Terry A. Francois ( 1922 – June 9, 1989) was an

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 ...

attorney,

civil rights activist Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

, and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. He served as the

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

chapter president of the

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...

and became the first African American to serve on the

San Francisco Board of Supervisors The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is the board of supervisors, legislative body within the government of San Francisco, government of the San Francisco, City and County of San Francisco in the U.S. state of California. Government and polit ...

Biography

Born in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, Francois obtained his bachelor's degree from

Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier had an enrollment of approximately 5,600 undergraduate an ...

in 1940. He attended

Atlanta University Clark Atlanta University (CAU or Clark Atlanta) is a private, Methodist, historically black research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded on September19, 1865, as Atlanta University, it was the first HBCU in the Southe ...

, where he earned a master's degree in business. Francois joined the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

, serving as a platoon sergeant 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 ...

. After the war, Francois moved to

, where he attended the

University of California, Hastings College of the Law The University of California College of the Law, San Francisco (abbreviated as UC Law SF or UC Law) is a public law school in San Francisco, California, United States. It was known as the University of California, Hastings College of the Law (a ...

and received his law degree in 1949. Francois protested unfair practices against Blacks in housing. He was elected as the San Francisco chapter president of the

. He also served on the board of the San Francisco Urban League. In private practice, Francois represented Margherite Mays, the wife of

Willie Mays Willie Howard Mays Jr. (May 6, 1931 – June 18, 2024), nicknamed "the Say Hey Kid", was an American professional baseball center fielder who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of ...

. Francois was named to the

in 1964 by

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 ...

John Shelley, becoming the first African American to serve on the Board. He was elected to his own term in 1967, and re-elected in 1971 and 1975. After San Francisco transitioned to supervisor elections based on districts, rather than at-large elections, Francois resigned his supervisor post in 1978 to return to private practice. In 1988, he left the Democratic Party, registering with the Republican Party and endorsing

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

in the

1988 United States presidential election Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 8, 1988. The Republican Party's ticket of incumbent Vice President George H. W. Bush and Indiana Senator Dan Quayle defeated the Democratic ticket of Massachusetts Governor M ...

. He died of cancer on June 9, 1989, at the age of 67.

Personal life

Francois married Marion Le Blanc in 1947. With his wife, Francois had five children: four sons and a daughter. He had eight grandchildren. He was

Catholic 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 ...

, and helped to lead the Catholic Interracial Council in San Francisco before its demise.

Criticism

Following the end of the Civil Rights Movement and the rise of the Black Panthers, Francois was often criticized for his more lax approach to social issues, especially those affecting the Black community. He was seen by some as more of a White-oriented talking head than a figure fighting forcefully for Black causes.

Legacy

Terry A. Francois Boulevard in San Francisco's Mission Bay neighborhood is named after him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Francois, Terry 1989 deaths United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II African-American people in California politics Lawyers from New Orleans Xavier University of Louisiana alumni Clark Atlanta University alumni University of California College of the Law, San Francisco alumni San Francisco Board of Supervisors members California Democrats California Republicans United States Marines Year of birth uncertain Lawyers from San Francisco African Americans in World War II African-American Catholics Roman Catholic activists African-American United States Navy personnel