Walter L. Cohen
| Walter L. Cohen, Sr. | |
|---|---|
| Born |
January 22, 1860 New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Died | December 29, 1930 (aged 70) New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Leader of the Black and Tan Republicans |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Antonia Manadé Cohen |
| Children |
Walter L. Cohen, Jr. |
| Parent(s) | Bernard and Amerlia Bingaman Cohen |
Walter L. Cohen, Jr.
Bernard J. Cohen
Walter L. Cohen, Sr. (January 22, 1860 – December 29, 1930) was an African-American Republican politician and businessman in the U.S. state of Louisiana.
The New Orleans native was the son of Bernard Cohen and the former Amelia Bingaman. Like his better-known compatriot Homer Adolph Plessy, Cohen was a free black prior to passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. He was Catholic by religion, but had some Jewish ancestry, and he noted that he was part of the most-hated ethnic group and most-hated religious group by the resurging Ku Klux Klan.
Educated in New Orleans, he was married to the former Antonia Manadé, and the couple had three children: Walter Cohen, Jr., Bernard J. Cohen, and Margot C. Farrell.
Cohen's political activity mushroomed in the 1890s, after the Reconstruction era, when he became one of the few blacks to hold appointed office into the 20th century. During this period, Cohen and fellow black Louisiana federal appointee James Lewis were the most important political allies of Booker T. Washington in the state, which played a role in their success.U.S. President William McKinley named Cohen a customs inspector in New Orleans. McKinley's successor, Theodore Roosevelt, appointed him register of the federal land office. (Louisiana at the time elected a register of state lands, among them the first woman in statewide elected office in the 20th century, Lucille May Grace.)
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