MILWAUKEE — TMJ4 is celebrating Black History Month. Andrea Williams highlighted the legacy of the late Felmers Chaney. He served as Milwaukee's first Black police sergeant, President of NAACP Milwaukee Branch, and President of the historic North Milwaukee State Bank. She visited his home 20 years ago, and incorporated audio from that conversation.
"I'm Felmers Chaney. I've been in Milwaukee since 1941. I'm a World War II veteran, was in England and France, and since that, I've worked in a tannery, I couldn't stand that, so my barber kept saying, Hey, why don't you join the police department? So I took the exam, so then I was at the police department for 36 years."
Civil rights leader Felmers Chaney was Milwaukee's first Black police sergeant. He moved to Milwaukee from his family's farm in Spooner, Wisconsin.
"Milwaukee was a lot different than my home in Spooner, Wisconsin, and there we never got called names, and we were the only blacks there at the time," said Chaney.
His nieces, Sharon and Debra Skinner, beam with pride for all that he accomplished in his 95 years.
"The respect that he garnered in the community, how everyone admired him, and how everyone felt that they could go to him if they needed help. And he always stood up for the people who he felt had no voice," said Debra.
"Both Mr. Chaney and Mrs. Chaney, a lifetime of service," agreed Sharon.
"The one thing that I found just being a sergeant, they had never been treated like I treated them. I didn't do favors, favoritism. I just said do your job, do your job, if you don't do your job. I'm going to tell you!" said Chaney.
Many in the community have fond memories of his no-nonsense approach.
Reuben Harpole is a local historian. "He's about six foot, over six feet tall, and all he had to do is point his fingers and people will straighten up," said Harpole.
Before becoming a sergeant, Chaney was well-known for walking his beat along Walnut Street. He was one of only five Black officers on the force at the time.
"The reason he had a walking beat was because he was not allowed to have a squad, and he also wanted to be on a motorcycle. They wouldn't allow him that either," said Sharon Skinner.
He retired from MPD in 1983, and served as President of NAACP Milwaukee Branch for 12 years.
"He made a difference because he showed leadership. He was willing to get out in front and make the issues clear to the entire community," said retired business developer Curtiss Harris.
"We hit everybody that didn't treat people right," said Chaney.
Mr. Chaney also served 4 years as the President of North Milwaukee State Bank—one of Wisconsin's first Black-owned banks.
"In addition to President of the bank, he was also President of the Central City Development Corporation," said Ben Johnson, Board Chair of the MLK Economic Development Corporation.
"That building on the corner of 6th and Walnut, we built it," said Chaney.
In 2000, Former Governor Tommy Thompson dedicated the new men's correctional center on 30th and Fond du Lac, as the Felmers O. Chaney Correctional Center.
"He heard that they were going to build this building, and probably name it after some dignitary, and he went to Tommy Thompson and said it should be named after me. No one has done more work in this community than me. Tommy Thompson didn't know who he was. So, he made some phone calls, and found out yeah, he's right" laughed Debra Skinner.
From all of his accomplishments—Felmers Chaney truly left a lasting legacy in Milwaukee, and those who knew him or only know of him, all agree he had a presence that could not be denied.
"You realize how well you're thought of. I run into people that I don't have the slightest idea who they are, but they know me; and you know it makes you feel good," said Chaney.
Chaney was born in 1918 and passed away in 2012 at the age of 95.
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