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| successor =
| successor =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1891|7|16}}
| birth_date = {{birth date|1891|7|16}}
| birth_place = [[Dalcour, Louisiana|Dalcour]], [[Louisiana]]
| birth_place = [[Dalcour, Louisiana]], U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1969|3|19|1891|7|16}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|1969|3|19|1891|7|16}}
| death_place = [[Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana|Plaquemines Parish]], [[Louisiana]]
| death_place = [[Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana]], U.S.
| spouse = Agnes Octave Perez
| spouse = Agnes Octave Perez
| children = 4
| children = 4
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| footnotes =
}}
}}
'''Leander Henry Perez Sr.''' (July 16, 1891 – March 19, 1969) was the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] [[political boss]] of [[Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana|Plaquemines]] and [[St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana|St. Bernard]] parishes in southeastern [[Louisiana]] during the middle third of the 20th century. Officially, he served as a district judge, later as district attorney, and as president of the Plaquemines Parish Commission Council. He helped lead efforts to enforce and preserve [[Racial segregation in the United States|segregation]].
'''Leander Henry Perez Sr.''' (July 16, 1891 – March 19, 1969) was an American [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] [[political boss]] of [[Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana|Plaquemines]] and [[St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana|St. Bernard]] parishes in southeastern [[Louisiana]] during the middle third of the 20th century. Officially, he served as a district judge, later as district attorney, and as president of the Plaquemines Parish Commission Council. He was known for leading efforts to enforce and preserve [[Racial segregation in the United States|segregation]].
{{TOClimit|2}}


==Early life and education==
==Early life and education==
Perez was born in the community of [[Dalcour, Louisiana|Dalcour]], on the east bank of Plaquemines Parish, to Roselius E. "Fice" Perez (died 1939) and the former Gertrude Solis (died 1944). The Perez and Solis families were [[Isleño (Louisiana)|Isleños]], an ethnic community descended from settlers from the [[Canary Islands]], Spain.<ref>{{cite book
Perez was born in the community of [[Dalcour, Louisiana|Dalcour]], on the east bank of Plaquemines Parish, to Roselius E. "Fice" Perez (died 1939) and the former Gertrude Solis (died 1944). The Perez and Solis families were [[Isleño (Louisiana)|Isleños]], an ethnic community descended from settlers from the [[Canary Islands]], Spain.<ref name="Din1988">{{cite book
|last= Din
|last= Din
|first= Gilbert C.
|first= Gilbert C.
Line 35: Line 36:
|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=LsYXeiw7XEUC&q=Albert+Estopinal,+Jr.&pg=PA134
|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=LsYXeiw7XEUC&q=Albert+Estopinal,+Jr.&pg=PA134
|access-date= January 9, 2011
|access-date= January 9, 2011
}}</ref> Perez was educated in New Orleans schools, [[Louisiana State University]] at [[Baton Rouge]], and the [[Tulane University Law School]] in New Orleans. Perez opened a law practice in New Orleans and in Plaquemines Parish.
}}</ref> Perez attended [[Holy Cross School (New Orleans)|Holy Cross School]] in New Orleans for his secondary education but he did not graduate from the school.<ref name="LP-BOTD">{{cite book|last= Jeansonne|first=Glen|title=Leander Perez: Boss of the Delta|publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi|date=2006|pages=6–11|isbn=978-1-6047-3637-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A2ZXz67oSdAC&dq=leander+perez+holy+cross+high+school&pg=PA6|access-date=January 22, 2024}}</ref> He later enrolled at [[Louisiana State University]] in [[Baton Rouge]] as a subfreshman and graduated from the university in 1912.<ref name="LP-BOTD"/> In the fall of 1912, Perez was admitted to [[Tulane University Law School]] in New Orleans and after graduating in 1914, he began his law practice in New Orleans and in Plaquemines Parish.<ref name="LP-BOTD"/>


==Political career==
==Political career==
In 1919, Judge Perez launched a reign of bought elections and strictly enforced [[Racial segregation|segregation]] by ensuring laws were enacted on his fiat and rubber-stamped by the parish governing councils. Elections under Perez's reign were sometimes blatantly falsified, with voting records appearing in alphabetical order and names of national celebrities such as [[Babe Ruth]], [[Charlie Chaplin]], and [[Herbert Hoover]] appearing on the rolls. Perez-endorsed candidates often won with 90% or more of the ballots. Those who appeared to vote were intimidated by Perez's enforcers. He sent large tough men into the voting booths to "help" people vote. Many voters were bribed. Perez testified that he bribed voters $2, $5, and $10 to vote his way, depending on who they were.
In 1919, Judge Perez launched a reign of bought elections and strictly enforced [[Racial segregation|segregation]] by ensuring laws were enacted on his fiat and rubber-stamped by the parish governing councils. Elections under Perez's reign were sometimes blatantly falsified, with voting records appearing in alphabetical order and names of national celebrities such as [[Babe Ruth]], [[Charlie Chaplin]], and [[Herbert Hoover]] appearing on the rolls. Perez-endorsed candidates often won with 90% or more of the ballots. Those who appeared to vote were intimidated by Perez's enforcers. He sent large tough men into the voting booths to "help" people vote. Many voters were bribed. Perez testified that he bribed voters $2, $5, and $10 to vote his way, depending on who they were.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=1965-04-09 |title=Civil Rights: The Continuing Confrontation |language=en-US |magazine=Time |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,898580,00.html |access-date=2023-10-04 |issn=0040-781X}}</ref>


Perez took action to suppress [[African-Americans]] from voting within his domain, but most were already [[Disfranchisement after Reconstruction era|disenfranchised]] due to the state constitution passed at the turn of the century, which added requirements for payment of [[poll tax (United States)|poll taxes]] and passing [[literacy tests]] in order to register to vote. Subjective and discriminatory treatment by white registrars prevented most blacks from registering.
Perez took action to suppress [[African-Americans]] from voting within his domain, but most were already [[Disfranchisement after Reconstruction era|disenfranchised]] due to the state constitution passed at the turn of the century, which added requirements for payment of [[poll tax (United States)|poll taxes]] and passing [[literacy tests]] in order to register to vote. Subjective and discriminatory treatment by white registrars prevented most blacks from registering.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}


==Illegal oil deals==
==Illegal oil deals==
Starting in 1936, Perez diverted millions from government funds through illegal land deals. When he was a district attorney, he was the legal adviser to the Plaquemines levee boards. He used this position to negotiate payoffs between corporations he set up and the big oil companies that leased the levee board lands for drilling. "As early as 1941, Perez's ties to companies involved in lucrative mineral leases were under investigation. In 1983, it was discovered that $80 million in oil royalties had been paid to Delta Development Co., which Perez secretly owned."<ref name="nola"/> After Perez's death, the parish government sued his heirs, seeking restitution of $82 million in government funds. In 1987, the lawsuit was settled for $12 million.
Starting in 1936, Perez diverted millions from government funds through illegal land deals. When he was a district attorney, he was the legal adviser to the Plaquemines levee boards. He used this position to negotiate payoffs between corporations he set up and the big oil companies that leased the levee board lands for drilling. "As early as 1941, Perez's ties to companies involved in lucrative mineral leases were under investigation. In 1983, it was discovered that $80 million in oil royalties had been paid to Delta Development Co., which Perez secretly owned. After Perez's death, the parish government sued his heirs, seeking restitution of $82 million in government funds. In 1987, the lawsuit was settled for $12 million.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}


==Segregationist==
==Segregationist==
In the 1950s and 1960s, Perez gained attention as a nationally prominent opponent of [[desegregation]], taking a leadership role in the southern [[Massive Resistance]] to change, particularly following the 1954 [[U.S. Supreme Court]] decision in ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'', which ruled that segregation of public schools was unconstitutional. Perez helped organize the [[Citizens' Councils|White Citizens' Councils]], [[white supremacy|white supremacist]] "front organizations for the [[Ku Klux Klan]]",<ref>{{cite book
In the 1950s and 1960s, Perez gained attention as a nationally prominent opponent of [[Desegregation in the United States|desegregation]], taking a leadership role in the southern [[Massive Resistance]] to change, particularly following the 1954 [[U.S. Supreme Court]] decision in ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'', which ruled that segregation of public schools was unconstitutional. Perez helped organize the [[Citizens' Councils|White Citizens' Councils]], [[white supremacy|white supremacist]] "front organizations for the [[Ku Klux Klan]]",<ref name="Honigsberg2000">{{cite book
|title= Crossing Border Street. A Civil Rights Memoir
|first= Peter Jan
|last= Honigsberg
|last= Honigsberg
|first= Peter Jan
|title= Crossing Border Street. A Civil Rights Memoir
|date= 2000
|location= Berkeley, CA
|publisher= [[University of California Press]]
|publisher= [[University of California Press]]
|isbn= 978-0-520-22147-5
|year= 2000
|isbn= 0520221478
}}</ref>{{rp|page=93}} among them the Citizens' Council of Greater New Orleans. Perez researched and wrote much of the legislation sponsored by Louisiana's Joint Legislative Committee on Segregation.
}}</ref>{{rp|page=93}} among them the Citizens' Council of Greater New Orleans. Perez researched and wrote much of the legislation sponsored by Louisiana's Joint Legislative Committee on Segregation.


Perez tried to control the activities of civil rights workers by prohibiting outsiders from entering Plaquemines Parish via the bayou ferries, which were the chief way to cross rivers and enter the jurisdiction.
Perez tried to control the activities of civil rights workers by prohibiting outsiders from entering Plaquemines Parish via the bayou ferries, which were the chief way to cross rivers and enter the jurisdiction.


In 1960, while opposing desegregation of New Orleans public schools, Perez spoke provocatively at a rally in the city. His speech is credited with catalyzing a mob assault on the school administration building by some 2,000 white men, who were fought off by police using fire hoses. The mob ran through the city and attacked African Americans on the streets. When the schools were reopened, Perez organized a boycott by white residents. His group made threats to whites who allowed their children to attend desegregated schools. Perez arranged for poor whites to attend a segregated private school without charge, and he helped to establish a new whites-only private school in New Orleans. The Roman Catholic Church supported desegregation, and integrated its parochial schools. The bishop of New Orleans excommunicated Perez for his overt opposition to the church's teachings.
In 1960, while opposing desegregation of New Orleans public schools, Perez spoke provocatively at a rally in the city. His speech is credited with catalyzing a mob assault on the school administration building by some 2,000 white men, who were fought off by police using fire hoses. The mob ran through the city and attacked African Americans on the streets. When the schools were reopened, Perez organized a boycott by white residents. His group made threats to whites who allowed their children to attend desegregated schools. Perez arranged for poor whites to attend a segregated private school without charge, and he helped to establish a new whites-only private school in New Orleans. The Roman Catholic Church supported desegregation, and integrated its parochial schools. The Archbishop of New Orleans, [[Joseph Rummel|Joseph F. Rummel]], excommunicated Perez for his overt opposition to the church's teachings.


His legislative ally, E. W. Gravolet of [[Pointe à la Hache, Louisiana|Pointe à la Hache]], tried without success to pass grants-in-aid bills to provide state assistance to private schools that were founded to avoid desegregation, known as [[segregation academies]].<ref>{{cite web
His legislative ally, E. W. Gravolet of [[Pointe à la Hache, Louisiana|Pointe à la Hache]], tried without success to pass grants-in-aid bills to provide state assistance to private schools that were founded to avoid desegregation, known as [[segregation academies]].<ref name="LABioDict">{{cite web
|title= A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography
|at= [Scroll down to: "Gravolet, E. W."].
|publisher= [[Louisiana Historical Association]]
|website= lahistory.org
|url= http://www.lahistory.org/site24.php
|url= http://www.lahistory.org/site24.php
|url-status= dead
|title= Gravolet, E. W.
|publisher= [[Louisiana Historical Association]], A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography (lahistory.org)
|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091123000721/http://www.lahistory.org/site24.php
|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091123000721/http://www.lahistory.org/site24.php
|archive-date= November 23, 2009
|archive-date= November 23, 2009
|url-status= dead
|access-date= December 26, 2010
|access-date= December 26, 2010
}}</ref>
}}</ref>
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|access-date = October 21, 2022
|access-date = October 21, 2022
|isbn = <!-- None. Pre-1970 ISO 2108 publication. -->
|isbn = <!-- None. Pre-1970 ISO 2108 publication. -->
}}</ref>{{rp|page=4}} the city was trying to exclude these majority-black communities from being incorporated in order to prevent black votes from being counted for election of the city commission. Voting rights work took place in other nearby parishes as well; in October an African-American man was the first of his race to register to vote in [[West Feliciana Parish]] since the early years following disenfranchisement.<ref>{{cite web
}}</ref>{{rp|page=4}} the city was trying to exclude these majority-black communities from being incorporated in order to prevent black votes from being counted for election of the city commission. Voting rights work took place in other nearby parishes as well; in October an African-American man was the first of his race to register to vote in [[West Feliciana Parish]] since the early years following disenfranchisement.<ref name="Moore1964">{{cite web
|last= Moore
|last= Moore
|first= Richard O.
|first= Richard O.
Line 97: Line 101:


==Excommunication==
==Excommunication==
In 1962, the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans|Archdiocese of New Orleans]] announced its plan to desegregate the New Orleans parochial school system for the 1962–1963 school year. Perez led a movement to pressure businesses into firing any whites who allowed their children to attend the newly desegregated Catholic schools. Catholics in St. Bernard Parish boycotted one school, which the archdiocese kept open without students for four months; it burned down in what was suspected as arson. In response, Archbishop [[Joseph Rummel]] excommunicated Perez and two other opponents of integration on April 16, 1962.<ref name="nola">{{cite news
In 1962, the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans|Archdiocese of New Orleans]] announced its plan to desegregate the New Orleans parochial school system for the 1962–1963 school year. Perez led a movement to pressure businesses into firing any whites who allowed their children to attend the newly desegregated Catholic schools. Catholics in St. Bernard Parish boycotted one school, which the archdiocese kept open without students for four months; it burned down in what was suspected as arson. In response, Archbishop Rummel excommunicated Perez and two other opponents of integration on April 16, 1962.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}
|url= http://www.nola.com/175years/index.ssf/2011/10/1920_leander_perezs_rise_to_po.html
|title= 1920: Leander Perez's rise to power in St. Bernard, Plaquemines
|newspaper= The Times Picayune
|date= October 24, 2011
|access-date= March 11, 2015
}}</ref>
[[File:MetCemLeanderPerezWreath.jpg|right|thumb|Leander Perez's tomb, in [[Metairie Cemetery]], New Orleans]]
[[File:MetCemLeanderPerezWreath.jpg|right|thumb|Leander Perez's tomb, in [[Metairie Cemetery]], New Orleans]]
Perez described himself at one point as "a Catholic, but not an Archbishop's Catholic."<ref name="havard">{{cite book
Perez described himself at one point as "a Catholic, but not an Archbishop's Catholic."<ref name="Havard1963">{{cite book
|last1= Havard
|last1= Havard
|first1= William C.
|first1= William C.
Line 116: Line 114:
|location= [[Baton Rouge]]
|location= [[Baton Rouge]]
|publisher= [[Louisiana State University]] Studies
|publisher= [[Louisiana State University]] Studies
|pages= 70-71
|pages= 70–71
|isbn = <!-- None. Pre-1970 ISO 2108 publication. -->
}}</ref> He eventually reconciled with the Catholic Church and was readmitted before his death after issuing a retraction,<ref name="Rummel">Smestad, John Jr. [[Loyola University New Orleans|Loyola University, New Orleans]] ''[http://www.loyno.edu/~history/journal/1993-4/Smestad.html The Role of Archbishop Joseph F. Rummel in the Desegregation of Catholic Schools in New Orleans]'' 1994.</ref> and through political leverage exercised by Democratic senator [[James Eastland]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bill Minor |title=Minor: Netherlands scholar pens James Eastland bio |url=https://eu.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/columnists/2016/02/18/minor-netherlands-scholar-pens-james-eastland-bio/80519304/ |access-date=20 June 2019 |work=[[The Clarion-Ledger]] |date=18 February 2016 |quote=he called in the apostolic delegate along with his top associates and threatened they had overstayed their visas, which would be revoked if Leander's excommunication was not lifted.}}</ref> Perez received a requiem Mass at Holy Name of Jesus Christ Church at [[Loyola University of New Orleans|Loyola University]] in New Orleans.
}}</ref> He eventually reconciled with the Catholic Church and was readmitted before his death after issuing a retraction,<ref name="Rummel994">{{cite web
|last= Smestad
|first= John Jr.
|title= The Role of Archbishop Joseph F. Rummel in the Desegregation of Catholic Schools in New Orleans
|date= 1994
|publisher= [[Loyola University New Orleans|Loyola University, New Orleans]]
|url= http://www.loyno.edu/~history/journal/1993-4/Smestad.html
|access-date= October 28, 2006
}}</ref> and through political leverage exercised by Democratic senator [[James Eastland]].<ref name="Minor2016">{{cite news
|last= Minor
|first= Bill
|title= Minor: Netherlands scholar pens James Eastland bio
|date= February 18, 2016
|work= [[The Clarion-Ledger]]
|url= https://eu.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/columnists/2016/02/18/minor-netherlands-scholar-pens-james-eastland-bio/80519304/
|access-date= June 20, 2019
|quote= he called in the apostolic delegate along with his top associates and threatened they had overstayed their visas, which would be revoked if Leander's excommunication was not lifted.
}}</ref> Perez received a requiem Mass at Holy Name of Jesus Christ Church at [[Loyola University of New Orleans|Loyola University]] in New Orleans.


==Personal life==
===Marriage and family===
In 1917, Perez married Agnes Octave Chalin. They had four children; two sons and two daughters.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://files.usgwarchives.org/la/plaquemines/obits/perez.txt |title=Archived copy |access-date=2011-05-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331181203/http://files.usgwarchives.org/la/plaquemines/obits/perez.txt |archive-date=2012-03-31 }}</ref>
In 1917, Perez married Agnes Octave Chalin. They had four children; two sons and two daughters.<ref name="Beck">{{cite web
|last= Beck
|first= Darnell Brunner
|title= Obits of the Perez Family of Plaquemines Parish Parish, Louisiana
|url= http://files.usgwarchives.org/la/plaquemines/obits/perez.txt
|access-date= May 29, 2011
|url-status= dead
|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120331181203/http://files.usgwarchives.org/la/plaquemines/obits/perez.txt
|archive-date= March 31, 2012
}}</ref>


==Legacy and honors==
==Legacy and honors==
*"What Color Are You", a 1966 folk song by [[Bob Lind]], was written "to [Perez] and people like him", criticizing Perez's segregationist ideology.
*"What Color Are You", a 1966 folk song by [[Bob Lind]], was written "to [Perez] and people like him", criticizing Perez's segregationist ideology.
*In 1970, [[Judge Perez Drive]], a major thoroughfare in St. Bernard Parish, was named after him (it was formerly Goodchildren Drive). In 1999, the road was rededicated with the same name as an honor for the late Melvyn Perez, a long-time judge in St. Bernard Parish. (In 1978, nine years after Leander Perez's death, the Louisiana legislature had designated St. Bernard Parish as its own judicial district. Melvyn Perez served there.)
*In 1970, [[Judge Perez Drive]], a major thoroughfare in St. Bernard Parish, was named after him (it was formerly Goodchildren Drive). In 1999, the road was rededicated with the same name as an honor for the late Melvyn Perez, a long-time judge in St. Bernard Parish. (In 1978, nine years after Leander Perez's death, the Louisiana legislature had designated St. Bernard Parish as its own judicial district. Melvyn Perez served there.)

==Sources==
* Boulard, Garry, ''The Big Lie&mdash;Hale Boggs, Lucille May Grace and Leander Perez in 1951'' (Gretna, Louisiana: Pelican Publishing, 2001).
*Jeansonne, Glen. ''Leander Perez: Boss of the Delta''; Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi, 1977
* Loewen, James W. ''Lies Across America: What Our Historic Sites Get Wrong'' New York: The New Press, 1999: Chapter 47: "Let Us Now Praise Famous Thieves."
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090703054258/http://cityofwinnfield.com/museum.html Louisiana Hall of Fame], City of Winnfield
*"Leander Henry Perez", ''A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography'', Vol. 2 (1988), p.&nbsp;641
*''The Canary Islanders in Louisiana'' (Film of Manuel Mora Morales, 2006)


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist|2}}
{{Reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
===Books===
* {{cite book
|last= Boulard
|first= Garry
|title= The Big Lie: Hale Boggs, Lucille May Grace and Leander Perez in 1951
|date= 2001
|type= softcover
|location = New Orleans, LA
|publisher = Pelican Publishing
|isbn = 978-1-56554-868-8
}}
* {{cite book
|last= Jeansonne
|first= Glen
|title= Leander Perez: Boss of the Delta
|date= 1977
|type= hardcover
|location = Baton Rouge, LA
|publisher = Louisiana State University Press
|isbn = 978-0-8071-0191-9
}}
* {{cite book
|last= Loewen
|first= James W.
|title= Lies Across America: What Our Historic Sites Get Wrong
|date= 1999
|type= hardcover
|chapter= Chapter 47: Let Us Now Praise Famous Thieves
|location = New York
|publisher = The New Press
|isbn = 978-1-56584-344-8
}}
* {{cite book
|last= Conrad
|first= Glenn R.
|title= A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography
|date= 1988
|type= hardcover
|volume= 2
|at= ["Leander Henry Perez"]
|location= Baton Rouge, LA
|publisher= Louisiana Historical Association
|isbn= 978-0-940984-37-0
|url= https://www.lahistory.org/resources/dictionary-louisiana-biography/dictionary-louisiana-biography-p/
}}<!-- Page number template for future citation: {{rp|page=641}} -->

===AV Media===
* {{cite AV media
|last= Morales
|first= Manuel Mora
|author-link= Manuel Mora Morales
|title= Los canarios del Misisipi
|language= Spanish
|trans-title= The Canary Islanders in Louisiana
|date= 2006
|url= https://manuelmoramorales.com/2019/06/14/canarios-de-luisiana/
|medium= Motion picture
|access-date=
}}

===Websites===
* {{cite web
|title= Louisiana Hall of Fame
|date=
|url= http://cityofwinnfield.com/museum.html
|archive-date= July 3, 2009
|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090703054258/http://cityofwinnfield.com/museum.html
|at= [Scroll down to: "1996"].
|website= Louisiana Political Museum
|location= City of Winnfield
|access-date=
}}
* {{cite web
|last= Jeansonne
|first= Glen
|title= Leander Perez
|date= November 4, 2013
|location= New Orleans, LA
|publisher= [[64 Parishes]]
|url= https://64parishes.org/entry/leander-perez
|website= 64parishes.org
|access-date= October 27, 2022
}}


== External links ==
== External links ==
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[[Category:Louisiana Dixiecrats]]
[[Category:Louisiana Dixiecrats]]
[[Category:Louisiana Isleño people]]
[[Category:Louisiana Isleño people]]
[[Category:American politicians of Spanish descent]]
[[Category:American people of Spanish descent]]
[[Category:Louisiana state court judges]]
[[Category:Louisiana state court judges]]
[[Category:People temporarily excommunicated by the Catholic Church]]
[[Category:People excommunicated by the Catholic Church]]
[[Category:Politicians from New Orleans]]
[[Category:Politicians from New Orleans]]
[[Category:People from St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana]]
[[Category:People from St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana]]
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[[Category:Tulane University alumni]]
[[Category:Tulane University alumni]]
[[Category:Tulane University Law School alumni]]
[[Category:Tulane University Law School alumni]]
[[Category:Citizens' Councils]]
[[Category:Citizens' Councils members]]
[[Category:Old Right (United States)]]
[[Category:Lawyers from New Orleans]]
[[Category:Lawyers from New Orleans]]
[[Category:American white supremacists]]
[[Category:Catholics from Louisiana]]
[[Category:Catholics from Louisiana]]
[[Category:School segregation in the United States]]
[[Category:School segregation in the United States]]
[[Category:20th-century American judges]]
[[Category:20th-century American judges]]
[[Category:20th-century American lawyers]]
[[Category:20th-century American lawyers]]
[[Category:20th-century American politicians]]
[[Category:Latino conservatism in the United States]]

Latest revision as of 21:12, 26 April 2024

Leander Perez
Perez in 1914 as Tulane Law School graduate
District Attorney of Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana
In office
1924–1969
Personal details
Born(1891-07-16)July 16, 1891
Dalcour, Louisiana, U.S.
DiedMarch 19, 1969(1969-03-19) (aged 77)
Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Other political
affiliations		States' Rights (1948)
American Independent (1968)
SpouseAgnes Octave Perez
RelationsLeander H. Perez, III (grandson who was a son-in-law of State Representative Edward S. Bopp)
Children4
ProfessionDistrict judge, district attorney, and president of the Plaquemines Parish Commission Council

Leander Henry Perez Sr. (July 16, 1891 – March 19, 1969) was an American Democratic Party political boss of Plaquemines and St. Bernard parishes in southeastern Louisiana during the middle third of the 20th century. Officially, he served as a district judge, later as district attorney, and as president of the Plaquemines Parish Commission Council. He was known for leading efforts to enforce and preserve segregation.

Early life and education[edit]

Perez was born in the community of Dalcour, on the east bank of Plaquemines Parish, to Roselius E. "Fice" Perez (died 1939) and the former Gertrude Solis (died 1944). The Perez and Solis families were Isleños, an ethnic community descended from settlers from the Canary Islands, Spain.[1] Perez attended Holy Cross School in New Orleans for his secondary education but he did not graduate from the school.[2] He later enrolled at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge as a subfreshman and graduated from the university in 1912.[2] In the fall of 1912, Perez was admitted to Tulane University Law School in New Orleans and after graduating in 1914, he began his law practice in New Orleans and in Plaquemines Parish.[2]

Political career[edit]

In 1919, Judge Perez launched a reign of bought elections and strictly enforced segregation by ensuring laws were enacted on his fiat and rubber-stamped by the parish governing councils. Elections under Perez's reign were sometimes blatantly falsified, with voting records appearing in alphabetical order and names of national celebrities such as Babe Ruth, Charlie Chaplin, and Herbert Hoover appearing on the rolls. Perez-endorsed candidates often won with 90% or more of the ballots. Those who appeared to vote were intimidated by Perez's enforcers. He sent large tough men into the voting booths to "help" people vote. Many voters were bribed. Perez testified that he bribed voters $2, $5, and $10 to vote his way, depending on who they were.[3]

Perez took action to suppress African-Americans from voting within his domain, but most were already disenfranchised due to the state constitution passed at the turn of the century, which added requirements for payment of poll taxes and passing literacy tests in order to register to vote. Subjective and discriminatory treatment by white registrars prevented most blacks from registering.[citation needed]

Illegal oil deals[edit]

Starting in 1936, Perez diverted millions from government funds through illegal land deals. When he was a district attorney, he was the legal adviser to the Plaquemines levee boards. He used this position to negotiate payoffs between corporations he set up and the big oil companies that leased the levee board lands for drilling. "As early as 1941, Perez's ties to companies involved in lucrative mineral leases were under investigation. In 1983, it was discovered that $80 million in oil royalties had been paid to Delta Development Co., which Perez secretly owned. After Perez's death, the parish government sued his heirs, seeking restitution of $82 million in government funds. In 1987, the lawsuit was settled for $12 million.[citation needed]

Segregationist[edit]

In the 1950s and 1960s, Perez gained attention as a nationally prominent opponent of desegregation, taking a leadership role in the southern Massive Resistance to change, particularly following the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which ruled that segregation of public schools was unconstitutional. Perez helped organize the White Citizens' Councils, white supremacist "front organizations for the Ku Klux Klan",[4]: 93  among them the Citizens' Council of Greater New Orleans. Perez researched and wrote much of the legislation sponsored by Louisiana's Joint Legislative Committee on Segregation.

Perez tried to control the activities of civil rights workers by prohibiting outsiders from entering Plaquemines Parish via the bayou ferries, which were the chief way to cross rivers and enter the jurisdiction.

In 1960, while opposing desegregation of New Orleans public schools, Perez spoke provocatively at a rally in the city. His speech is credited with catalyzing a mob assault on the school administration building by some 2,000 white men, who were fought off by police using fire hoses. The mob ran through the city and attacked African Americans on the streets. When the schools were reopened, Perez organized a boycott by white residents. His group made threats to whites who allowed their children to attend desegregated schools. Perez arranged for poor whites to attend a segregated private school without charge, and he helped to establish a new whites-only private school in New Orleans. The Roman Catholic Church supported desegregation, and integrated its parochial schools. The Archbishop of New Orleans, Joseph F. Rummel, excommunicated Perez for his overt opposition to the church's teachings.

His legislative ally, E. W. Gravolet of Pointe à la Hache, tried without success to pass grants-in-aid bills to provide state assistance to private schools that were founded to avoid desegregation, known as segregation academies.[5]

Civil rights activists tried to work through the barriers to register African-American voters and enable them to vote. In the summer of 1963, from July through August, activists of the Congress for Racial Equality (CORE) came to Plaquemines Parish to run a voter registration drive for African Americans. About 45 members, both black and white, came to work in the parish and organize local people for voter registration classes, peaceful marches, and drives to register. In a short time, 300 CORE activists and local people were arrested for peaceful protest, but CORE leaders negotiated with the local sheriff and mayor to permit some actions. After training and concerted action, a number of local African Americans did succeed in registering to vote, although many were still prevented, on largely specious grounds for failing to answer questions about the state constitution. The movement also worked to get Seymourville and Dupont Annex included within the city boundaries;[6]: 4  the city was trying to exclude these majority-black communities from being incorporated in order to prevent black votes from being counted for election of the city commission. Voting rights work took place in other nearby parishes as well; in October an African-American man was the first of his race to register to vote in West Feliciana Parish since the early years following disenfranchisement.[7]

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ended legal segregation, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 authorized federal oversight and enforcement of voter registration and elections in jurisdictions with historic under-representation of elements of the population. Expanded voter registration drives took place and, after 1965, African Americans in Louisiana began to participate again in the political system and exercise their constitutional rights.

Excommunication[edit]

In 1962, the Archdiocese of New Orleans announced its plan to desegregate the New Orleans parochial school system for the 1962–1963 school year. Perez led a movement to pressure businesses into firing any whites who allowed their children to attend the newly desegregated Catholic schools. Catholics in St. Bernard Parish boycotted one school, which the archdiocese kept open without students for four months; it burned down in what was suspected as arson. In response, Archbishop Rummel excommunicated Perez and two other opponents of integration on April 16, 1962.[citation needed]

Leander Perez's tomb, in Metairie Cemetery, New Orleans

Perez described himself at one point as "a Catholic, but not an Archbishop's Catholic."[8] He eventually reconciled with the Catholic Church and was readmitted before his death after issuing a retraction,[9] and through political leverage exercised by Democratic senator James Eastland.[10] Perez received a requiem Mass at Holy Name of Jesus Christ Church at Loyola University in New Orleans.

Personal life[edit]

In 1917, Perez married Agnes Octave Chalin. They had four children; two sons and two daughters.[11]

Legacy and honors[edit]

  • "What Color Are You", a 1966 folk song by Bob Lind, was written "to [Perez] and people like him", criticizing Perez's segregationist ideology.
  • In 1970, Judge Perez Drive, a major thoroughfare in St. Bernard Parish, was named after him (it was formerly Goodchildren Drive). In 1999, the road was rededicated with the same name as an honor for the late Melvyn Perez, a long-time judge in St. Bernard Parish. (In 1978, nine years after Leander Perez's death, the Louisiana legislature had designated St. Bernard Parish as its own judicial district. Melvyn Perez served there.)

References[edit]

  1. ^ Din, Gilbert C. (1988). The Canary Islanders of Louisiana. Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Louisiana State University Press. pp. 133–135. ISBN 978-0-8071-1383-7. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
  2. ^ a b c Jeansonne, Glen (2006). Leander Perez: Boss of the Delta. Univ. Press of Mississippi. pp. 6–11. ISBN 978-1-6047-3637-3. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
  3. ^ "Civil Rights: The Continuing Confrontation". Time. 1965-04-09. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 2023-10-04.
  4. ^ Honigsberg, Peter Jan (2000). Crossing Border Street. A Civil Rights Memoir. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-22147-5.
  5. ^ "A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography". lahistory.org. Louisiana Historical Association. [Scroll down to: "Gravolet, E. W."]. Archived from the original on November 23, 2009. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
  6. ^ Farmer, James (November 1963). Peck, Jim (ed.). Louisiana Story 1963 (PDF). Photographs by Bob Adelman. New York, NY: Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). Retrieved October 21, 2022. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  7. ^ Moore, Richard O. (March 16, 1964). "Louisiana Diary". Archived from the original on August 3, 2014. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
  8. ^ Havard, William C.; Heberle, Rudolf; Howard, Perry H. (1963). The Louisiana Elections of 1960. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Studies. pp. 70–71.
  9. ^ Smestad, John Jr. (1994). "The Role of Archbishop Joseph F. Rummel in the Desegregation of Catholic Schools in New Orleans". Loyola University, New Orleans. Retrieved October 28, 2006.
  10. ^ Minor, Bill (February 18, 2016). "Minor: Netherlands scholar pens James Eastland bio". The Clarion-Ledger. Retrieved June 20, 2019. he called in the apostolic delegate along with his top associates and threatened they had overstayed their visas, which would be revoked if Leander's excommunication was not lifted.
  11. ^ Beck, Darnell Brunner. "Obits of the Perez Family of Plaquemines Parish Parish, Louisiana". Archived from the original on March 31, 2012. Retrieved May 29, 2011.

Further reading[edit]

Books[edit]

  • Boulard, Garry (2001). The Big Lie: Hale Boggs, Lucille May Grace and Leander Perez in 1951 (softcover). New Orleans, LA: Pelican Publishing. ISBN 978-1-56554-868-8.
  • Jeansonne, Glen (1977). Leander Perez: Boss of the Delta (hardcover). Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press. ISBN 978-0-8071-0191-9.
  • Loewen, James W. (1999). "Chapter 47: Let Us Now Praise Famous Thieves". Lies Across America: What Our Historic Sites Get Wrong (hardcover). New York: The New Press. ISBN 978-1-56584-344-8.
  • Conrad, Glenn R. (1988). A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography (hardcover). Vol. 2. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana Historical Association. ["Leander Henry Perez"]. ISBN 978-0-940984-37-0.

AV Media[edit]

Websites[edit]

External links[edit]

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