Joseph Lee (American politician)

Joseph Lee (1901-1991) was an American politician who served ten terms on the Boston School Committee. He was also an ardent racsist saying “I believe in exclusion by race”[1]

Joseph Lee
Chairman of the Boston School Committee
In office
1970–1970
Preceded byJohn J. Kerrigan
Succeeded byPaul Tierney
In office
1962–1962
Preceded byMadeleine Reilly
Succeeded byLouise Day Hicks
In office
1956–1956
Preceded byMary K. Fitzgerald
Succeeded byJohn P. McMorrow
Personal details
Born1901
Boston
DiedNovember 6, 1991 (aged 90)
Boston
Political partyDemocratic Party
Spouse(s)Kathleen Nolan (?-1951; her death)
Ariel Foley Duff (1960-1991; his death)
Alma materHarvard College


Early life

Lee was born in 1901 in Boston.[2] His father, Joseph Lee, was a recreation advocate and Boston School Committee member known as the "father of the American playground".[3] His grandfather, was a founder of Lee, Higginson & Co. He graduated from Harvard College in 1922 and then attended the University of Texas.[2] After graduating, Lee worked on a ranch in Wyoming, the Fore River Shipyard in Massachusetts, and was a reporter for the Boston Post.[2][4] He also worked for fourteen years as a freelance writer. During World War I he served in the United States Marines.[2]

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."[4]

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.[2] In 1941, he ran for Mayor of Boston. He finished a distant third behind incumbent Maurice J. Tobin and former Mayor James Michael Curley, but ahead of another former Mayor, Malcolm E. Nichols.[5] 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.[6] 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%.[7] In 1945, Lee once again an unsuccessful candidate for Mayor of Boston.[2] The following year he lost his bid for the United States House of Representatives seat in Massachusetts' 11th Congressional district.[4]

Recreation advocacy

Lee also fought for increased recreational activities for both adults and children. He campaigned for public skating on the Charles River and Jamaica Pond. He helped establish the Massachusetts Committee to Further Outdoor Recreation and the Boston Board of Recreation. During the 1940s he served as chairman of the Boston Park Commission.[4]

Later school committee tenure

In 1953, Lee was once again elected to the Boston School Committee. He was reelected in 1955.[4] In 1956 he was elected committee chairman.[8] He lost in 1957, but returned in 1959 for the first of six consecutive terms.[4] In 1962 and 1970 he was the committee chairman.[3][9] He lost his bid for reelection in 1971, following an effort by the Boston Teachers Union to unseat him.[10]

Personal life and death

Lee's first wife, Kathleen Nolan, died in 1951.[4] In May 1960, Lee, then 59, married Ariel Foley Duff, a 26-year old widow.[11]

Lee died on November 6, 1991 at a nursing home in Jamaica Plain.[4]

References
  1. https://apps.bostonglobe.com/2023/10/special-projects/spotlight-boston-housing/milton-restrictive-zoning/
  2. "Joseph Lee Went to Harvard, Once Was Laborer at Fore River". The Boston Daily Globe. October 18, 1945.
  3. Hurt, Richard L. (January 3, 1962). "Lee Chosen Head Of School Board". The Boston Globe.
  4. "Joseph Lee, 90; elected 10 times to the Boston School Committee". The Boston Globe. November 8, 1991.
  5. Harris, John G. (November 5, 1941). "Tobin Wins by 9514". The Boston Daily Globe.
  6. "Our Campaigns - MA US Senate - D Primary Race - Sep 15, 1942".
  7. "Our Campaigns - MA US Senate - Special D Primary Race - Jul 11, 1944".
  8. "Lee Elected Head of School Board, Post Father Held". The Boston Daily Globe. January 4, 1956.
  9. Van Dyne, Larry (January 14, 1970). "Lee now heads Hub school board". The Boston Globe.
  10. Brody, Judith (December 31, 1971). "Lee, still fighting, leaves school panel". The Boston Globe.
  11. "Joseph Lee, 59, And Widow, 26, to Wed in May". The Boston Daily Globe. April 8, 1960.
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