Biography

July 11, 1897 · Selma, Alabama, USA

March 10, 1973 · Birmingham, Alabama, USA

Theophilus Eugene Connor

In 1964, in an effort to prevent blacks in Birmingham, Alabama from registering to vote, he ran for mayor. He lost to Albert Boutwell, a racial moderate.

He was the Director of Public Safety in Birmingham, Alabama in the early '60s. Ironically, despite that title, he has been historically remembered for his violent efforts to stonewall the civil rights marches in the early '60s by instructing the police and fire departments to turn dogs and fire-hoses on the peaceful demonstrators. When he was elected to the position in 1960 he was voted in by the largest percentage of votes in the history of the state. Four years later, after the assault on the the demonstrators, the same percentage voted to remove him from his position.