James Roland Temple: Early Life, Career, and Legacy as Dallas Mayor (1899–1980)

James Roland “Jimmie” Temple, Dallas mayor, was born in Midlothian, Ellis County, Texas, on November 27, 1899. He was the son of Walter Calvin Temple and Angelina Elizabeth (Pearson) Temple. His family relocated to Dallas during his youth. Temple attended Davy Crockett Elementary School and the Terrill School for Boys. He enlisted in the U.S. Army at the close of World War I and was discharged after only two months.

Business Career

Temple attended the University of Texas but dropped out after his sophomore year. He worked as a mechanic at a Dallas-area automobile distributor and then as a mechanic and salesman for the Ford Motor Company. Temple later became vice-president of the Southland Ice Company (see SOUTHLAND CORPORATION) and president of Oak Farms, Inc. He married Jessebelle Barry, the granddaughter of former Dallas mayor Bryan T. Barry, on June 12, 1923. The couple had three children: Joan, James, and Walter. Temple served as a director of the Community Chest of Greater Dallas and as president of the Oak Cliff Chamber of Commerce and the Dallas Sales Executives Club.

Mayor of Dallas (1947–49)

In 1947 Temple ran for Dallas city council as part of the Citizens Charter Association (CCA)’s slate of candidates. Despite previous challenges, the CCA secured eight of the nine seats, with Temple and Wallace H. Savage winning without the need for runoff elections. The councilmen chose Temple as mayor to succeed Woodall Rodgers for the 1947–49 term while electing Savage as mayor pro tem.

Temple’s administration secured the annexation of West Dallas to ensure the proper development of the area, which lacked adequate sewage and drainage systems. The need to extend municipal services to West Dallas and other recently annexed neighborhoods strained the city’s finances. One of the major problems faced by Temple’s administration was the inability to raise enough revenue to implement ambitious city projects due to a state-imposed cap on the city’s tax rate and a charter-imposed ceiling to the city’s bond indebtedness. With limited resources available to implement the city’s master plan for growth and development, Temple formed a financial advisory committee to aid the city council. To better address the concerns and expectations of constituents, the city council also set up weekly public hearings. Despite financial difficulties, under Temple’s administration the city launched a number of important urban development projects, including initiating the construction of the Central Expressway and implementing new trolley bus lines. The city council also approved the issuance of $11 million water department revenue bonds (which would not apply against the city’s debt ceiling) for sanitary sewerage projects.

Temple opposed collaborating with Fort Worth in the development of what became Amon Carter Field, as he saw the airport project as a threat to Dallas’s Love Field. Dallas’s city officials instead sought to expand Love Field and to have it designated as a foreign-trade zone. Temple was also vocal in his opposition to a bill in the state legislature that would give the State Aeronautics Commission control over federal aid for improvements to municipal airports.

Later Career and Death

After stepping down from office, Temple remained engaged in political affairs. He actively participated in various civic committees and endorsed a number of Democratic candidates. In 1950 he chaired the Dallas County Committee for Low Taxes. The committee urged renewal of a tax allocation plan, initially approved in 1944, which required approval by voters every six years due to a state constitutional amendment.

In 1954 Temple was appointed to head the Citizens Housing Rehabilitation Advisory Committee (later the Dallas Urban Renewal Committee), which aimed to improve neighborhoods in which a substantial portion of the housing stock did not meet the city’s minimum standards. The committee first targeted Little Mexico area, where the percentage of standard housing was raised from 12 percent to nearly 80 percent over two years, before turning its attention to Oak Cliff and West Dallas.

Temple was a member of the University Park United Methodist Church. He was a Mason and a potentate of Hella Temple Shrine. Temple died on November 16, 1980, in Dallas, and was buried at Grove Hill Cemetery.