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[[File:Democratic voter suppression.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Democrat voter suppression in the Bull Connor era.]]  

[[File:Democratic voter suppression.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Democrat voter suppression in the Bull Connor era.]]  

'''Theophilus Eugene Connor''' (July 11, 1897 – March 10, 1973<ref name=politicalgraveyard>[https://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/connor.html#745.93.98 Index to Politicians: Connor]. ''The Political Graveyard''. Retrieved October 3, 2023.</ref>), known as '''T. Eugene Connor''' or more commonly '''Bull Connor''', was a prominent [[left-wing]]<ref name=alencyclopediabio>Baggett, James L. (March 9, 2007). [https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/eugene-bull-connor/ Eugene "Bull" Connor]. ''Encyclopedia of Alabama''. Retrieved October 3, 2023.</ref> [[Democratic Party]] leader in Alabama known for his militant white supremacism consistent with the state's [[Progressive Movement|Progressive]] tradition. Alabama was a hard-core Confederate state which was still coming to terms with the end of the American Civil War and the emancipation of the slaves.

'''Theophilus Eugene Connor''' (July 11, 1897 – March 10, 1973<ref name=politicalgraveyard>[https://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/connor.html#745.93.98 Index to Politicians: Connor]. ''The Political Graveyard''. Retrieved October 3, 2023.</ref>), known as '''T. Eugene Connor''' or more commonly '''Bull Connor''', was a prominent [[left-wing]]<ref name=alencyclopediabio>Baggett, James L. (March 9, 2007). [https://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/eugene-bull-connor/ Eugene "Bull" Connor]. ''Encyclopedia of Alabama''. Retrieved October 3, 2023.</ref> [[Democratic Party]] leader in Alabama known for his militant white supremacism consistent with the state's [[Progressive Movement|Progressive]] tradition.

Connor known for his extremist reprisals against peaceful civil rights demonstrations in [[Birmingham, Alabama]], where his shameful actions epitomized the racial problems that long existed in [[the South]]. The "public safety" commissioner's card-carrying, partisan allegiance with violent Democratic segregationists is infamously remembered to this day for his public manifestation of unrestrained, animalistic savagery unleashed upon activists in the [[civil rights movement]].

Connor known for his extremist reprisals against peaceful civil rights demonstrations in [[Birmingham, Alabama]], where his shameful actions epitomized the racial problems that long existed in [[the South]]. The "public safety" commissioner's card-carrying, partisan allegiance with violent Democratic segregationists is infamously remembered to this day for his public manifestation of unrestrained, animalistic savagery unleashed upon activists in the [[civil rights movement]].

==Early life and background==

==Early life and background==

Connor was born on July 11, 1897, in Selma, Alabama. In his early career, he worked as a reporter for sports on Birmingham radio.<ref name=politicalgraveyard/>

Theophilus Eugene Connor was born on July 11, 1897, in Selma, Alabama, to Hugh King Connor and the former Molly Godwin.<ref name=alencyclopediabio/> Due to his father's occupation as a telegraph operator and train dispatcher, the family traveled frequently and lived in several different states during Eugene's formative years. While living in [[Atlanta, Georgia]], while the young Connor was eight years old, his mother died from [[pneumonia]].<ref name=alencyclopediabio/>

 

Due to his father's continued traveling, Connor resided with relatives in the cities of Birmingham and Plantersville, where he attended schools though failed to graduate.<ref name=alencyclopediabio/> He married the former Beara Levens in 1920, with whom he had a daughter.

 

In his early career, Connor worked as a reporter for sports on Birmingham radio,<ref name=politicalgraveyard/> where his amusement acquired his later-to-be-infamous nickname as a result of nearly sharing a name with the cartoon character of a local newspaper, B. U. L. Connor.<ref name=alencyclopediabio/> Connor also worked in sales as well as a telegraph operation, following in the footsteps of his father.

==Political career==

==Political career==

Connor was first elected to the Alabama House of Representatives in 1934.<ref name=politicalgraveyard/> In 1936, he was elected Commissioner of Public Safety of Birmingham, Alabama and served in that position throughout the span of three decades.

Connor ran for Alabama House of Representatives in 1934, lazily refraining from campaigning though benefited from recognition as a radio personality<ref name=alencyclopediabio/> and won a seat.<ref name=politicalgraveyard/> During his tenure in the lower body of the state legislature, Connor compiled a Southern progressive record opposing pay raises, tax increases, anti-sedition legislation (designed to derail [[labor union]] interests), and in support of poll tax reform popular among the populist white working class.<ref name=alencyclopediabio/>

 

In 1937, he was elected Commissioner of Public Safety of Birmingham, Alabama,<ref name=alencyclopediabio/> and served in the position throughout the span of three decades. Affiliated with the business hierarchy, Connor favored low taxes and limited government in accordance with Southern Jeffersonian ideals, though maintained his appeals to the working-class base as an unconditional segregationist and opponent of crime.<ref name=alencyclopediabio/>

 

 

 

 

Although Connor was not a recorded member of the third incarnation of the [[Ku Klux Klan]], he directly enabled Klan violence in Alabama, refusing to take actions against Klansmen responsible for bombings.<ref name=alencyclopediabio/> When Klansmen viciously assaulted the Freedom Riders, Connor ordered Birmingham city police to refrain from restoring order.

In the early 1960s, Connor directed the use of fire hoses and police dogs against peaceful civil rights activists, including against children supporting the protests.<ref>[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/meet-players-other-figures/ Meet the Players: Other Figures]. ''PBS''. Retrieved October 3, 2023.</ref> National media broadcast these tactics on television, horrifying much of the world; the outrages served as catalysts for congressional passage of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]].

In the early 1960s, Connor directed the use of fire hoses and police dogs against peaceful civil rights activists, including against children supporting the protests.<ref>[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/meet-players-other-figures/ Meet the Players: Other Figures]. ''PBS''. Retrieved October 3, 2023.</ref> National media broadcast these tactics on television, horrifying much of the world; the outrages served as catalysts for congressional passage of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]].

On December 26, 1951, the day following [[Christmas]], Connor was arrested in a hotel room for adultery with Christian Brown, his secretary.<ref name=politicalgraveyard/> Although fined, convicted, and sentenced to prison, the verdict was overturned the following year.

The diehard flank of Southern segregationist leaders who closed city parks and public schools to prevent racial integration eventually alienated their support from many Southern whites. Connor's handling of Birmingham reached such levels of unpopularity by 1962 to the point of the city's white business leaders and majority population voting for a reform of the government to water down the longtime commissioner's power.<ref name=alencyclopediabio/>

==Death and legacy==

==Death and legacy==