Kent Courtney - Early Years

Early Years

Courtney served in the U.S. Navy in World War II and then worked as a pilot for Pan American Airlines. Later, he was a commercial officer with the British consulate in New Orleans. For a time, he was a public relations spokesman for a fruit shipping company. In 1950, he received a degree in business administration from Tulane University in New Orleans. His sister, Claire Courtney, also graduated from Tulane. Courtney then taught economics, banking, and marketing for three years at Tulane, a Roman Catholic-affiliated institution.

He was a member of the American Legion and served on its "Americanism" committee. In 1954, he was named chairman of the New Orleans branch of Ten Million Americans Mobilizing For Justice, an interest group formed to defend U.S. Senator Joseph R. McCarthy against censure.

In 1954, Courtney lost a Democratic race for the New Orleans City Council, when deLesseps Story "Chep" Morrison, Sr., was mayor. One of the winners in that council election was future Lieutenant Governor James E. Fitzmorris, Jr. Thereafter, Courtney and his wife, Phoebe (March 13, 1918 – September 14, 1998), launched their Free Men Speak newspaper, which was renamed the Independent American. Courtney traveled a great deal during this period to address right-wing groups around the country while his wife edited the newspaper.

In 1956, Courtney organized a campaign to prevent pro-civil rights professor Walter Gellhorn of Columbia University in New York City from lecturing at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.