Jesse L. Webb Jr.
American politician (1923–1956)
Jesse Lynn Webb Jr. (October 8, 1923 – April 28, 1956) was Mayor of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He died in office in an airplane crash in 1956.
Early life
Webb was born on October 8, 1923, to Jesse Lynn Webb and Maude (Borskey) Webb. He served in the U. S. Army. His father, Jesse L Webb Sr., served as assessor for East Baton Rouge Parish.
Political career
At age 29, Webb was elected Mayor of Baton Rouge in 1952 and served from 1953 until his death on April 28, 1956, at Lansing, Michigan. He was the youngest person to hold that position and the first to hold the new title of Mayor-President. Webb was considered a moderate on the issue of racial segregation and under his leadership segregation in public buses was rolled back.
Webb was to attend a meeting in Lansing, Michigan when the aircraft he was flying in, owned by the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's office, crashed near the Michigan capital.
The public source identifies “Jesse L. Webb Jr.” as american politician (1923–1956). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Jesse, Webb and American.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Jesse L. Webb Jr.”, the useful work is to connect “american politician (1923–1956)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 25, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q6186546. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1923, 1956, 1952 and 1953.
Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Jesse L. Webb Jr.”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Jesse L. Webb Jr. primary sources, Jesse L. Webb Jr. archive and Jesse research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Jesse L. Webb Jr.”?
- Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
- How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Jesse L. Webb Jr.” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.