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Woodrow Wilson Dumas (view source)

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In 1968, Dumas was reelected mayor, when he defeated the [[Republican Party|Republican]] nominee, Crayton Green "Sparky" Hall (c. 1925-2014), a native of Columbus, [[Georgia]], reared in Leesville, Louisiana, who was then a project engineer for the Ethyl Corporation of Baton Rouge. Hall soon left the GOP to become the founding chairman of the [[Libertarian Party]] in Louisiana. He left that chairmanship in 1985 and relocated to [[North Carolina]], where he died in Hendersonville, still active as a [[libertarian]] at the age of eighty-nine.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/blueridgenow/obituary.aspx?pid=172302243|title=Crayton Green "Sparky" Hall|publisher=''''Henderson Times-News'''|accessdate=August 31, 2014}}</ref>

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In 1969, Dumas imposed a curfew during a disturbance that seemed likely to spread throughout his city. [[Governor]] [[John J. McKeithen]] deployed 250 Louisiana National Guard troops to maintain order. The unrest resulted when a white Baton Rouge patrolman, Ray Breaux, shot to death in the back a 17-year-old fleeing [[African-American]] suspect. Dumas called on Baton Rouge [[NAACP]] president Emmitt Douglas to speak via [[radio]] to urge calm. Douglas called for more black police officers and integrated patrol cars. Dumas promised Douglas that Breaux would be suspended pending an investigation. After a grand jury exonerated Breaux, Douglas accused Dumas of betrayal. Dumas cited [[civil service]] rules which protected the officer. Thereafter, Dumas adopted a hard line toward protesters, having told officers that "We will back you 100 percent. Police officers will no longer take abuse and vilification from anyone."<ref name=google>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QnQbw5EyPREC&pg=PA423&lpg=PA423&dq=W.W.+Dumas&source=bl&ots=feCuRbzRvr&sig=FYALNNVVV694_HVoWNGWLJm69tI&hl=en&ei=OAkQS-ezKoWWtgebyo3rCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAgQ6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=W.W.%20Dumas&f=false|title=Adam Fairclough, Race and Democracy: The Civil Rights Struggle in Louisiana, 1915-1972|publisher=[[Google Books]]|accessdate=November 27, 2009 | isbn=978-0-8203-3114-0}}</ref> Meanwhile, Douglas was [[indictment|indicted]] for incitement to riot under a new Louisiana law patterned after the national [[Civil Rights Act of 1968]].<ref name=google/> In another racial incident in January 1972, three [[Muslim]] activists and a police officer were killed during a riot on North Boulevard in Baton Rouge.<ref name=papers/>

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In 1969, Dumas imposed a curfew during a disturbance that seemed likely to spread throughout his city. [[Governor]] [[John J. McKeithen]] deployed 250 Louisiana National Guard troops to maintain order. The unrest resulted when a white Baton Rouge patrolman, Ray Breaux, shot to death in the back a 17-year-old fleeing [[African-American]] suspect. Dumas called on Baton Rouge [[NAACP]] president Emmitt Douglas to speak via [[radio]] to urge calm. Douglas called for more black police officers and integrated patrol cars. Dumas promised Douglas that Breaux would be suspended pending an investigation. After a grand jury exonerated Breaux, Douglas accused Dumas of betrayal. Dumas cited civil service rules which protected the officer. Thereafter, Dumas adopted a hard line toward protesters, having told officers that "We will back you 100 percent. Police officers will no longer take abuse and vilification from anyone."<ref name=google>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QnQbw5EyPREC&pg=PA423&lpg=PA423&dq=W.W.+Dumas&source=bl&ots=feCuRbzRvr&sig=FYALNNVVV694_HVoWNGWLJm69tI&hl=en&ei=OAkQS-ezKoWWtgebyo3rCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAgQ6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=W.W.%20Dumas&f=false|title=Adam Fairclough, Race and Democracy: The Civil Rights Struggle in Louisiana, 1915-1972|publisher=Google Books|accessdate=November 27, 2009 | isbn=978-0-8203-3114-0}}</ref> Meanwhile, Douglas was [[indictment|indicted]] for incitement to riot under a new Louisiana law patterned after the national [[Civil Rights Act of 1968]].<ref name=google/> In another racial incident in January 1972, three [[Muslim]] activists and a police officer were killed during a riot on North Boulevard in Baton Rouge.<ref name=papers/>

When Republican gubernatorial nominee [[David C. Treen]] criticized Dumas' handling of the 1972 riot, which was prompted by a splinter group of [[Black Panthers]], Dumas, a supporter of fellow Democrat [[Edwin Edwards]], said that Treen was too uninformed to offer any comment. "My advice to Mr. Treen is before he opens his mouth, he ought to put his mind in gear," retorted Dumas.<ref>''The Minden Press-Herald'', January 14, 1972, p. 1.</ref>

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On July 4, 1976, national Bicentennial Day, Dumas dedicated the former Baton Rouge Downtown Airport, a general aviation facility never upgraded for continued use, as the new Independence Park. Some former airport land was later transferred for the use of the Louisiana State Police.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.airfields-freeman.com/LA/Airfields_LA_BatonRouge.html|title=Paul Freeman, Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields: Louisiana: Baton Rouge|publisher=members.tripod.com|accessdate=November 27, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091107040245/http://www.airfields-freeman.com/LA/Airfields_LA_BatonRouge.html|archive-date=November 7, 2009|dead-url=yes|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

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Also in 1976, Dumas organized a Baton Rouge celebration commemorating the American [[General]] [[Claire Chennault]] of the "Fighting Tigers" of [[World War II]]. Chennault’s second wife and widow, Anna Chennault, was present, as were Governor Edwin Edwards and his then wife, [[Elaine S. Edwards]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://louisdl.louislibraries.org/cdm4/results.php?CISOOP1=any&CISOFIELD1=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOROOT=/LHP&CISOBOX1=Special&CISOSORT=title%7Cf|title=Louisiana Historical Photographs Collection of the State Library|publisher=louisdl.louislibraries.org|accessdate=November 27, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110616152003/http://louisdl.louislibraries.org/cdm4/results.php?CISOOP1=any&CISOFIELD1=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOROOT=%2FLHP&CISOBOX1=Special&CISOSORT=title%7Cf#|archive-date=2011-06-16|dead-url=yes|df=}}</ref>

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Also in 1976, Dumas organized a Baton Rouge celebration commemorating the American [[General]] [[Claire Chennault]] of the "Fighting Tigers" of [[World War II]]. Chennault’s second wife and widow, Anna Chennault, was present, as were Governor Edwin Edwards and his then wife, [[Elaine Edwards]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://louisdl.louislibraries.org/cdm4/results.php?CISOOP1=any&CISOFIELD1=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOROOT=/LHP&CISOBOX1=Special&CISOSORT=title%7Cf|title=Louisiana Historical Photographs Collection of the State Library|publisher=louisdl.louislibraries.org|accessdate=November 27, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110616152003/http://louisdl.louislibraries.org/cdm4/results.php?CISOOP1=any&CISOFIELD1=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOROOT=%2FLHP&CISOBOX1=Special&CISOSORT=title%7Cf#|archive-date=2011-06-16|dead-url=yes|df=}}</ref>

In his last election as mayor-president in 1976, Dumas defeated the Democrat [[Pete Heine]], the mayor of Baker from 1964 to 1976 and again from 1981 to 1992, and the Republican choice, Jack Breaux, the mayor of Zachary (no relation to [[U.S. Senator]] [[John Breaux]]).

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In 1990, Dumas was an honorary pallbearer at the funeral of Edward Grady Partin, the controversial business agent of the [[Teamsters Union]] in Baton Rouge, who immunized testimony in 1964 had sent [[Jimmy Hoffa]] to prison for jury tampering.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.barlowgenealogy.com/Louisiana/laobituaries.html|title=Obituaries: Barlow and Related Families|publisher=''Baton Rouge State Times'', March 12, 1990, p. 6|accessdate=May 7, 2010}}</ref>

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In 1990, Dumas was an honorary pallbearer at the funeral of Edward Grady Partin, the controversial business agent of the Teamsters Union]in Baton Rouge, who immunized testimony in 1964 had sent [[Jimmy Hoffa]] to prison for jury tampering.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.barlowgenealogy.com/Louisiana/laobituaries.html|title=Obituaries: Barlow and Related Families|publisher=''Baton Rouge State Times'', March 12, 1990, p. 6|accessdate=May 7, 2010}}</ref>

==Failed comeback bid==

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