Hulan Edwin Jack (December 29, 1906 – December 19, 1986) was a

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...

n-born New York politician who in 1954 became the highest ranking Caribbean American municipal official up until that time, when he was elected Borough President of

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

Early life

Jack was born on December 29, 1906, in

, and spent his early years in

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies. It was located on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first known Europeans to encounter Guia ...

before emigrating to the United States.Biography at BlackPast.org
/ref> His father was a minister in the African Orthodox Church. The young Hulan worked as a janitor at a paper box factory, eventually rising to become a vice president of the firm. He went on to become active in politics with Tammany Hall, winning several elections to the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...

, representing parts of

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

in the 163rd, 164th, 165th, 166th, 167th, 168th and 169th New York State Legislatures from 1941 to 1953. As a legislator, he attempted unsuccessfully to pass legislation that would block the racial segregation in New York State public schools and in the sale of property.

Borough President

In November 1953, Jack was elected Borough President of Manhattan, making him one of the nation's most important African-American elected officials. In 1956, Jack was the featured speaker at an event called "Interracial Sunday" at Loyola University New Orleans. This caused a major controversy, and Emile Wagner, one of the founders of the New Orleans White Citizens Council, obtained material from the House Unamerican Activities Committee which suggested that Jack was a former member of subversive organizations. Jack denied the charges, accusing the White Citizens Council of a "rearguard action to disobey the decision handed-down by the Supreme Court on desegregation in schools." New York City Mayor Robert F. Wagner defended Jack, calling him "the highest grade of American that I know of." In 1959, Jack was indicted for allowing a friend, Sidney Ungar, to pay a $4,400 bill for the remodeling of his apartment. It was charged that Ungar, a real estate developer, hoped to obtain a contract from the city in return for the favor, even though Jack voted against granting Ungar the contract. Jack was tried twice; the first trial ended with a hung jury, and in the second trial, the jury found him guilty of accepting the gift and of then conspiring to hide it. On January 16, 1961, Jack was sentenced to a suspended one-year term in prison, which had the effect of automatically removing him from the office of Borough President. Charles Rangel later stated, “He got screwed. He went to Mass every morning, and Jesus left his ass holding the bag.” He was succeeded in the Borough Presidents office by Edward R. Dudley.

Return to Assembly

Jack was elected a member of the State Assembly from 1968 to 1972, representing the 70th District in the 177th, 178th and 179th New York State Legislatures. In 1972, Jack was convicted of extortion, along with five others. They were trying to force shop owners to carry a line of products manufactured by a company owned by Jack. He received a three-month prison term and a $5,000 fine. He appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which denied his appeal.

LaRouche movement

Jack became involved with the LaRouche movement, acting as a consultant to the 1980 presidential campaign of Lyndon LaRouche.Biondi, Martha, ''To Stand And Fight: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Postwar New York City'', Harvard University Press (2003), p. 324. The LaRouche publishing house, New Benjamin Franklin House, published Jack's autobiography, ''Fifty Years a Democrat''. Jack and LaRouche founded the Committee for a New Africa Policy, which lobbied for short term aid and long-term infrastructure development for

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

. In 1984, Jack became a founding member and board member of the LaRouche-affiliated Schiller Institute.

Death

Jack died of cancer on December 19, 1986, in St. Luke's Hospital in

. He belonged to the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. He was 79.

Works

* Jack, Hulan ''Fifty Years a Democrat:The Autobiography of Hulan Jack'' New Benjamin Franklin House New York, NY 1983

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jack, Hulan 1906 births 1986 deaths Saint Lucian emigrants to the United States Manhattan borough presidents New York (state) politicians convicted of corruption Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly African-American state legislators in New York (state) Janitors African-American Catholics 20th-century African-American politicians American people convicted of obstruction of justice LaRouche movement 20th-century members of the New York State Legislature