Clarence Harmon (born 1940) was the 44th

Mayor of St. Louis The mayor of St. Louis is the chief executive officer of St. Louis's city government. The mayor has a duty to enforce city ordinances and the power to either approve or veto city ordinances passed by the Board of Aldermen. The current mayor i ...

(from 1997 to 2001), and the city's second African-American mayor.

Early life and education

Harmon was born to a Baptist family, and the only boy out of three children. His father was a cook on a railway, while his mother was a nurse. As a boy, Harmon was converted to

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in order to attend the McBride High School, a boys-only institution. After graduating from it, he served in the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, c ...

in the

101st Airborne Division The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault operations. It can plan, coordinate, and execute multiple battalion-size air assault operat ...

and then got enrolled into Northeast Missouri State University (now Truman State University).

Career

Prior to serving as Mayor, Harmon had served as

Metropolitan Police Department, City of St. Louis The Metropolitan Police Department of the City of St. Louis (also known as the SLMPD or Metro) is the primary law enforcement agency for the U.S. city of St. Louis. According to the Mapping Police Violence dataset, SLMPD has the highest polic ...

's 30th

Commissioner of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department The Commissioner of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department (SLMPD) is the Commissioner of Police of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. The post is currently held by Commissioner Colonel Robert J. Tracy who was appointed on Dece ...

between the years 1991 and 1995, becoming the first African American to do so. During the time as Police Commissioner his duty was to patrol Fox Park, St. Louis, which was crime infested, but in 30 days time, the city's crime dropped 47%. He defeated incumbent Mayor Freeman Bosley Jr. in the

Democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

Primary in 1997 and went on to win election by a wide margin in the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

. Following his victory, Harmon shouted "Tear down the walls of isolation, St. Louis!", calling for the unity and racial healing. Harmon was defeated for re-election in the 2001 Democratic Primary.

References

St. Louis Public Library
* 1955 births Living people African-American mayors in Missouri African-American people in Missouri politics Commissioners of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department Mayors of St. Louis Webster University alumni 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people {{StLouis-stub