Clarence Kennedy Crossan (April 16, 1876 – September 25, 1960) was a

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Republican politician who served for 28 years on the

Philadelphia City Council The Philadelphia City Council is the legislative body of the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States. It is composed of 17 councilmembers: ten members elected by district and seven members elected at-large from throughou ...

. Crossan was born in Philadelphia's Fox Chase neighborhood in 1876, the son of Kennedy Crossan and Martha Ann Maxton. His father founded Crossan Construction Company, a firm that specialized in railroad work, and Crossan and his brother, Arthur Brook Crossan, Sr., followed their father into the business. He graduated from the Peirce School of Business in 1889 at the age of thirteen, then attended the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

, graduating with an electrical engineering degree in 1898. He married Emma Jeanne Heacock the following year. He and his brother ran Crossan Construction from 1913 to 1932 when his brother died. Crossan was also involved in many community organizations around

Northeast Philadelphia Northeast Philadelphia, nicknamed Northeast Philly, the Great Northeast, and known colloquially as simply "the Northeast", is a section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. According to the 2000 census, Northeast Philadelphia has a population of betw ...

. He entered politics as a Republican in 1923, winning a seat on the 22-member

, one of several members representing the multi-member 8th district. He was reelected every four years until 1951. On the Council, Crossan became known as an independent-minded Republican, as did his protege, Austin Meehan. In 1947, he sponsored legislation to create a group charged with revising the city charter. The result of that study was the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter, which voters approved in a 1951 referendum and which remains in force today. The charter remodeled city council, eliminating multi-member districts. Crossan ran for the new 10th district seat, but lost to Democrat John F. Byrne Sr., and retired from politics. He remained involved in the real estate business until his death in 1960 at the age of 85.

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Meehan, Austin 1876 births 1960 deaths Philadelphia City Council members Pennsylvania Republicans 20th-century Pennsylvania politicians

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