Commissioner Thomas M. Brahney Records

Collection — Box: 1

Identifier: CA-AB-Brahney

Staff Only

Campaign ad for Commissioner of Institutions and Health candidate Thomas "Red" Brahney, 1950

Scope and Contents

This fragmentary collection includes some personal papers from before he held municipal office and official records regarding the following topics:

correspondence, clippings, telegrams, speeches, and campaign material related to Brahney's 1954 mayoral race
controversies over septic tanks in the Pines Village and Huntlee Village subdivisions
the purchase of the Herman Ice Factory to allow for widening of Loyola Avenue
the construction of the Civic Center
the investigations into police corruption
the Mayor's Permit fund

Dates

Creation: 1946-1954

Creator

Brahney, Thomas (Person)
New Orleans (La.) City Council (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

Available to registered researchers by appointment. Request by box and folder number.

Requesting Materials

Materials Request Guidelines

Conditions Governing Use

Reproduction or use of materials is prohibited without the permission of the City Archives & Special Collections. Please review the Archives' Permission to Publish note.

Biographical / Historical

The Commission Council was the precourser to the current City Council and the Mayor/ Council system of government set up in the 1954 Home Rule Charter. Rather than council members elected to represent specific districts, Commissioners were elected at large and then assigned specific departments (Public Finance, Public Safety, Public Utilities, and Public Property). The Commmission Council was in place from 1912-1954. Thomas M. Brahney Jr. served on the City's Commission Council as Commissioner of Institutions and Health from 1950-1954. That same year, Brahney ran an unsuccessful campaign to unseat incumbant Mayor deLesseps Morison. In 1957, Brahney was elected as a Criminal Court Judge, a position he held until his retirement in 1974.

Brahney was born in New Orleans where he attended Jesuit High School and Loyola Law School. After service in the Navy during World War II, he entered private practice and was appointed Assistant U.S. Attorney, a post he held until 1949. Brahney passed away in March of 1979.