Floyd J. McCree (March 29, 1923 – June 15, 1988), was a Michigan politician. He was the first

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Flint, Michigan Flint is the largest city in Genesee County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. Located along the Flint River (Michigan), Flint River northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the Central Michigan, Mid Michigan region. Flin ...

Early life

Floyd Joel Mcree was born in Webster Grove,

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, on March 29, 1923, the son of Jordan Daniel McCree, Sr. and Minnie Blackwell. He went to high school in

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

and attended Lincoln University,

Jefferson City Jefferson City, informally Jeff City, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of Missouri. It had a population of 43,228 at the 2020 United States census, ranking as the List of cities in Missouri, 16th most popu ...

. McCree served in the South Pacific in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in the army, rising to the rank of staff sergeant. After leaving the army, he was hired at the Buick foundry in Flint, becoming a foreman. He was later promoted to supervisor of maintenance.

Political life

McCree was elected to the Flint

City Commission City commission government is a form of local government in the United States. In a city commission government, voters elect a small commission, typically of five to seven members, typically on a plurality-at-large voting basis. These commissio ...

in 1958 which selected him as mayor for the years 1966–68. During his time as mayor, he pushed for open housing and employment equal opportunity. In 1967, he was involved in trying to end the violence in Detroit during the 1967 riots. In the same year, after the City Commission refused to adopt an open housing ordinance, he threatened to resign as mayor. Other prominent African-Americans joined in threatening to resign from public boards. The open housing law was later adopted in a charged contested referendum. McCree continued serving on the City Commission until 1970. In 1970, he was a Michigan state representatives candidate for the 82nd district. In 1971, McCree took office as Genesee County

Register of deeds Recorder of deeds or deeds registry is a government office tasked with maintaining public records and documents, especially records relating to real estate ownership that provide persons other than the owner of a property with real rights ove ...

. He ran for mayor under a new charter that directly elected a strong mayor in 1975 and 1979, losing both times to James W. Rutherford. McCree continued to be elected County Register, but he died on June 15, 1988, before the primary election.

Legacy

On April 4, 2022, a bronze statue of McCree by the artist Joe Rundell was unveiled in front of the Flint City Hall. It was financed by a fundraising campaign by the Community Foundation of Greater Flint.

References

African-American mayors in Michigan Mayors of Flint, Michigan People from Webster Groves, Missouri 1988 deaths 1923 births 20th-century African-American politicians 20th-century mayors of places in Michigan United States Army personnel of World War II {{Michigan-mayor-stub