Herman Farr

Infobox Officeholder
name=Herman Farr


nationality=American
office= Shreveport City Council (Caddo Parish), Louisiana, USA
party=Democratic Party
term_start=1978
term_end=1982
preceded=New position under Mayor-council government
succeeded=Joe Shyne
date of birth=birth date|1917|11|11
place of birth=
date of death=death date and age|2008|6|6|1917|11|11
place of death=Shreveport, Louisiana
occupation=Clergyman; Civil rights activist
spouse= Bruetta Dupree Farr (born April 21, 1930)
children=
religion=Baptist

Herman Farr (November 11, 1917–June 6, 2008) [Net Detective, People Search] was an African American clergyman who was among the first three members of his race to serve on the city council in Shreveport, the largest city in North Louisiana. Farr served a single four-year term from 1978–1982, under the single-member district mayor-council format, which that year replaced the former at-large city commission government. His black colleagues were Hilry Huckaby, Jr., and Gregory Tarver, later a member of the Louisiana State Senate from Caddo Parish. The mayor during Farr's term on the council was William Thomas "Bill" Hanna. Former Mayor James C. Gardner was a member of the founding city council with Farr. In 1982, when John Brennan Hussey was elected mayor, Farr was defeated for reelection by his fellow black Democrat Joe Shyne, who in 2008 still represented historically black District E on the legislative body.http://m.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080611/OBITUARIES01/806110341/1045/OBITUARIES&template=wapart]

Farr was a member and former president of the Shreveport chapter of the interest group, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Through the NAACP, Farr vowed to fight for justice and civil rights for all persons. In his June 17 tribute to Farr, Shreveport Mayor Cedric Glover, the first African American to serve in the executive position since Reconstruction, said that Farr "never backed-down from a fight; he had a kind forgiving heart and a quick smile: He would be literally ready to go to war one minute, and a minute later he was all smiles. [He] never held a grudge. Shreveport has lost a great public servant. [His] life is worthy of emulation. He has set a very high bar for all citizens. . . . " Glover's remarks were followed by a moment of silence in Farr's memory [cite web|url = http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgId=574&topicId=100018248&docId=l:808241615&start=8 |title = LexisNexis News - Latest News from over 4,000 sources, including newspapers, tv transcripts, wire services, magazines, journals |accessdate = 2008-06-25 |publisher =
US States News]

In his youth, Farr was a boxer. He came to Shreveport in 1964 and pastored the historically black Upper Zion and Oak Hill Baptist churches. According to the archives of "Shreveport Times", Farr "quickly made his mark when he refused to go to the balcony — the [then] Negro section — at the Strand Threatre. He led his wife [Bruetta D. Farr] through the front door and a policeman was called, but the officer stood back and watched. From then on, blacks sat downstairs in the [since restored and historic] movie theater.

Farr was a founding member of Citizens for Better Schools and the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, which pushed for the Shreveport Fire Department to hire its first African American firefighters. Shyne said that he and his former election opponent "enjoyed competing against each other. He and I worked very close together in trying to correct social and economic ills . . . aimed directly at the black community."

Farr died in Shreveport at the age of ninety. Services were held on June 11 at Calvary Missionary Baptist Church, 5823 Ledbetter Street in Shreveport, with the pastor, Dr. Joe Rascoe Gant, Jr., officiating. Interment was at Lincoln Memorial Park Cemetery. [cite web|url = http://www.legacy.com/SHREVEPORTTIMES/Obituaries.asp?Page=Notice&PersonID=111278249 |title = shreveporttimes.com | shreveport obituaries | The Times |accessdate = 2008-06-25]

Farr's passing preceded by five days the death of another Louisiana civil rights figure, attorney Murphy Bell of Baton Rouge, who died on June 11 died at the age of eighty-seven. [cite web|url = http://www.legacy.com/theadvocate/DeathNotices.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=111561362 |title = 2theadvocate.com | Obituaries |accessdate = 2008-06-25]

References