Bull Connor | |
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![]() Connor in 1960 | |
President of the Alabama Public Service Commission | |
In office January 18, 1965 – January 17, 1972 | |
Preceded by | Jack Owen |
Succeeded by | Kenneth Hammond |
Birmingham Commissioner of Public Safety | |
In office 1957–1963 | |
Preceded by | Robert Lindbergh |
Succeeded by | Position abolished |
In office 1937–1954 | |
Preceded by | W. O. Downs |
Succeeded by | Robert Lindbergh |
Member of the Alabama House of Representatives | |
In office 1935–1937 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Theophilus Eugene Connor July 11, 1897 Selma, Alabama, U.S. |
Died | March 10, 1973 Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. | (aged 75)
Political party | Democratic |
Other political affiliations | Dixiecrat |
Spouse | Beara Levens[1] |
Children | 2 |
Theophilus Eugene "Bull" Connor (July 11, 1897 – March 10, 1973) was an American politician who served as Commissioner of Public Safety for the city of Birmingham, Alabama, for more than two decades. A member of the Democratic Party, he strongly opposed the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. Under the city commission government, Connor had responsibility for administrative oversight of the Birmingham Fire Department and the Birmingham Police Department,[1] which also had their own chiefs.
As a white supremacist,[2] Bull Connor enforced legal racial segregation and denied civil rights to black citizens, especially during 1963's Birmingham campaign led by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He is well known for directing the use of fire hoses and police attack dogs against civil rights activists, including against children supporting the protests.[3] National media broadcast these tactics on television, horrifying much of the world. The outrages served as catalysts for major social and legal change in the Southern United States and contributed to passage by the United States Congress of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
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