Cohen bill would remove the name of segregationist congressman from Memphis' federal building

The late Clifford Davis was a one-time member of the Ku Klux Klan who voted against Civil Rights Act of 1964


A day after President Joe Biden vowed in his inaugural address to defeat white supremacy, Rep. Steve Cohen (D) introduced legislation to remove the name of the late segregationist congressman Clifford Davis from Memphis’ federal building Downtown.

A onetime member of the Ku Klux Klan, Davis died in 1970 when the iconic, 11-story federal building and courthouse overlooking the Mississippi River was named for him.

A bill Cohen introduced Thursday, Jan. 21, would effectively remove Davis’ name and rename the building only for Odell Horton, the first African American judge to sit on the federal bench in Memphis. The names of both Davis and Horton, who died in 2006, have appeared on the building since Cohen ushered a bill through Congress in 2007 adding Horton’s name.

“I was proud to introduce and see passed the bill to add Judge Odell Horton’s name to the Downtown Memphis federal courthouse in 2007. Initially, I had hoped to simply re-name the building for Judge Odell Horton, but the political will to do so was not present at that time,’' Cohen said in statement Thursday.

Read more: https://dailymemphian.com/section/metro/article/19454/steve-cohen-remove-clifford-davis-odell-horton-federal-building