Thomas L. Cummings Sr. (May 1, 1891 – March 29, 1968) the mayor of Nashville, Tennessee from 1938 to 1951.
Cummings was born on a farm near McMinnville, Tennessee, on May 1, 1891.[1] His father, William Martin Cummings, was a farmer.[2] He graduated from the Vanderbilt University Law School.[2]
Cummings began his career as a farmer. He was the owner of a grocery store, and he became a lawyer.[2] He served as a member of the Tennessee Senate in 1927 and 1937.[2]
Cummings was elected as the mayor of Nashville in 1938. He was reelected in 1939, 1943 and 1947.[1]
In 1939, Cummings appointed black banker James Carroll Napier to the Nashville Housing Authority.[3] [4] In 1940, he sent a police honor guard to Napier's funeral.[5] In May 1948, he announced the hiring of seven black policemen to join the Nashville police force.[6] He hastened to add they would only work in black neighborhoods, arguing they would be more qualified to keep the order in black neighborhoods.[6] They shared only one patrol car and weren't allowed to arrest white Nashvillians.[6]
Cummings married Ella Lee Connell of White House, Tennessee.[2] They had a son, Thomas L. Cummings Jr., who founded Cummings Signs, a manufacturer of corporate brand signs for the Ford Motor Company, Chrysler, KFC, Captain D's, the Chevron Corporation, Conoco, Holiday Inn and Bank of America.[7] [8] Their daughter, Patsy, married Mr Clem Schonnoff of Knoxville, Tennessee.[2] Cummings was a Freemason.[2]
Cummings died on March 29, 1968, in Nashville.[2]