Federal building may have name cut
A bill that would strike the name of the late Clifford Davis from Memphis’ Downtown federal building has passed a committee hearing and is headed to the U.S. House of Representatives floor later this year.
U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen sponsored the bill. It passed unanimously with bipartisan support in a House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing on Wednesday.
Cohen, who listed highlights of Davis’ racist past, noted Davis was a strong proponent of Jim Crow laws and often touted one of his favorite slogans, “Keep Memphis down in Dixie.”
The building is currently named the Clifford Davis-odell Horton Federal Building.
“Clifford Davis’ family learned of the idea of changing the name to simply the Odell Horton building, and the family said ‘We are proud of Cliff Davis’ many contributions to Memphis, but his membership in the Klan and support of Jim Crow cannot be excused,’” Cohen said.
Davis, who died in 1970, was a judge in Memphis who sought and received the help of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s to further his political ambitions, according to the Tennessee Historical Society.
Davis was seeking the KKK’S help after his candidacy for city judge was opposed by Mayor Rowlett Paine, whom Davis worked for as an executive secretary.
The KKK was backing a number of elections at the time, and Davis was the only candidate to win his position, overcoming political opposition from both Paine and Edward Hull Crump, who Davis would later align with politically.
With KKK backing, Davis won his bid for city judge in the early 1920s.
In 2007, Odell Horton’s name was added to the building after a bill sponsored by Cohen and co-sponsored by then U.S. Representative Marsha Blackburn. Odell Horton was the first Black federal judge in Tennessee following the Reconstruction Era.
The building is home to a number of federal offices and judges. Multiple demonstrations have occurred outside of the building in recent years, including one on the occasion of a 2017 visit from former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Micaela Watts is a reporter for The Commercial Appeal and can be reached at micaela.watts@commercialappeal.com.