Senate vote clears way for renaming of Memphis' downtown federal building exclusively after Odell Horton

Currently, the federal building in Downtown Memphis bears the names of two men, Clifford Davis and Odell Horton. Next year, the building will bear one name — Horton's.

A Senate vote on Thursday cleared the way for dropping Davis' name. In November, the House voted to strip the building of Davis' name due to his ties to the Ku Klux Klan and his pro-segregation legacy. President Joe Biden is expected to sign the bill into law.

The passage of the bill bookends an effort by U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, who successfully pushed to have Horton's name added to the federal building in 2007 after his election to congress. The measure was Cohen's first successful bill.

"This is a proud day for Memphis and a satisfying legislative accomplishment," Cohen said in a statement. " I look forward to seeing President Biden sign this bill into law and to the ceremonial renaming in Memphis next year.”

Horton, who died in 2006 from respiratory failure, had a decades-long legal career before presiding over federal court in West Tennessee. He was the first Black assistant U.S. attorney and federal judge in West Tennessee post-Reconstruction.

Horton's long and varied professional life started after he served in the U.S. Marines in the late '40s and early 50s. While most of his career was based in legal services, he also presided over the division of health and hospitals for the City of Memphis during former Memphis Mayor Henry Loeb's administration.

Additionally, Horton also served as the president of LeMoyne-Owen College from 1970 to 1974.

Micaela Watts is a reporter for The Commercial Appeal and can be reached at micaela.watts@commercialappeal.com.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Odell Horton, Clifford Davis names on federal building in Memphis