Henry Loeb III was an American politician of the Democratic Party, who was mayor of Memphis, Tennessee, for two separate terms in the 1960s, from 1960 through 1963, and 1968 through 1971.
18 Facts About Henry Loeb
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Henry Loeb gained national notoriety in his second term for his role in opposing the demands of striking sanitation workers in early 1968.
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Henry Loeb's father was Jewish and his mother Irish Catholic.
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Henry Loeb then became a lieutenant in the navy and served on a patrol boat in World War II.
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Henry Loeb was Memphis's Public Works commissioner from 1956 to 1960.
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Henry Loeb was re-elected to a second term in November 1967.
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Henry Loeb converted to Episcopalianism immediately after he started his second term as mayor of Memphis on New Year's Day, 1968.
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Henry Loeb supported segregation, declaring support for "separate but equal facilities" and describing court-ordered integration as "anarchy".
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Henry Loeb won the 1967 election despite intense opposition from Memphis's black community.
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Henry Loeb received a large part of his criticism, as well as local support, for the local police's harsh and often violent treatment of strikers and sympathizers, which included local ministers, schoolchildren, and families of the workers.
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Henry Loeb was a notorious white supremacist, a segregationist and mayor during what came to be known as the Memphis sanitation strike of 1968.
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Henry Loeb had served previously as the head of the sanitation division and, during his tenure, oversaw grueling work conditions, including dangerous faulty equipment and vehicles, no city-issued uniforms, no sick pay, no overtime, no time off, no hygienic requirements for the disposal of garbage, no restrooms, and no grievance procedure for the numerous occasions on which they were underpaid.
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Henry Loeb refused to take dilapidated trucks out of service or pay overtime when men were forced to work late-night shifts.
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Henry Loeb rejected the City Council vote insisting that only he had the authority to recognize the union and refused to do so.
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Henry Loeb was married to the former Mary Gregg and they had two sons and a daughter.
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Henry Loeb was active in the Rotary Club, the Church of the Good Shepherd, and was instrumental in the early formation of the local Forrest City Area Humane Society.
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Henry Loeb owned an International Harvester dealership in Forrest City for many years and retired in the 1980s.
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Henry Loeb suffered a stroke in 1988, and died in September 1992.