Poll tax
Videos
A poll tax, also known as head tax or capitation, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual, without reference to income or resources. Poll is an archaic term for "head" or "top of the
Receipt for payment of poll tax, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, 1917 (the $1 tax has the purchasing power of $25 today)
E. H. Crump
Videos
Edward Hull "Boss" Crump Jr. was an American politician based in Memphis, Tennessee. Representing the Democratic Party, he was the dominant force in the city's politics for most of the first half of t
Poll tax
…disenfranchising African Americans. Memphis was one of the few places in the South where blacks regularly voted. This was because the political machine of E.H. Crump paid their poll tax and thereby encouraged them to vote for his preferred candidates. Generally, in the United States, the term "poll tax" is used to…
Crump in 1945
Mayor Crump c. 1915.
Statue of E.H. Crump in Overton Park, Memphis, Tennessee.
Original 1949 Memphis nameplate of Memphis & Arkansas Bridge listing Crump as chair of its commission.