Norris Wright Cuney
Norris Wright Cuney | |
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Texas Republican Party, First Grand Master Prince Hall Masons of Texas http://www.mwphglotx.org | |
Political party | Republican |
Children | Maud Cuney Hare, Lloyd Garrison Cuney |
Website | TSHA: Cuney, Norris Wright |
Norris Wright Cuney, or simply Wright Cuney, (May 12, 1846 – March 3, 1898) was an American politician, businessman,
Establishing his own
Cuney is regarded by many as the most important black leader in Texas in the 19th century and one of the most important in the United States.
Early life and education
Norris Wright Cuney was born on May 12, 1846, near
By 1850 Philip Cuney was one of the largest landowners in the state, with 2,000 acres and 105 slaves, including Stuart and her children. In 1860 he was one of the 50 largest slaveowners in the state.[5] Cuney raised cotton but also had a dairy operation, with several hundred cows, plus beef cattle brought to the marriage by his second wife, Adeline Ware, with whom he had three children before her death before 1850.[6] He married for the third time in 1851. Cuney considered Houston his home, where he settled in 1853.[7]
By the principle of partus sequitur ventrem, adopted from the model of Virginia colonial slave law, the mixed-race, majority-white Stuart children were all enslaved at birth, as their mother was enslaved. Their father freed his mixed-race children and their mother sometime before the Civil War, starting with the oldest son Joseph in 1853. He sent his sons to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to the Wylie Street School for Blacks for education.[8] When Norris was freed in 1859, he took his father's surname of Cuney. His father also sent him to Pittsburgh for schooling at that time. Jennie Cuney was freed and sent to Europe for her education; she later passed into white society, consistent with her majority-white ancestry.[8] The Civil War interrupted Norris' plans to attend Oberlin College in Ohio, which was open to students of all races and both genders.[9]
After the outset of the war, Norris Cuney gained work on a steamship that traveled on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers between Cincinnati and New Orleans.[9] Spending a great deal of time in New Orleans, he became friends with influential figures such as P. B. S. Pinchback, a mixed-race man educated in the North who returned to the South after the war. He was elected as a Republican lieutenant governor of Louisiana and succeeded to the position of the state's first Black governor.[7]
At the end of the war, Cuney moved back to Texas and settled in
After the war, Cuney met George T. Ruby, a representative of the
Career
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Cuney's career rose with Galveston's growth as a port and progressive city. In 1870 he was appointed first sergeant-at-arms of the Texas Legislature.[14] He befriended the Republican governor Edmund J. Davis. He was appointed as a state delegate to the 1872 Republican National Convention and served in this role for the next two decades, attending every convention until 1892.
In 1871 Cuney's interest in educational opportunities for blacks led to his appointment as one of the school directors for
Cuney was appointed head of the Galveston chapter of the Union League in 1871.[14] As George T. Ruby left Texas politics, Cuney gained much of his clout without some of his negative associations. Ruby had been strongly connected to unpopular Reconstruction programs.[16] In 1873 Cuney was appointed secretary of the Republican State Executive Committee. That same year he presided over the Texas convention of black leaders in Brenham.
In 1872 Cuney was appointed as the federal inspector of customs for the Port of Galveston and revenue inspector at Sabine Pass.[14] Cuney became a popular figure in the community. As reform efforts in the city were pushed forward by the community's business leaders, including the Galveston Cotton Exchange garnering support for harbor improvements, Cuney was asked to participate.[17]
This was a period of dramatic growth in the South and nationally of black fraternal organizations, part of the political organizing by freedmen. While not active in any church, Cuney joined Amity Lodge #4 The Most Worshipful National Grand Lodge of Free & Accepted Ancient York Rite Masons, National Compact. He recruited new members and contributed to the growth of Prince Hall Freemasonry in Texas. Black lodges were not recognized by Freemasonry in the United States, which banned people of color, until the last decade of the 20th century. In 1875, Cuney was elected the first Grand Master of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge, Free and Accepted Ancient York Masons of the State of Texas, known today as the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Texas.[18] Cuney also was involved with the Knights of Pythias of North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia and the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows in America.[19][20]
Cuney entered the race for Galveston mayor in 1875 but lost. He similarly lost bids for the state
In 1882 Cuney was appointed to the higher position of special inspector for customs at the port.
In 1886 Cuney was elected as the Texas national
Cuney's elevation to the Texas Republican chairmanship aggravated some white Republicans in Texas and nationwide.
In 1892 Democratic politician Grover Cleveland was elected U.S. President, ending national support for Cuney's efforts. He was unseated in 1896 by a white as chairman of the Texas Republican party.
Personal life
On July 5, 1871, Cuney had married Adelina Dowdie, a local school teacher.
Maud Cuney (later known as
Cuney amassed considerable wealth, attaining an estimated net worth of approximately $150,000 in 1893 ($5.09 million in today's dollars), according to The New York Times..[24]
Legacy
Some Texas historians refer to the period of the state between 1884 and 1896 as the "Cuney era".[14][30] It is noted as a time of significant political gains by blacks in Texas. Cuney's efforts to recruit and register blacks contributed to a total of more than 100,000 blacks voting annually in the state during the 1890s (more than 15% of the black population or 4% of the total).[31][32][33] The increased power of unionized black dock workers eventually led to interracial unions in Galveston during the decade from the 1890s to the early 1900s.[34]
By the time of Cuney's death, white conservative Democratic-dominated southern state legislatures were passing new constitutions and laws to
Cuney's example continued to inspire other black leaders. Following his being removed from the Texas Republican chairmanship,
Memorials
Cuney is the namesake for various places and organizations including:
- Wright Cuney Park between Broadway and Harborside Drive near the wharfs in Galveston. It is the site of the city's annual Juneteenth celebration of emancipation of African-American slaves.
- The small town of Cuney, Texas, originally settled by freedmen, was named after Cuney Price, the son of H.L. Price, who incorporated the town. The younger Price (and thus the town) were named for Norris Wright Cuney.
- The Order of the Eastern Star, Prince Hall Affiliated, renamed its Grand Chapter as the Norris Wright Cuney Grand Chapter of Texas (PHA).
- Cuney Homes, a public housing complex owned and operated by the Houston Housing Authority (HHA), formerly Housing Authority of the City of Houston (HACH), was named for the politician.[37] It is located near the campuses of Texas Southern University and the University of Houston.
See also
- Civil rights movement (1865–1896)
- List of civil rights leaders
- Galveston, Texas
- Racism in the United States
- Texas Republican Party
- Union League
Notes
- ^ a b Hales (2003), p.16
- ^ Hare (1913), p. 3
- ISBN 1-58544-200-3.
- ^ a b Cartwright (1998), p. 131
- ^ Hales (2003), pp. 6
- ^ Hales (2003), pp. x, 6
- ^ a b c d Hare (1913), p. 8
- ^ a b Hales (2003), p. 12
- ^ a b Gatewood (2000), p. 20
- ^ Hales (2003), pp. xi, 17
- ^ Ruby, George Thompson from the Handbook of Texas Online
- ^ Democratic Party from the Handbook of Texas Online
- ^ Hales (2003), pp. 15–16
- ^ a b c d e f g Cuney, Norris Wright from the Handbook of Texas Online
- ^ Hare (1913), p. 14
- ^ Hales (2003), p. 58
- ^ Hales (2003), p. 48
- ^ Uzzel (2004), p. xii
- ^ "Rosenberg Treasure: Remembering Norris Wright Cuney During Black History Month". Galveston, TX. February 3, 2020. Retrieved April 14, 2024.
- ^ Association, Texas State Historical. "Cuney, Norris Wright". Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved April 14, 2024.
- ^ Obadele-Starks (2001), p. 39
- ^ Obadele-Starks (2001), p. 40
- ^ Hare (1913), p. 174
- ^ a b "Southern Negro Progress: What the Race has done in Wealth and Education" (PDF). The New York Times. August 13, 1893.
- ^ a b Lily White Movement from the Handbook of Texas Online
- ^ Winegarten (1997), p. 20
- ^ Hales (2003), Southern White and Black, p. 17
- ^ a b Hales (2003), Southern White and Black, p. 18
- ^ Cuney-Hare, Maud from the Handbook of Texas Online
- ISBN 0-8153-3076-6.
- ^ a b African-American Pioneers of Texas: From the Old West to the New Frontiers (Teacher's Manual) (PDF). Museum of Texas Tech University: Education Division. p. 25. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 5, 2007.
- ^ "Census and Census Records". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved July 23, 2017.
- ^ "African Americans". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved July 23, 2017.
- ^ Obadele-Starks (2001), pp. 43–44
- ^ Obadele-Starks (2001), pp. 47–50
- ^ McDonald, William Madison from the Handbook of Texas Online
- ^ "How To Apply For Houston Public Housing". www.houstoncasemanagers.com. February 11, 2017. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
References
- Cartwright, Gary (1998). Galveston: A History of the Island. TCU Press. ISBN 0-689-11991-7.
- Gatewood, Willard B. (2000). Aristocrats of Color: the Black Elite, 1880–1920. University of Arkansas Press. ISBN 0-253-20850-5.
- Hales, Douglas (2003). A Southern Family in White & Black: The Cuneys of Texas. Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 1-58544-200-3.
- Hare, Maud Cuney (1913). Norris Wright Cuney: A Tribune of the Black People. Crisis Publishing Company. ISBN 0-7838-1397-X.
- Obadele-Starks, Ernest (2001). Black Unionism in the Industrial South. Texas A&M University Press. p. 40. ISBN 0-89096-912-4.
- Uzzel, Robert L. (2004). Prince Hall Freemasonry in the Lone Star State: From Cuney to Curtis, 1875-2003. Sunbelt Eakin. ISBN 1-57168-834-X.