Oscar James Dunn

Politician

• Born: c. 1820
• Birthplace: Louisiana
• Died: November 22, 1871
• Place of death: New Orleans, Louisiana

Dunn was the first black lieutenant governor in the state of Louisiana. He found his way into politics through his involvement in the African American suffrage movement, the Freedmen’s Bureau, and his leadership in the Richmond Lodge of Freemasons. An advocate for equality, Dunn rose to political prominence in the years after the Civil War.

Early Life

Oscar J. Dunn was born in Louisiana around 1820 to Maria and James Dunn of Petersburg, Virginia. It is believed that James was brought to New Orleans by James H. Caldwell, who emancipated him there in 1819. By 1832, Maria and their children, Oscar and Jane, also had been emancipated.

As a youth, Dunn worked as a plaster apprentice for Wilson & Patterson, a New Orleans-based company. When Dunn abandoned the apprenticeship in 1841, the company placed an ad in The Daily Picayune newspaper offering a five-dollar reward for his return. The ad describes Dunn as standing 5 feet, 10 inches tall, and being twenty to twenty-one years old.

Dunn’s mother operated a boardinghouse for white actors performing in the city. Their talents impressed Dunn, who had an affinity for music and oration. The late New Orleans historian and writer Marcus B. Christian wrote that Dunn was taught music by T. J. Martin, a noted musician and composer and a free man of color. According to Christian, Dunn was introduced to Martin by John Parsons, a local black barber who fostered Dunn’s education and talents. Parsons also may have been influential in involving Dunn with the Freemasons.

Life’s Work

Dunn was a member of the Eureka Lodge of Freemasons and later Richmond Lodge No. 1, of which he was a founder. His leadership in the Masons tied in well with his political career, making him known throughout the state. After the Civil War, Dunn became active in the African American suffrage movement. Meetings were held throughout the city and advertised in The New Orleans Tribune newspaper, the first African American daily newspaper in the country.

A year after the war, Dunn married Ellen Boyd Marchand, a widow with two children. The Dunns lived on Canal Street about a mile from the Mississippi River.

Dunn was concerned about the plight of the many newly freed slaves and worked for the Freedmen’s Bureau as an inspector. It was his responsibility to ensure that former plantation owners who were hiring the newly freed slaves for labor were paying them properly. He soon became secretary of the advisory committee to the local Freedmen’s Bank.

Dunn later was appointed to the board of aldermen in New Orleans by General Philip Sheridan. In that position, he pushed strongly for equal education for all and emphasized the importance of education for the newly freed slaves.

The political atmosphere in New Orleans after the Civil War was recorded by journalistCarl Schurz for a report commissioned by the U.S. Senate. Schurz observed that in New Orleans, agencies such as the school board were being infiltrated by Confederate sympathizers. Schurz described it as a “reactionary movement” to being occupied by the Union.

Amid this political atmosphere and despite the influx of Confederate sympathizers returning to the city, Dunn emerged as a leader of the Republican Party of Louisiana. Like the state, the political party became divided between liberals and conservatives. Dunn aligned himself with the liberal Radical Republicans.

At a nominating convention in New Orleans, Dunn was asked to run for lieutenant governor on a political platform with Henry Clay Warmoth for governor. Warmoth was a young carpetbagger from Illinois who supported African American suffrage before the election. Dunn decisively beat his opponent, W. J. Blackburn, and became the first African American lieutenant governor in the United States. He would later differ with Warmoth, whose support for African American voting rights waned after he took office.

As lieutenant governor, Dunn continued to push for suffrage. He earned a reputation as a politician who could not be bribed. He also made political enemies as he worked to have newly enfranchised African Americans become voters and to improve their economic conditions. He partnered with the publishers of The New Orleans Tribune newspaper to promote issues related to universal suffrage.

Dunn died suddenly on November 22, 1871, of a brain ailment. Many feared that the lieutenant governor had been poisoned because he was building a political faction that seemed destined for higher offices. In the few days Dunn lay dying, dignitaries and commoners paid their respects at his Canal Street home. After his death, rumors were rampant. The New Orleans Tribune published his death certificate as issued to the coroner by his attending physicians. His body lay in state at his home in a mahogany casket positioned in the front parlor. Dunn’s funeral was one of the grandest the city ever had seen. He was buried in St Louis Cemetery No. 2, not far from his home.

In 2000, Dunn’s tomb was refurbished by the Friends of New Orleans Cemetery. Dunn’s memory was honored with festivities as the city remembered the contributions of this political leader who died at the zenith of his career.

Significance

Dunn achieved a remarkable political victory at a time of racial division and major social upheaval. Although his political career was cut short, it was productive and set a striking example of idealism and achievement.

Bibliography

Houzeau, Jean-Charles. My Passage at the New Orleans Tribune: A Memoir of the Civil War Era. Edited and introduction by David C. Rankin. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1984. Examines the political climate in New Orleans before and after the Civil War and the issues pertinent to the free people of color in the city.

Mullener, Elizabeth. “Preserving a Legacy: Tomb of N.O. Politician Who Made History Is Refurbished.” The New Orleans Times-Picayune, February 10, 2000. Revisits Dunn’s political legacy in Louisiana and documents the restoration of his tomb.

Radcliff, Michael. The Custom House Conspiracy. New Orleans: Crescent City Literary Classics, 2009. Well-researched history that revisits the theories surrounding Dunn’s sudden death.