Lottie Burgy (1888–1973)

Lottie Burgy was a Little Rock (Pulaski County) policeman who worked the West Ninth Street beat from 1942 until his retirement in 1960. He became the second African American detective in the Little Rock Police Department. After retiring from the force, Burgy served as sergeant at arms for the Arkansas Senate during two sessions of the Arkansas General Assembly. He was the first African American to hold this position.

Lottie Burgy was born on December 25, 1888, in El Dorado (Union County) to Charlie Burgy and Lizzie Kidd Burgy, whose family included eight other children. Burgy attended public school in El Dorado in a one-room schoolhouse for three months out of the year. To supplement this education, Burgy attended courses in teachers’ homes in the evenings. Burgy attended Branch Normal College (now the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff) in Pine Bluff (Jefferson County) for two years before transferring to Straight University (now Dillard University) in New Orleans, from which he graduated with a BA.

Burgy returned to Arkansas and taught school in El Dorado in a hall donated by the Masonic lodge. In 1911, he went to work for the Railway Mail Service of the United States Post Office Department. He retired from this position in 1941. The 1940 federal census shows Burgy and his family living at the Negro Boys Industrial School in Wrightsville (Pulaski County), where Burgy served as mail clerk.

In 1914, Burgy married Georgia E. Robinson. The couple had two daughters, Birdie Lee and Lottie May.

A significant turning point in Burgy’s life came in 1942, when the Little Rock City Council authorized the employment of a special police force to patrol the West Ninth Street area, a predominately Black business and cultural district. The special force was to be composed of eight Black officers, working in conjunction with the Negro Military Police from Camp Joseph T. Robinson. The force covered the district bordered by Broadway and High on the east and west and Eighth and Tenth Streets on the north and south.

The officers were hired to address concerns over possible racial disturbances caused by the presence of Black troops at Camp Robinson (such as the March 22, 1942, killing of Sergeant Thomas Foster by a Little Rock policeman) and manpower shortages caused by World War II. The original ordinance (No. 6578) establishing the force provided for their employment for one year (through July 1943) with the option for an extension. When the special force was hired in 1942, its members were the first African Americans to serve on the Little Rock police force in over twenty years.

Burgy was one eight men who received one month of training under an FBI agent, Jack Deubler, and one of seven men ultimately confirmed as members of the special force. He participated in some notable apprehensions and investigations, such as arresting a burglar whom he tricked into believing the store he was robbing was surrounded by police; Burgy was in fact the only officer on the scene. In 1955, Burgy and Deputy Sheriff Mose Turner, also African American, worked together on the arrest of rapist Luther Bailey. For his work on that case, Burgy was promoted to detective. One year into the job, the Arkansas State Press lauded Burgy as the “highest respected officer on the force.”

In 1945, he became the first Black police officer to be hired as security for a Little Rock department store during the Christmas season. The Arkansas State Press predicted that his hiring set “a precedent…for other businesses…in placing Negroes in places of responsibility.”

In March 1953, the Fifty-ninth Arkansas General Assembly passed two police pension laws, one of which required compulsory retirement at age sixty-five. While Burgy was affected by the law and originally slated to retire in 1953, he continued working through 1960, retiring at the age of seventy-two. Of the seven men who initially composed the special force, Burgy was one of the two longest serving, along with Alex Douthard, the others quitting “after short periods of service.”

Following his retirement from the Little Rock Police Department, Burgy worked for the Arkansas Senate during the 1967 and 1969 sessions. In June 1970, city, county, and state officials held an appreciation dinner for Burgy, at which he was given a certificate of merit and plaque for his “outstanding contribution of service” to Little Rock.

Burgy was a member of the Municipal Police Association, Richmond Lodge No. 2, Mount Zion Baptist Church, and the Prince Hall Chapter of the Masons. He died on September 28, 1973, and is buried at Haven of Rest Cemetery in Little Rock, along with his wife.

For additional information:
“Eligible List for Special Negro Police Force Certified.” Arkansas Gazette, August 20, 1943, p. 12.

“Ex-Policeman to Be Honored at a Dinner.” Arkansas Gazette, June 18, 1970, p. 30A.

“Ex-Policeman, Senate Official Dies at Age 84.” Arkansas Gazette, September 30, 1973, p. 20A.

“Getting the Work Done!!” Arkansas State Press, November 27, 1942, p. 1.

Little Rock Police Department History & Personnel. Paducah, KY: Turner Publishing Company, 2004.

“Making a Good Record.” Arkansas State Press, January 29, 1943, p. 6.

“Negro Police Officers on Duty Today.” Arkansas Gazette, October 8, 1942, p. 5.

“Outnumbered.” Arkansas Gazette, December 29, 1957, p. 5D.

“Retirement.” Arkansas Gazette, December 4, 1960, p. 5E.

“State’s Largest Department Store Hires Negro House Detective.” Arkansas State Press, January 5, 1945, p. 1.

Lisa Speer
Ouachita Baptist University