Julian Lane

Julian Barnes Lane Sr. (October 21, 1914 – May 4, 1997) was the 48th mayor of Tampa, Florida, and later a member of the Florida Legislature.

Lane was born in Tampa, Florida.

He grew up in the Seminole Heights neighborhood and graduated from Hillsborough High School in Tampa.

Julian and his wife Frances Elizabeth LaMotte (1917–1998), had 4 children – Susan LaMotte Lane, Julian B. Lane Jr., Virginia Lane, and William LaMotte Lane (d. 2012), and seven grandchildren.

He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Tampa.

Lane returned to Tampa to retire after his state political career.

Afterward, Lane attended the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach Dutch Stanley and coach Josh Cody's Florida Gators football team from 1934 to 1936, and of which he was team captain in 1936.

He was also a member of the Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity (Alpha Omega Chapter).

Lane graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in business administration in 1937, and would be inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "distinguished letter winner" in 1990.

When he was attending the University of Florida he would meet his future wife, Frances LaMotte there.

After graduating from college, he would work for Firestone for the next three years.

In December 1940, Lane would marry Frances.

After graduating from Florida, where he was also a member of ROTC, he became a commissioned officer in the United States Army.

During World War II, he was promoted to the rank of Lt. Colonel, being stationed for a time in Bournemouth, England before being discharged on February 28, 1946.

Upon returning to Tampa, he eventually became the president of the Tampa Bay Milk Producers.

During Daniel T. McCarthy's 1952 gubernatorial election run, Lane would serve as McCarthy's campaign manager in Hillsborough County.

In 1959, Lane campaigned against three other candidates for mayor and defeated Nick Nuccio in a run-off election.

During his term, Lane faced a depleted treasury and a city budget of thirty million dollars.

The municipal hospitals were unable to pay their bills and storm sewers were desperately needed after the havoc created by Hurricane Donna.

Mayor Lane enforced stricter adherence to Civil Service hiring guidelines.

He closed the Clara Frye Hospital for blacks and merged its services with the Tampa Municipal Hospital.

Mayor Lane helped establish the Tampa Hospital Board and removed the hospitals from the city's direct administration.

During his term of office, Julian Lane and the City Council expanded the construction of storm and sanitary sewers and the pavement of over two hundred miles of streets.

Construction of a new public library building was approved and Redland Baseball Field was completed replacing Plant Field.

Improvements were made along the public beach on Davis Causeway and 12.7 acres of riverfront land was purchased along the Hillsborough River.

The city also began the Maryland Avenue Urban Renewal Project and built Community Centers in Interbay, West Tampa, and Forrest Hills.

Mayor Lane also appointed a committee to study the proposed construction of Tampa Stadium.

The Fire Department's manpower was increased by the addition of two hundred new firemen.

There were also ninety-nine new fire hydrants installed in the City.

On February 29, 1960 sit-ins would begin at a Woolworth's store in Downtown Tampa.

After a week of sit-ins occurring at, he would respond to it by appointing a biracial committee to discuss segregation orientated issues and by September, the city would integrate lunch counters.

In 1961, Lane supervised the transition when the City of Port Tampa and surrounding industrial areas were annexed into the City of Tampa.

Racial segregation and integration would be a significant theme of Lane's time in office as mayor.

At the end of Mayor Lane's term, in September 1963, the first black children were enrolled in traditionally white schools at Jackson Heights and Westshore Elementary Schools.

Lane was defeated for re-election in 1963 by former mayor Nuccio, whom Lane had defeated in 1959.

Lane served terms as a state representative, from 1970 to 1972, and as a state senator, from 1973 to 1976.

He died there in 1997; he was 82 years old.

He is buried at Myrtle Hill Cemetery in Tampa.

A historical marker for the sit-ins would be revealed in May 2018.

The Tampa Tribune also worked with the mayor to help ensure that integration in Tampa was as orderly as possible.