic Party. They chose Strom Thurmond as their presidential candidate.

Fighting for Segregation

After returning to office in 1956, Connor quickly went back to his harsh ways. He saw civil rights efforts as threats to the social order. For example, he raided a meeting at the home of Black activist Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth. He feared that the Montgomery Bus Boycott would spread to Birmingham. He had the ministers arrested on charges of vagrancy. This meant they could not get bail or visitors for three days.

Reverend Shuttlesworth continued his civil rights work even though he faced threats. He and his wife were attacked by a racist group. This happened after they tried to use "white" restrooms at a bus station.

In 1962, Connor ordered 60 Birmingham parks to close. He did this rather than follow a federal court order to desegregate public places.

The Freedom Riders

In the spring of 1961, civil rights activists started "Freedom Rides." These rides aimed to show that racial segregation on interstate buses was illegal. These buses were supposed to follow federal law. The activists rode Greyhound and Trailways buses through Southern states. They faced more and more violence as they went deeper into the South.

On May 14, 1961, the Freedom Riders arrived in Birmingham. A large group of Klansmen and news reporters were waiting for them. The Riders were attacked soon after they got off the bus. They tried to get service at the whites-only lunch counter. Some reporters were also beaten and their cameras destroyed. Police finally arrived after 15 minutes. By then, most of the Klansmen had left.

Connor later said that no police were there because they were visiting their mothers on Mother's Day. He claimed the violence came from people from out of town. He said police rushed to the scene "as quickly as possible." The violence was shown by national news.

He stated:

As I have said on numerous occasions, we are not going to stand for this in Birmingham. And if necessary we will fill the jail full and we don't care whose toes we step on. I am saying now to these meddlers from out of our city the best thing for them to do is stay out if they don't want to get slapped in jail. Our people of Birmingham are a peaceful people and we never have any trouble here unless some people come into our city looking for trouble. And I've never seen anyone yet look for trouble who wasn't able to find it.

In November 1962, Birmingham voters changed the city's government. This was partly because of the city's bad image. It was called "Bombingham" by some outsiders. Connor tried to run for mayor but lost on April 2, 1963. He left his job as Commissioner of Public Safety on May 23, 1963.

The Birmingham Campaign

Local civil rights activists had struggled to make changes in Birmingham. They invited Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his team to help. The day after Connor lost the mayoral election, Dr. King and local leaders started "Project 'C'." This stood for "confrontation." They used economic boycotts and demonstrations. They wanted to integrate stores and create job opportunities for Black people. In April 1963, King led smaller protests. He and many others were arrested.

King wanted many people to be arrested. This would show the harsh police tactics used by Connor. After King was jailed, he wrote his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail. This letter explained why civil rights activism was morally right. The campaign aimed to fill jails with peaceful protesters. This would show the national media and local people how much African Americans wanted their constitutional rights.

The Children's Crusade

In the final part of Project C, Southern Christian Leadership Conference leader James Bevel suggested a new idea. He proposed using young people in the protests. Most adults were working and could not take time off. On May 2, 1963, young people and students walked out of the 16th Street Baptist Church. They tried to march to Birmingham's City Hall. They wanted to talk to the Mayor. By the end of the day, 959 children, aged 6 to 18, had been arrested.

The next day, even more students joined the marches. Connor ordered the use of fire hoses and police dogs against them. This did not stop the protesters. However, it created very bad news for Connor in the media. The use of fire hoses continued. By May 7, Connor and the police had arrested over 3,000 protesters.

The economic boycott by Black citizens helped bring about talks. Businesses that refused to hire Black people or kept segregated facilities were affected. The SCLC and the Senior Citizens Committee, representing most Birmingham businesses, reached an agreement. On May 10, they agreed to:

• Desegregate lunch counters, restrooms, fitting rooms, and drinking fountains in department stores.
• Improve job positions and hire more Black people.
• Work with SCLC lawyers to release all arrested protesters.
• Create formal communication between Black and white leaders.

Later Life and Death

On June 3, 1964, Connor was elected president of the Alabama Public Service Commission. He had a stroke on December 7, 1966. After this, he used a wheelchair for the rest of his life. He died a few weeks later, in March 1973, after another stroke.

Legacy

Connor's harsh actions and violence against civil rights activists contributed to more violence against Black people in Birmingham. In September 1963, the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing killed four African-American girls. The church was a center for civil rights activities in Birmingham. The deaths of the children led Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy to call Governor George Wallace. Kennedy threatened to send federal troops to control the violence in Birmingham.