Percy Sutton

Percy Sutton
Sutton in 2001
21st Manhattan Borough President
In office
September 13, 1966 – December 31, 1977
Preceded byConstance Baker Motley
Succeeded byAndrew Stein
Personal details
Born
Percy Ellis Sutton

(1920-11-24)November 24, 1920
San Antonio, Texas, US
DiedDecember 26, 2009(2009-12-26) (aged 89)
New York City, US
Resting placeGates of Heaven Memorial Cemetery, San Antonio
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseLeatrice O'Farrel Sutton
Alma materPrairie View A&M University
Tuskegee Institute
Hampton Institute
Columbia Law School
Brooklyn Law School (LLB)
OccupationActivist in the Civil Rights Movement, entrepreneur, lawyer[1]
Military service
Branch/serviceUnited States Army Air Corps
Years of service1941-1945
RankCaptain
Battles/warsWorld War II

Percy Ellis Sutton (November 24, 1920 – December 26, 2009) was an American political and business leader. An activist in the Civil Rights Movement and lawyer, he was also a Freedom Rider and the legal representative for Malcolm X. He was the highest-ranking African-American elected official in New York City when he was Manhattan borough president from 1966 to 1977, the longest tenure at that position. He later became an entrepreneur whose investments included the New York Amsterdam News and the Apollo Theater in Harlem.[1]