Luke Lea in the Great Depression

By Doris Boyce

As Luke Lea and Luke Lea, Jr. entered the grim walls of the North Carolina State Prison at Raleigh in May, 1934, they wondered how long it would be before they could pass through those gates again. Lea’s only request was granted: he and his son would share the same cell.

At one time Lea originated policies for the state of Tennessee and influenced decisions on the national level. Now he could not even direct his own affairs, but his absolute belief in his and his son’s innocence made him determined to obtain freedom.

Following the stock market crash in 1929, Lea learned that his political enemies would do anything to get rid of him. The base of his political power had been the newspapers he published. Lea was president of the Tennessee Publishing Company, and Lea, Jr. was business manager.

Lea believed that a Nashville banker, in a political maneuver, set out to destroy him and to impeach Governor Henry Horton. With Lea’s newspapers out of the way, the banker would be able to suppress unfavorable financial news; with a governor of his choice in office he would be able to secure badly needed state deposits to his bank.

The Memphis and Knoxville newspapers were put into receivership, and charges of violating banking laws were brought against Lea in Davidson County and in North Carolina. Not having been in North Carolina at the time of the acts alleged in the indictments, Lea could not be extradited. Knowing he was innocent, he voluntarily went to Asheville to clear his name. A special term of the Buncombe County Court had been appointed to try cases growing out of bank failures. It was commonly understood by attorneys in the state that the judge appointed to hear these cases was to bring in convictions.

Luke Lea’s sentence was six to ten years; Lea, Jr. was fined $25,000 and was to be jailed until the fine was paid. But paying the fine would have been an admission of guilt.

They appealed the verdict and waged a lengthy but unsuccessful fight for a retrial. The Nashville Tennessean was put into receivership in 1933. The case against the Leas in Davidson County was dropped when they entered prison. While they were incarcerated, an independent audit proved them to be innocent of the charges of which they were convicted.

Luke Lea, Jr. was paroled in July, 1934, but it wasn’t until after the mass hysteria of bank failures died down and a new governor had been elected in North Carolina that Luke Lea was paroled—in April, 1936—and pardoned in 1937. He knew he faced an uphill fight to reestablish himself, and he prayed that “the will to win” would sustain him in whatever lay ahead.