Edward Jeffries

Edward J. Jeffries Jr. (April 3, 1900 – April 2, 1950) was an American politician, councilman, and mayor of Detroit.

Early life Edward Jeffries was born in Detroit, Michigan, on April 3, 1900, the son of Judge Edward J. Jeffries and Minnie Stott Jeffries. The elder Jeffries was an alderman, a police justice, and a long-serving judge on the Recorder's Court. He had run unsuccessfully for mayor multiple times, seeing himself as a representative of the underclass, and instilled in the younger Jeffries a sense of civic responsibility. While serving on the council, Jeffries came under the influence of long-time councilman John C. Lodge. Jeffries was already more moderate in stance than his radical father, eager to work within the existing power structure, and Lodge, who shared a similar outlook, was a natural ally. Jeffries bid for a fifth term was unsuccessful because of his unpopularity in the wake of the 1943 race riot, and he lost to councilman Eugene Van Antwerp. Jeffries was elected once more to serve on the City Council, beginning in 1950, but died in office.

Edward Jeffries suffered a heart attack on March 18, 1950, while on vacation in Miami Beach, Florida. He died shortly thereafter on April 2, 1950, a day short of his 50th birthday. The section of I-96 in Livonia and Detroit is named in Jeffries' honor.