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| Newly-elected Mayor Douglas, centre front, and the Charlotte
City Council, in May 1935. |
Benjamin Elbert Douglas, Sr. (1894–1981) was the mayor of
Charlotte, North Carolina from 1935 to 1941. He was the son of Benjamin
F. Douglas (1831 - 1905) and Margaret L Miller Douglas (1857 - 1953). Douglas was born in
Iredell County, North Carolina on September 3, 1894. He served in the
United States Army during World War I. A Democrat, he was also the first mayor of Charlotte that was directly elected by voters, because of a change in the city charter.
Mayor Ben Douglas had a house on Malvern Road in Myers Park . Like so
many other New South leaders of Charlotte in the first half of the
twentieth century, including Ovens, Duke, and Morrison, and for that
matter Tompkins and Latta of an earlier generation, Douglas was not a
native. Born in Iredell County, Douglas moved to Charlotte from Gastonia
in the mid-1920s and established a funeral home at the corner of Fox
Street and Elizabeth Avenue, now Independence Boulevard and Elizabeth
Avenue. Older Charlotteans have vivid memories of the Douglas and Sing
Mortuary, especially the green awning that extended all the way from the
front door to the curb.
A tireless and adroit politician, Douglas was Mayor from 1935 until
1941, and earned the reputation of being the "Builder of Modern Day
Charlotte." Douglas loved the drama and passion of the political arena,
and he devoted his enormous energies and talents to leading the people
into what he regarded as a bright and prosperous future. Born in the
1890s, he reached adulthood during the "roaring twenties," when it
seemed that everybody was making piles of money in the stock market.
Then came the crippling Depression of the 1930s. Douglas saw himself as
a cheerleader, as an urban booster who would rally the people of
Charlotte and give them hope.
Douglas's greatest and most enduring contribution to the building up of
Charlotte was his commitment to the establishment of a municipal
airport,
Charlotte Douglas
International Airport, which still bears his name. Passenger air
service began here on December 10, 1930, but the Curtis Condor airplane
had to land at a private field. At Mayor Douglas's insistence, the
Charlotte City Council voted on September 3, 1935, to apply for Federal
funds from the Works Progress Administration to build an airport for
Charlotte. When Washington approved the request on November 13th, the
City decided to use the money for land acquistion. Voter-approved bonds
were sold on March 1, 1936, to pay for the improvements, including the
terminal and the hangar. "Hundreds of unemployed men, bundled in
overcoats, stood in line for the first WPA jobs, which consisted of
clearing the site of trees and underbrush," writes historian Ryan
Sumner. The original hangar at what is now Charlotte Douglas
International Airport survives. It is located at 4108 Airport Drive and
is the home of the Carolinas Aviation Museum.
Douglas was a prime mover in persuading the War Department to establish
an air station at Charlotte shortly before the entry of the United
States into World War Two. Dedicated on April 21, 1941, and named Morris
Field in honor of William Colb Morris , a World War One aviator from
Concord, North Carolina, the air station was devoted primarily to the
training of pilots and the maintenance of aircraft. Like Camp Greene
during World War One, Morris Field was a boost to the local economy.
"The Army Air Base at Morris Field became a $6 million government
investment," boasted the Charlotte Observer many years later. Charlotte
architect W. R. Marsh designed the buildings, and Blythe Brothers
Construction Company and Goode Construction Company, both local firms,
built Morris Field.
In 1946 Ben Douglas
founded Douglas Furs, after Franklin D. Roosevelt asked a personal favor
of Ben Sr. – to find a way to clean the fleece lined fur trimmed flight
jackets for the soldiers flying in the then current war in Europe. He
used his knowledge gained in the dry cleaning business (he owned one in
Charlotte prior) and his ingenuity gained him a government contract and
later a thriving business in the fur trade. Ben Douglas Sr. also was the
relentless lobbyist for the now well-traveled Independence Boulevard.
Mary Louise Douglas (his widow)
continued to work at Douglas Furs 3 days a week until her death on
December 29, 2007. People of all walks of life came in and
spoke to Mary Louise giving them a first hand tour guide through
Douglas' history as well as Charlotte's. The store is lined with historical text, newspaper articles of his election, and pictures of Ben and his accomplishments.
He had been previously
married to Harlee Todd Douglas (1899 - 1930) and Carolyn Wilkes Douglas
(1907 - 1962).
Children:
Robert L. Douglas;
Jean D.
Beall;
Ben E. Douglas, Jr. - Mr. Douglas, 83,
died peacefully in his sleep on March 7, 2008 at Liberty Commons Nursing
Home. He was born in Gastonia, NC on November 28, 1924, the first born
child of Ben E. Douglas, Sr. and wife Harlee Todd. Mr. Douglas graduated
first in his class from Porter Military Academy and attended UNC-CH.
During World War II he proudly served in the US Army 20th Armored
Division, the first Allied forces to enter Germany, crossing the Rhine
River and liberators of Dachau, as recognized by the US Holocaust
Memorial Museum and the Center of Military History. Mr. Douglas was a
master furrier and via his craftsmanship allowed Douglas Furs to become
a regionally recognized fur business. Mr. Douglas's professional career
also included commercial real estate brokerage and hotel/motel
franchising business.
He married Norma Gibson Knight Melton (1924
- 2006) and had children: Ben E. Douglas (1949 - 2010), Stephen Todd
Douglas, Diane Douglas Carter, Byron Evan Douglas and Benna Harlee
Douglas. Their grandchildren: Alyson Hilal, Ashleigh Douglas, Christin
Douglas, Jonathan Carter, Meredith Carter, Jade Douglas, Haven Douglas;
and one great-grandchild, Mya.
Source
Sources for this article include:
The Charlotte Observer
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