Joseph N. Langan
| Joseph N. Langan | |
|---|---|
| Finance Commissioner of Mobile | |
|
In office 1953–1969 |
|
| Preceded by | Charles A. Baumhauer |
| Succeeded by | Joseph A. Bailey |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
March 11, 1912 Mobile, Alabama |
| Died | November 4, 2004 (aged 92) Mobile, Alabama |
Joseph N. Langan (1912–2004) was a Mobile, Alabama-area community leader and politician who served four terms on the Mobile City Commission; during this period he also served several one-year terms as Mayor of Mobile. The office was rotated among the three commissioners and was co-extensive with the presidency of the City Commission. Mobile's largest municipal park was named after him.
Langan also served as a state senator, where he worked to extend voting rights for African Americans (who had been essentially disenfranchised since the turn of the century.) He opposed the Dixiecrat movement in the Democratic Party. As a Mobile commissioner, Langan expanded the size of the city through annexation to provide for growth and increase the tax base. He crafted a moderate approach to advancing the equality of African-American citizens in years of increasing civil rights activism.
Joseph Nicholas Langan was born in Mobile, Alabama on March 11, 1912. His father, David Langan, had served for several years as the tax collector for Mobile until 1911. Later, he went into business with his brother, opening a men's clothing store in downtown Mobile. When the store was destroyed by a hurricane in 1916, Langan moved his wife and four children to Semmes, a small community in north Mobile County. After World War I, the Langans returned to Mobile and opened a grocery store on Espejo Street.
The Langans were devout Catholics. Joseph Langan and his siblings attended St. Mary's parochial school for their early education. He transferred to the public (white) Murphy High School, where he graduated in 1931. That same year, he joined the Alabama National Guard, while taking a clerk's apprentice job in his uncle's law firm. At night, he studied for the Alabama bar exam, which he passed in 1936.
In 1939, Langan ran successfully for a seat in the Alabama House of Representatives. The 27-year-old politician worked for the improvement of Alabama's voting laws and oversaw the installation of voting machines in Mobile. His term was cut short in 1941 with America's entry into World War II. He rejoined the National Guard and was sent to Arizona for training. During the latter years of the war, Langan served with the Thirty-first Dixie Division as a chief of staff in the South Pacific during campaigns in the Philippines and New Guinea, for which he was awarded a Bronze Star.
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