Robert Church Jr.

Robert Reed Church Jr. (October 26, 1885 – April 17, 1952) was a prominent businessman and Republican Party organizer in Memphis, Tennessee. His father was the successful businessman Robert Reed Church, and Church Jr. succeeded his father as president of the Solvent Savings Bank and Trust Company after his father's death. An African American, he organized the first NAACP branch in Tennessee and was a member of the NAACP national board of directors. From the 1910s to 1940s, he was one of the most powerful political figures in his hometown of Memphis. Forced to leave Memphis because of harassment by Democratic boss E. H. Crump, Church moved to Washington, D.C., in 1940.

Personal life Church was born on October 26, 1885, to Robert Reed Church and Anna Susan Wright. He had one sister, Annette Elaine. Mary Church Terrell, the well-known civil rights activist and suffragist, was his half-sister, born from his father's first marriage to Louisa Ayres. Church was educated at parochial schools in Memphis and by private tutors. He later attended Morgan Park Military Academy in Morgan Park, Illinois, and at the Berlin and Parkard School of Business in New York. After schooling, he worked for two years on Wall Street.

Church married Sara P. Johnson of Washington, D.C., in DC on July 26, 1911. They had one child, daughter Sara Roberta Church. Church died of a heart attack on April 17, 1952. In 1917, Church organized a Memphis branch of the NAACP, the first branch in Tennessee. Church became a member of the national board of directors of the organization in 1919, representing fourteen southern states.

By 1920, Church's power was increasingly being challenged by Memphis Democratic boss E. H. Crump. The two became leaders of opposing parties in Memphis, with Josiah T. Settle, Jr, George Klepper, and Baily Walsh being Church's chief assistants.

In 1942, Church lodged a complaint with the national committee of the Republican Party but, according to his friend, Perry W. Howard, decided to drop it because the Civil Rights Section of the Department of Justice investigation showed strong interest in a prosecution. Despite overwhelming evidence against Crump, however, top officials in the department, well aware of President Roosevelt's friendly ties with Crump, did not pursue it.

In 1943, Church and Martin successfully persuaded labor leader A. Philip Randolph to visit Memphis to speak out against Crump's suppression of free speech. Crump's subordinates responded by denying Randolph speaking venues by intimidating local black leaders into withdrawing invitations and shunning him. When Randolph urged Eleanor Roosevelt, who had friendly political ties with Crump, to do something to counter Crump's "fascist" denial of free speech, she refused. Her reply on December 18, 1943, to Randolph read in full: "I referred your letter to a friend of mine when I received it and I am sorry it has not been answered before. I was advised not to do anything, as it might do more harm than good." Church persisted and in 1944 urged Roy Wilkins of the NAACP to make stronger efforts to pressure the Roosevelt Administration to take action but to no avail.

In 1944, Church accepted an invitation from Randolph to become a member of the board of directors of the National Council for a Permanent Fair Employment Practices Committee.