WWII Veterans and The Battle of Athens Tennessee, 1946
Athens, Tennessee, 1946
Archives Photograph Collection Tennessee National Library.
Athens Tennessee. 1946 Aug. 1, 1946 during the “Battle of Athens.” Soldiers who had returned to McMinn County after World War II were fed up with what they perceived to be machine-style corruption there, led by political boss Paul Cantrell. When Cantrell ran for election as sheriff in 1946, he was opposed by former GI Knox Henry. Several of Henry’s allies ran against Cantrell loyalists for other races on the ballot.
About 200 of Cantrell’s armed deputies watched the polls on election day, intimidating and in some cases beating people they suspected would vote for the GI slate of candidates. After the polls closed, the deputies spirited the ballot box away to the county jail in Athens. Suspecting voter fraud, the GIs took weapons from the local armory and began firing on the jail. The deputies surrendered to the GIs early the next morning when the GIs began lobbing dynamite at the jail.
A governing council was established and a special police force was empaneled to keep order in the community. After the GI candidates were certified as victors in the election, they adopted a number of anti-corruption reforms, including the removal of an incentive system that rewarded deputies based on the number of people they arrested.
H.E. Gunther looking over a pile of smashed slot machines and punch boards which were confiscated by ex-GI forces during raids on gambling houses in Athens, following election mob violence the previous week.
Athens, Tennessee, 1946
Archives Photograph Collection