John H. Buschemeyer

John Henry Buschemeyer
36th Mayor of Louisville
In office 1913–1917
Preceded by	William O. Head
Succeeded by	George Weissinger Smith
Personal details
Born	(1869-02-24)February 24, 1869 Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
Died	October 7, 1935(1935-10-07) (aged 66) Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
Resting place	St. Louis Cemetery Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
Political party	Democratic Party
Occupation	Physician politician

John Henry Buschemeyer (February 24, 1869 – October 7, 1935) was mayor of Louisville, Kentucky from 1913 to 1917.

Biography

Buschemeyer had German ancestry. He graduated from Louisville Male High School then earned a M.D. degree from the University of Louisville in 1892. He began practicing medicine in Louisville the following year.

He was president of the Board of Aldermen from 1909 to 1913 as a Democrat, and elected mayor in 1913 with support of John Henry Whallen's Democratic machine. Buschemeyer's administration quickly became bogged down in the racial issues of the time, signing a 1914 ordinances to bar blacks from living in white neighborhoods, and vice versa. The law was challenged by the Louisville chapter of the NAACP. The case, Buchanan v. Warley, went to the Supreme Court, which ruled the ordinance unconstitutional.

He was voted out of office in 1917, and was the last of the machine-era Democrat mayors of Louisville. He died in 1935 and was buried in St. Louis Cemetery in Louisville.

References

• "Buschemeyer, John H.". The Encyclopedia of Louisville. 2001.
• Yater, George H. (1987). Two Hundred Years at the Fall of the Ohio: A History of Louisville and Jefferson County (2nd ed.). Louisville, KY: Filson Club, Incorporated. ISBN 0-9601072-3-1.