Joseph Lee

Joseph Lee (1901-1991) was an American politician who served ten terms on the Boston School Committee.

Early life Lee was born in 1901 in Boston.

Political career Early school committee years In 1937, Lee was elected to the Boston School Committee. He was reelected in 1939. During his first stint on the committee, Lee was credited with introducing 7th, 8th and 9th grade economics courses. He attempted to eliminate Latin and foreign language courses, stating that "only modern language of today is the language of economics." In 1940, he stated that a proposed pay increase for female teachers would "encourage birth control and race suicide."

Unsuccessful bids for higher office In 1940, Lee ran for a seat on the Massachusetts Governor's Council, but lost the Democratic primary to Daniel H. Coakley. In 1942 Lee lost the Democratic primary for the United States Senate seat held by Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. He finished third in the Democratic primary behind Joseph E. Casey and John F. Fitzgerald, but ahead of Coakley. Lodge resigned in 1944, and Lee ran in the special election. He finished second in the Democratic primary with 26% to John H. Corcoran's 34%. In 1945, Lee once again an unsuccessful candidate for Mayor of Boston. He lost in 1957, but returned in 1959 for the first of six consecutive terms. He lost his bid for reelection in 1971, following an effort by the Boston Teachers Union to unseat him.

Personal life and death Lee's first wife, Kathleen Nolan, died in 1951.

Lee died on November 6, 1991, at a nursing home in Jamaica Plain.