Knoxville's Second African-American Permanent Officer
Officer James Mason was hired in 1884 and served as Knoxville's second African-American permanent officer. Officer Moses Smith was the city's first permanent officer. Post Reconstruction, Knoxville was one of just five cities in the South with black officers in its department.
Officer Mason, in light of his truly distinguished career at KPD and his contributions to the City of Knoxville, was born into slavery in Knoxville about 1840 and was owned by Major James Swan. Officer Mason was fortunate that a member of the Swan family taught him to read at an early age and, while teaching slaves was forbidden in many areas in the South, that was not the case in Knoxville. As the number of free African-Americans soon outnumbered slaves, Officer Mason was given the opportunity to earn money on other jobs when not needed by the Swan family.
With the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, Officer Mason was eventually granted his freedom. Understanding the value of earning a wage as well as his freedom, he continued to work, with the goal of buying his wife Betty Fountain's freedom as well. With his wife being freed, he shifted his financial focus and used his savings to buy a house and lot on West Cumberland Avenue in 1866, making him the city's first African-American property owner and taxpayer.
Officer Mason was the first to petition the Tennessee School for the Deaf to admit an African-American pupil, unfortunately with no success. In 1879, Officer Mason established a school for deaf children in his home. In 1881, the state Legislature passed a bill for the establishment of a school for African-American deaf children with the first location being in Officer Mason's home. With the appropriation of funds in 1885 by the Tennessee General Assembly, the school was able to move to a site on Dandridge Avenue while serving the needs of 20 students.
Officer Mason was a servant of the Knoxville community and honorably served KPD until his retirement in 1902.
Knoxville's First African-American Female Officer
In October 1955, the Knoxville Police Department hired its first female African-American police officer. She attended Knoxville College and was the wife of a Knoxville firefighter.
Knoxville Police Department Integrated Since 1882
After the Civil War, the Knoxville Police Department made history. It hired the City's first African-American police officer in 1882 - and continued to recruit and hire black officers, even at a time when it was virtually unheard of to have minority representation in the uniformed ranks.
Moses Smith was the first African-American police officer in Knoxville, says Civil Rights pioneer and historian Robert J. Booker. Smith served on the Knoxville police force for several years before being appointed as a federal marshal. Additionally, Smith served on the City's Board of Aldermen in 1874 and again in 1878.
How rare was Smith's employment as a black police officer in 1882?
It was extremely unusual. After the Reconstruction era ended, Knoxville was one of just five cities in the South with African-American police officers in its department, according to Booker. The four other cities were located in Texas.
Unfortunately, there are no known publicly available photos of Smith. But check out Knoxville Examiner front page from June 29, 1878. Smith's name appears within a news story discussing “the Colored Schools.” When the story published, Smith was serving on the City's Board of Aldermen. (Photo courtesy of the Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection, Knox County Public Library.)
The Police Department hired its second full-time African-American police officer, James Mason, in 1884.
During Black History Month, City Blog will be researching and publishing interesting items on how African-Americans served the City - either as City employees, or as pioneers in government positions, or as artists and storytellers, such as writer Alex Haley, whose likeness in a unique statue graces the City's Morningside Park.
And we'll also be publishing rarely-seen photos, such as this undated photo of KPD Officer John E. Moffett.
Police
Chief David Rausch says KPD has always placed a high value on hiring police officers who are representative of the community they serve.
Knoxville residents should know that “your Police Department represents you and that we understand and appreciate the cultural differences within our community,” Rausch says.
To see an interview with Rausch about KPD's historic embrace of inclusiveness, click on the video below:
Today, about 9 percent of KPD's employees are minorities. A new 39-member Police Academy class starts its training in February, and more than one-fifth of that class will be made up of women and minorities.
Rausch says further increasing the diversity of the Police Department by recruiting, hiring, training and promoting women, African-Americans, Hispanics and other minorities is a top priority. Hiring police officers who reflect the City's demographics is important, because it helps mutually foster deeper understanding and better cooperation between citizens and officers.
"As we celebrate Black History Month, it is appropriate to recognize the outstanding contributions of the black officers who have served Knoxville faithfully from the 1800s up through today," Rausch said. "Their example of service, sacrifice and commitment to the safety of our community over the years has been an inspiration to all of us."