Jump to content

John Cheatham

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Minnemeeples (talk | contribs) at 23:03, 1 January 2022. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

John Cheatham
Born1855
St. Louis, Missouri, United States
Died1918
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
OccupationFirefighter
Known forCheatham Avenue

John Cheatham (1855–1918) was an American firefighter in the U.S. city of Minneapolis in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Born under slavery in St. Louis, Missouri, Cheatham was freed at the age of eight by the Emancipation Proclamation, and then moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, with his family shortly thereafter. Cheatham was one of the first Black firefighters in Minneapolis, holding several leadership positions. In 2022, the city designed a street as Cheatham Avenue in the Longfellow community to honor his legacy to integrate the fire department.

Early life

John W. Cheatham[1] was born in 1855 to an enslaved family in the U.S. state of Missouri. His family was freed by the Emancipation Proclamation of 1962. Shortly thereafter, at the age of eight, his family moved from St. Louis, Missouri, to Minneapolis, Minnesota.[2]

Career

Cheatham worked as a laborer. He joined the Minneapolis Fire Department at the age of 33 in 1888 as a pipeman.[3] He was either the first, or one of the first, Black firefighters in the city.[2] He was promoted to a driver after three years with the department,[4] and after about five years he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant.[3] He then obtained the rank of captain in 1899, but was demoted back to pipeman a year later for refusing to comply with an order from a White firefighter who held the same rank as him.[5]

Cheatham worked at several fire stations in Minneapolis.[5] In 1907, Cheatham and two other Black firefighters were assigned to Fire Station 24 at Hiawatha Avenue and 45th Street, a racially segregated facility that officials were transitioning to an all-Black firehouse.[2] The station was in middle of a redlined neighborhood that was predominantly White, but it was also adjacent to a railroad yard where many Black labors worked and houses where they lived. White firefighters at Fire Station 24, and some nearby residents, initially objected to black fire fighters being assigned to the station.[6][2]

Cheatham and the other Black firefighters resisted being replaced by White firefighters at the station, and Cheatham said he was "drawing the color line and drawing it stiff”.[4] After debate by Minneapolis city councilors and support via a petition from White women who lived in the area, the fire station continued with the assignment of Black firefighters.[6][2] Cheatham worked at the station until his retirement in 1918.[7][8]

Cheatham's firefighting received praise in the Minneapolis Journal newspaper during his tenure.[9]

Personal life

Cheatham was married to Susie Cheatham. They had four children, Ethel, Bertha, Gilbert, and Wesley. Susie Cheatham died in 1906 from typhoid at the age of 46. John Cheatham died on August 15, 1918, at the age of 63, from chronic endocarditis. Cheathum was buried at the Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery in Minneapolis.[9]

Legacy

The number of Blacks in the Minneapolis Fire Department decreased in the decades after Cheatham's retirement until there were no Blacks in the ranks by the 1940s. The department was not racially integrated again until the 1972 after being ordered to do so by federal judge Earl Larson.[10]

In the aftermath of protests following George Floyd's murder in 2020, honoring Cheatham's legacy was part of a wave of statute removals and official re-designations.[2] In 2021, the city renamed the Longfellow community street Dight Avenue—which had been named after controversial Charles Fremont Dight—to honor Cheatham's legacy. Cheatham Avenue is one of a few named streets in Minneapolis where most streets are numbered.[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Historic Preservation: Fire Station No. 24, Potential Landmark". City of Minneapolis. 2021-02-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Brooks, Jennifer (2021-12-25). "Minneapolis will change infamous street name to honor trailblazing firefighter". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2021-12-25.
  3. ^ a b Croman, John (2021-12-28). "Minneapolis street renamed for city's first Black firefighter". KARE-TV. Retrieved 2021-12-28.
  4. ^ a b "John Cheatham: One of Minneapolis' First African-American Firefighters". Black Then. 2020-06-04. Retrieved 2022-01-01.
  5. ^ a b Furst, Randy (2020-12-07). "Former Hennepin County judge pushes for historic designation for fire station that opened with an all-Black fire crew in 1907". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2020-12-07.
  6. ^ a b "History Preservation: All Black Fire Station". International Leadership Institute. 2022. Retrieved 2022-01-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ "Studio". Adventures in Cardboard. Retrieved 2022-01-01.
  8. ^ Roper, Eric (2020-06-23). "Once far from the city, an old cemetery on busy Lake Street hosts some famous Minnesotans". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  9. ^ a b "John Cheatham". Friends of the Cemetery. 2005-05-23. Retrieved 2022-01-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ^ Furst, Randy (2021-03-20). "50 Years of Integration: Federal Judge Earl Larson issued a decision 50 years ago this month that desegregated the Minneapolis Fire Department". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2021-03-20.

Further reading

  • Layman’s Cemetery, know as Pioneers & Soldiers Memorial Cemetery, official website
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=John_Cheatham&oldid=1063222785"