Harold L. Ickes

Harold L. Ickes
Name	Harold L. Ickes
Caption	Ickes in 1937
Office	32nd United States Secretary of the Interior
President	Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman
Term start	March 4, 1933
Term end	February 15, 1946
Predecessor	Ray Lyman Wilbur
Successor	Julius A. Krug
Office1	Administrator of the Public Works Administration
President1	Franklin D. Roosevelt
Term start1	June 16, 1933
Term end1	1939
Predecessor1	Office established
Successor1	John M. Carmody
Birth name	Harold LeClair Ickes
Birth date	15 March 1874
Birth place	Frankstown Township, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Death date	3 February 1952
Death place	Washington, D.C., U.S.
Party	Republican (before 1932), Democratic (1932–1952)
Spouse	Anna Wilmarth Thompson (m. 1911; died 1935), Jane Dahlman (m. 1938)
Children	2, including Harold M. Ickes
Education	University of Chicago (BA)

Harold L. Ickes. Harold LeClair Ickes (March 15, 1874 – February 3, 1952) was a prominent American administrator and politician who served as the United States Secretary of the Interior for nearly thirteen years under Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman. A key figure in the New Deal, Ickes was also a significant, early, and vocal advocate for civil rights within the federal government, using his platform to challenge racial segregation and promote equality for African Americans during a critical period in the nation's history.

Early life and political career

Harold L. Ickes was born in Frankstown Township, Pennsylvania, and later moved to Chicago, where he graduated from the University of Chicago in 1897. He worked as a journalist and practiced law, developing a reputation as a reform-minded Progressive. Initially a Republican, he was active in reform politics in Chicago, supporting figures like Jane Addams and working against corrupt political machines. His alignment with progressive causes led him to support Theodore Roosevelt's Bull Moose Party in 1912. Ickes's political evolution culminated in his support for Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1932 presidential election, marking his shift to the Democratic Party and setting the stage for his influential federal career.

Role in the New Deal

Appointed as Secretary of the Interior in 1933, Ickes also served as the first administrator of the Public Works Administration (PWA), a cornerstone New Deal agency. In this dual role, he oversaw massive federal spending on infrastructure projects, including schools, hospitals, bridges, and dams, with a strict emphasis on honesty and efficiency, earning him the nickname "Honest Harold." The PWA, unlike some other agencies, paid prevailing wages and its projects provided significant employment. Ickes's management of the PWA and the Department of the Interior brought him into direct contact with issues of labor and social equity, which informed his later civil rights activism. His tenure also included conservation efforts, expanding the National Park Service and advocating for policies that would later influence the Civilian Conservation Corps.

Advocacy for civil rights and desegregation

Harold L. Ickes emerged as one of the most forthwhite federal officials on racial justice during the 1930s and 1940s. He publicly and repeatedly condemned lynching and poll taxes, and advocated for federal anti-lynching legislation. In 1936, he famously resigned from the Chevy Chase Country Club in Maryland to protest its refusal to admit Jewish members, framing it as a broader stand against bigotry. Within his department, Ickes took early steps toward desegregation. He ended segregated seating in the auditorium of the Interior Department building and mandated the integration of its cafeteria, making it one of the first desegregated public cafeterias in Washington, D.C.. He used his public speeches, including a notable 1936 address at the Howard University commencement, to argue that racial equality was a fundamental American principle.

Relationship with African American leaders and organizations

Ickes cultivated strong working relationships with prominent African American civil rights leaders and organizations. He appointed a number of Black advisors, most notably Clark Foreman, a white Southerner who headed the Interior Department's racial affairs office, and Robert C. Weaver, an African American economist who served as an advisor. Weaver would later become the first Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Ickes regularly consulted with leaders like Walter Francis White of the NAACP and Mary McLeod Bethune, who headed the National Youth Administration's Division of Negro Affairs and was a member of Franklin D. Roosevelt's informal "Black Cabinet." These connections provided a direct channel for civil rights concerns into the administration and informed Ickes's policy decisions.

Opposition to racial discrimination in federal programs

As PWA administrator, Ickes instituted a clause in all federal construction contracts requiring contractors not to discriminate based on race, creed, or color—a pioneering, though unevenly enforced, non-discrimination policy. He also ensured that African American workers received a share of jobs on PWA projects, a significant departure from prevailing practices. In 1933, he appointed William J. Thompkins as a special assistant to monitor the hiring of Black workers. Furthermore, Ickes directed that PWA-funded public housing projects, such as the Techwood Homes in Atlanta and the Harlem River Houses in New York City, be open to Black tenants, creating vital, if limited, opportunities for integrated and improved living conditions during the era of Jim Crow laws.

Controversies and criticism

Despite his progressive record, Ickes's actions were not without controversy or limitation. The non-discrimination clause in PWA contracts was often ignored by local officials and contractors, especially in the South, with limited federal capacity to enforce it fully. His support for civil rights sometimes put him at odds with other New Dealers and Southern Democrats in Congress, who controlled key committees and opposed federal intervention on racial matters. Some critics, both contemporary and historical, have argued that his advocacy, while bold for a cabinet secretary, did not fundamentally alter the Roosevelt administration's overall cautious political calculus on civil rights. His blunt personality and occasional bureaucratic battles also drew criticism from political opponents.

Later life and legacy

Ickes resigned as Secretary of the Interior in February 1946 after a policy dispute with President Harry S. Truman. He remained active in public life, writing a syndicated newspaper column and continuing to speak out on civil liberties and against McCarthyism. He published a three-volume memoir, *The Secret Diary of Harold L. Ickes*. Harold L. Ickes died in Washington, D.C. in 1952. His legacy is that of a complex New Deal figure who wielded his administrative power to advance the cause of racial equality from within the federal government. He is remembered as one of the highest-ranking and most consistent white allies of the civil rights movement in the pre-*Brown v. Board of Education* era. His son, Harold M. Ickes, became a prominent political advisor to President Bill Clinton.