Southern Jewish Mayors Throughout History
We are working to build a list of all Jewish mayors who have served in Southern towns. If you know of any Southern Jewish mayors who should be added to this list, please email our historian.
Alabama
Demopolis Moris Ely 1905
Isidore Bley Dates unknown
Madison Ann van Leeuwen 1990-1992
Mobile Lazaurs Schwarz 1911-1915
Leon Schwarz 1926, 1932, 1933
Montgomery Mordecai Moses 1875-1881
Henry Faber 1870-1875
Pollard Nathan Strauss Late 19th century
Selma Simon Maas 1887-1889
Marcus Meyer 1895-1899
Louis Benish 1915-1920
Sheffield Albery Moses 1885
Isidore Bley Dates unknown
Madison Ann van Leeuwen 1990-1992
Mobile Lazaurs Schwarz 1911-1915
Leon Schwarz 1926, 1932, 1933
Montgomery Mordecai Moses 1875-1881
Henry Faber 1870-1875
Pollard Nathan Strauss Late 19th century
Selma Simon Maas 1887-1889
Marcus Meyer 1895-1899
Louis Benish 1915-1920
Sheffield Albery Moses 1885
Arkansas
Dumas Gus Waterman 1904 The town's very first mayor
Charles Dante 1920s
Dermott David Kimpel 1897-1898
El Dorado Irving Leon Pesses 1967-1975 Re-election campaign slogan: “Izzy’s Been Busy”
Little Rock Jonas Levy 1860-1864
Frederick Kramer 1873-1875; 1881-1887
Helena Aaron Meyers 1878-1880
Jacob Fink 1906
Holly Grove Ralph Abramson 1947-1958
Pine Bluff Simon Bloom 1900-1912
West Memphis Kent Rubens
Charles Dante 1920s
Dermott David Kimpel 1897-1898
El Dorado Irving Leon Pesses 1967-1975 Re-election campaign slogan: “Izzy’s Been Busy”
Little Rock Jonas Levy 1860-1864
Frederick Kramer 1873-1875; 1881-1887
Helena Aaron Meyers 1878-1880
Jacob Fink 1906
Holly Grove Ralph Abramson 1947-1958
Pine Bluff Simon Bloom 1900-1912
West Memphis Kent Rubens
Florida
Gulf Breeze Beverly H. Zimmern 2009-Present
Pensacola Adolph Greenhut 1913-1916
Max Bear 1937-1939
B.I. Greenhut 1965-1967 Adolph Greenhut’s son
Pensacola Adolph Greenhut 1913-1916
Max Bear 1937-1939
B.I. Greenhut 1965-1967 Adolph Greenhut’s son
Georgia
| Alma | Nathan Cohen | Elected 1960 – born in Poland; came to US in 1913. Started out as peddler in rural Georgia. Opened his own store in 1924. Active in local Chamber of Commerce, Lions Club, Shriners, and Masons. Elected in 1960 with 90% of the vote. |
| Atlanta | Sam Massell, Jr. | 1969-1973 |
| Athens | Heidi Davidson | Elected in 2002. |
| Bainbridge | Max Nussbaum | 1920-1921 |
| Columbus | Jacob I. Moses | He served Columbus in 1844. He is one of the Confederate soldiers who was buried at the historic Linwood Cemetery in Columbus. The Jewish section of this cemetery is maintained by Temple Israel and there is a marker designating the section. |
| Eastman | Elias Hermann | |
| Dublin | Jefferson Davis Hermann | 1909-1910 |
| Solomon Hermann | (His brother) succeeded him | |
| Sandy Spring | Eva Galambos | |
| Savannah | Herman Myers | 1895-1897; 1899-1907 |
| Susan Weiner | 1992-1995 | |
| Sandersville | Louis Cohen | 1887 |
Kentucky
| Ashland | Clyde Levi | 1944-1947 |
| David Aronberg | 1952-1955, 1960-1964 | |
| Somerset | Abraham Wolf | 1921-1923 |
| Middlesboro | Isaac Ginsberg | 1933-1935 |
| Central City | W.J. Hirschberg | 1933-1935 |
| Paducah | Meyer Weil | 1871-1875, 1877-1881 |
| Louisville | Jerry Abramson | (1985-1998; 2003 - 2011 ) He served initially from 1985-1998 when he left office because of term limits. During that period he served as President of the United States Conference of Mayors and in that capacity accompanied President Bill Clinton to the funeral of Yitzhak Rabin. He ran for re-election in 2003, winning by a huge margin. |
| Shelbyville | Leon Rothchild | 1912-1922 |
Louisiana
| Alexandria | Edward Weil | 1875-1876 |
| Donaldsonville | Myer Lemann | 1881 |
| Marx Schoenberg | 1870 - killed during dispute over ballots | |
| Solomon Weinschenck | 1872; 1874 | |
| David Israel | ||
| Walter Lemann | 1912 | |
| Haughton (close to Shreveport) |
Henry Bodenheimer | 1885-1887 Was the town’s first mayor, elected with 98 out of 148 votes. |
| Lake Charles | Adolph Meyer | 1874-1888 |
| Lake Providence | Eliaz Stockner | |
| Mandeville | Naphthalie Levy | 1872-1873 |
| Monroe | Arnold Bernstein | 1918-1937 |
| Morgan City | M.E. Norman | Was mayor of Morgan City, LA. in the late 1920's or early 1930's. Also several Jews served on the city council of that era in Morgan City, including Sol Loeb and Henry Loeb. |
| Napoleonville | Solomon Klotz Samuel Klotz |
1922-1931 1939-1945 |
| Shreveport Had several Jewish mayors |
Samuel Levy | Mayor for four months in 1873. He was born in France. He was appointed mayor pro tem by the governor during the Yellow Fever epidemic of 1873. He had been administrator of city finance (an elected position) previously. An election was held on December 22, 1873, which brought his term to an end. |
| Ben Holzman | 1900-1902 Was born in Germany in 1844. Came to the US in 1857; Civil War veteran – was a gunner on the Merrimac! Lived in DC after the war; was reportedly in audience when Lincoln was assasinated. One of the organizers and presidents of B’nai Zion and local B’nai B’rith chapter. First president of the Hebrew Relief Society of Shreveport. Kitty Carlisle was his granddaughter. |
|
| Ernest Bernstein | 1906-1908; born in Baton Rouge in 1868. Married Fannie Hirsch of Vicksburg in 1908. Had been a city alderman. Regional president of IOBB; VP of Bnai Zion. | |
| South Highlands Village | Emmanuel Mahne Bodenheimer | 1920’s. Was the only mayor of this area, which was incorporated into Shreveport in 1927. |
| Vidalia | Lewis Arnheim | 1869-1871 |
| Waterproof | A.G. Yamer | Mayor in 1878 |
Mississippi
| Alligator | Robert Kaplan | |
| Greenville | Jacob Alexander | 1881 |
| Leopold Wilcinski | 1875 | |
| Vicksburg | Lawrence Leyens | |
| Brookhaven | Abraham Lewinthal | 1889 |
| Sam Abrams, Harold Samuels | 1977-1985 | |
| Yazoo City | Harry Applebaum | 1954-1960 |
| Hazlehurst | Paul Kemp | |
| Jonestown | Sam Friedman | 1938-1942 |
| Natchez | Isaac Lowenberg | 1882-1886 |
| Saul Laub | 1929-1936 | |
| Rolling Fork | Sam Rosenthal | 1929-1969; raised in Natchez. |
| Meridian | Alfred Rosenbaum | 1977-1985 |
Port Gibson |
Simon Unger | 1891-1898 |
| Pace | Mose Hyman | |
Shaw |
Jacob Cohen | 1892-1897 |
| Shuqualak | Julius Yaretzky | |
| Summit | Solomon Hyman (town’s first mayor) | |
| Louise | William Sklar | “Mayor for Life” served for 25 years, often ran unopposed; retired in the early 1970’s. He died in 1974. |
| Rosedale | M.J. Dattel | |
| Glendora | Nutty Moyer; Harold Moyer |
North Carolina
| Asheville | Kenneth Michalove | |
| Chapel Hill | Ken Broun | Elected in 1991 |
| Durham | Mutt Evans | 1951-1963 |
| Elizabethtown | Wallace Leinwand | 1990s |
| Fayetteville | Monroe Evans (Mutt’s brother) | Elected in 1965 |
| Greensboro | Ben Cone | 1949-1951 |
| Gastonia | Leon Schneider | |
| Hendersonville | Don Michalove | |
| Holly Ridge | Alfred Popkin | |
| Lumberton | David Weinstein | 1980s |
| Morganton | Mel Cohen | 1985 - |
| Tarboro | Henry Morris | 1880s |
| Wilmington | Solomon Fishblate | 1878-1882 |
| Bill Schwartz | 1980s | |
| B.D. Schwartz | Elected in 1972 |
Oklahoma
| Cordell | J.J. Aberson (mayor three times) |
|
| Enid | Joseph Meibergen | 1897-1901 |
| Perry | Frederick Kretsch | Served four terms. Elected in 1915, 1917, 1931, 1937. |
| Sayre | Leo Meyer | |
| Seminole | Melvin Moran | Elected in 1975 |
| Stroud | Jacob Smulian | 1912-1914 |
South Carolina
| Abbeville | Joseph Savitz, Sr. | 1950’s – 1970’s |
| Clover | Herbert Hirsch | |
| Columbia | Mordecai De Leon | 1833-1836 |
| Henry Lyons | 1850-1855 | |
| Abraham Alexander | 1897-1899 | |
| Oscar Alexander | 1931-1937 | |
| Barnwell | Herman Mazursky | 1938-1970 |
| Florence | John Kuker | 1870s |
| Greenville | Max Heller | Elected in 1971 |
| Georgetown | Five Jewish mayors in the 19th century; three before 1818, and several more since then. | |
| Lake City | Henry Nachman | |
| Spartanburg | William Barnet III | Current mayor as of 1/2005 |
Tennessee
| Chattanooga | George Washington Ochs-Oaks (brother of Adolph Ochs) | 1895-1899 |
| Joseph Wasserman | 1899-1901 | |
| Andy Berke | elected 2013 | |
| Memphis | Henry Loeb | 1960’s |
| Moscow | Phil Bacharach | Late 1920’s, early 1930’s |
| North Knoxville | L.A. Gratz | Elected in 1870 |
Texas
| Alto | Fred Florence | 1919 |
| Amarillo | Kel Seliger | 1993-2001 |
| Austin | Jeffrey Friedman | Elected 1975 at age 30 |
| Beaumont | Maury Meyers | 1978-1982; 1986-1988 |
| Brownsville | Benjamin Kowalski | 1912-1914 |
| Ruben Edelstein | 1975-1979 | |
| Calvert | Gerson Bedach | 1931 |
| Colorado City | H.I. Berman | late 1950s. early 1960s |
| Corpus Christi | Albert .Lichtenstein | 1953-1954 |
| Corsicana | Gus Gappelberg | 1991-1993 |
| Dallas | Adlene Harrison | 1976 |
| Annette Strauss | 1987-1991 | |
| Laura Miller | Elected 2002 | |
| Dalworthington Gardens | Albert Taub | 1986-2006 |
| Dickinson | Veta Winick | 1990’s |
| Dublin | Morris Hoffman | 1949-1959 |
| Eagle Pass | Samuel Schwartz | |
| El Paso | Solomon Schutz | 1880-1881 |
| Adolph Krakauer | 1889 – had to resign after two months when it was discovered that he was not yet a citizen | |
| Adolph Solomon | 1893-1894 | |
| Fort Worth | Bayard Friedman | 1963-1965 |
| Galveston | Michael Seeligson | 1853 |
| Isaac Kempner | 1917-1919 | |
| Adrian Levy | 1935-1939 | |
| Barbara Crews | 1989 | |
| Eddie Schreiber | ||
| Henderson | Moses H. Marwil | elected in 1936; served two terms |
| Jefferson | I.L. Goldberg | |
| Ben Bloomingdale | ||
| Kaufman | Dr. Milton Davis | 1989-1991 |
| Lockhart | Sam Glosserman | |
| Longview | G.A. Bodenheim | 1904-1916; 1918-1920 |
| Luling | Ben Jacobs | Elected 1936 Owned an insurance firm. His family had deep roots in town, going back to its founding. His father was the oldest living settler in Luling. Ben headed the local PWA work, was president of the Luling Charity Association and the local Red Cross. He was president of the local Retail Merchants Association and commander of the American Legion Post. |
| Marshall | Louis Kariel | 1935-1947 |
| Audrey Kariel | (His daughter-in-law; 1994-2001) | |
| Missouri City | Jerry Motley | |
| Padre Island | Minnie Solomonson | 1982-1986 |
| Plano | Florence Shapiro | 1989 |
| Rosenberg | Henry Wertheimer | |
| San Saba | Harry Shapiro | |
| Schulenberg | Michael C. Levey | Born in France Jan 15 1836, was the third mayor of Schulenburg, elected in 1883. He served as postmaster in Moulton and in 1862 Enlisted in the Confederate Army as a member of Dashiell's battery of light Artillery and served to the end of the war. Levey served three terms as Mayor (six years) from 1883 to 1889. He died in 1923. |
| Hirsh Schwartz | Mayor of Schulenburg in 1964 and served until his Death in 1981. Born 1909 in Schulenburg to Julius and Helen Straus Schwartz, He was an attorney and banker. |
|
| Sherman | William Levy | |
| Jake Levy | ||
| Temple | Augustus Lewy | 1880’s – later served as DA of San Antonio |
| Waco | A.M. Goldstein | |
| Weimar | Davis Gindler | 1978-1982 |
| Wichita Falls | Max Kruger | |
| Yoakum | Sam Lewis | elected in 1900 |
| Ysleta | I. Berg |
Virginia
| Alexandria | Henry Strauss | 1891-1897 |
| Lewis Stein | 1915 | |
| Leroy Bendheim | 1957 | |
| Danville | Samuel Kushner | |
| Falls Church | Herman Funk | |
| Nader Baroukh | 2010-2012 | |
| Harrisonburg | Lawrence Loewner | 1948-1955 |
| Lynchburg | Michael Gillette | 2012 |
| Newport News | Harry Reyner | 1930-1932 |
| Joe Frank | 1996-2010 | |
| Richmond | Solomon Jacobs | 1818-1819, acting mayor |
| Virginia Beach | Meyera Ellenson Oberndorf | 1988-2008 recognized by Newsweek as one of the best mayors in America. |
| Winchester | Charles Zuckerman | 1980s |
