Joseph "Holy Joe" Wingate Folk (October 28, 1869 – May 28, 1923) was an American lawyer, reformer, and politician from St. Louis, Missouri. He was

Governor of Missouri A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

from 1905 to 1909.

Early life and education

Joseph Folk was born in

Brownsville, Tennessee Brownsville is a city in and the county seat of Haywood County, Tennessee, United States, located in the western Its population as of the 2010 census was 10,292, with a decrease to 9,788 at the 2020 census. The city is named after General Jacob J ...

, to Henry Bate and Martha Estes Folk and raised in a strict

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul c ...

household. His early education was completed at Brownsville Academy, after which he worked for several companies in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mo ...

as a clerk and bookkeeper. Folk studied law and graduated from

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

in 1890. He joined his father's law firm and focused on criminal law. Early in his career, Folk ran for a seat in the

Tennessee House of Representatives The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. Constitutional requirements According to the state constitution of 1870, this body is to consi ...

in 1892, wrote newspaper articles, spoke on special occasions, and joined the

Knights of Pythias The Knights of Pythias is a fraternal organization and secret society founded in Washington, D.C., on . The Knights of Pythias is the first fraternal organization to receive a charter under an act of the United States Congress. It was found ...

. In 1893, he moved to St. Louis to join his uncle's law practice. Folk married Gertrude Glass on November 10, 1896.Holy Joe: Joseph W. Folk and the Missouri Idea
by Steven Piott; published 1997 by

University of Missouri Press The University of Missouri Press is a university press operated by the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri and London, England; it was founded in 1958 primarily through the efforts of English professor William Peden. Many publications a ...

; p. 10 He helped to organize the Jefferson Club, a local young Democrats' organization, and acted as the group's president in 1898–1899. Gertrude Glass Folk

St. Louis career

Folk made his reputation as a lawyer for transit workers in the

St. Louis Streetcar Strike of 1900 The St. Louis streetcar strike of 1900 was a labor action, and resulting civil disruption, against the St. Louis Transit Company by a group of three thousand workers unionized by the Amalgamated Street Railway Employees of America. Between May 7 ...

. His work as mediator earned him a Democratic nomination for circuit attorney in 1900, and he won the election against Judge Eugene Mcquillen. Folk earned his nickname by attacking local corruption and party machines. With the assistance of

Lincoln Steffens Lincoln Austin Steffens (April 6, 1866 – August 9, 1936) was an American investigative journalist and one of the leading muckrakers of the Progressive Era in the early 20th century. He launched a series of articles in '' McClure's'', called " ...

's articles published in ''

McClure's ''McClure's'' or ''McClure's Magazine'' (1893–1929) was an American illustrated monthly periodical popular at the turn of the 20th century. The magazine is credited with having started the tradition of muckraking journalism ( investigative, wa ...

'' magazine, Folk led investigations of the city's Democratic boss, Col. Ed Butler and the corrupt "boodle ring" of corporate bribery in the state and municipal government.D. K. Goodwin, The Bully Pulpit (Simon & Schuster, 2013) pp. 370–378 Although some of the convictions Folk obtained were overturned on appeal, his work had national and international consequences. Folk gained the respect of Republican President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

as he and other crusading prosecutors and

muckraking The muckrakers were reform-minded journalists, writers, and photographers in the Progressive Era in the United States (1890s–1920s) who claimed to expose corruption and wrongdoing in established institutions, often through sensationalist publ ...

journalists brought national attention to municipal corruption. Folk's prosecution of the Suburban Railway Company stimulated a change in US treaties with

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

to include bribery as grounds for extradition. As district attorney, Folk encountered opposition from many businessmen and politicians, who believed that his exposing corrupt practices hurt the city's reputation, and thus the Democratic party as well as the business climate.

Governor

Folk was elected the 31st Governor of Missouri as a progressive reformer and Democrat in the 1904 election. In the governor's office, he advocated the "Missouri Idea", the concept of Missouri as a leader in public morality through popular control of law and strict enforcement. His administration found initial success despite opposition and successfully conducted antitrust prosecutions, ended gratis railroad passes for state officials, extended bribery statues, improved election laws, required formal registration for lobbyists, made racetrack gambling illegal, and enforced the Sunday-closing law. The latter half of Folk's gubernatorial term found a Democratically controlled General Assembly, in large part due to Folk's reforms. The governor was able to enact further legislation, including an initiative and referendum amendment to the

Constitution of Missouri The Missouri Constitution is the state constitution of the U.S. State of Missouri. It is the supreme law formulating the law and government of Missouri, subject only to the federal Constitution, and the people. The fourth and current Missouri ...

, and further regulation of elections, education, employment and child labor, railroads, food, business, and public utilities. A number of examiner boards and commissions were established during Folk's administration, including many agricultural boards and the Missouri library commission.

Later career

Following his gubernatorial term, Folk's focus on morality and unwillingness to compromise eventually made him politically unpopular, and his initial attempts for a senate nomination were unsuccessful. He returned to law practice, toured as a

Chautauqua Chautauqua ( ) was an adult education and social movement in the United States, highly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Chautauqua br ...

speaker, and campaigned for

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

. Wilson appointed Folk as a solicitor for the

US State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...

, where he investigated major railroad companies. In 1918, he won a Democratic nomination for the

US Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...

, but lost in the election. After a brief stint at the St. Louis Chamber of Commerce, Folk opened a private law office in Washington, D.C. He arbitrated in several international negotiations. Folk experienced a nervous breakdown in March 1922, believed to be from overwork. He died aged 53 in 1923 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, and is buried at the Oakwood Cemetery in

. His Washington, D.C., residence is now the Embassy of Mauritania. A 1943

Liberty ship Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Ma ...

was named in his honor.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Folk, Joseph 1869 births 1923 deaths Democratic Party governors of Missouri Tennessee Democrats Politicians from St. Louis Vanderbilt University alumni People from Brownsville, Tennessee American anti-corruption activists American prosecutors American democracy activists Progressive Era in the United States