Cody Fowler ’09 – Noteworthy Alumni in the Field of Law and Activism

Cody Fowler from Missouri Military Academy’s Class of 1909 was a prominent attorney, mayor and civil rights activist during the height of the civil rights movement and desegregation in the southern United States.   

Born in 1892 in Arlington, Tennessee, Fowler attended the Missouri Military Academy before attending the University of Missouri and Cumberland University, earning his degree in law. After serving as an artillery officer in World War I, Fowler became the first city attorney for Temple Terrace, Florida, in 1925. 

Fowler chose Temple Terrace largely because of his mother’s involvement in the city’s development. Unusual for the time, Ms. Maud Fowler was so involved in the city’s development – turning acres of pine forest into one of Florida’s most beautiful cities at the time – that the street Fowler Avenue was named after her.  

“Maud was really one of the brains behind the development of Temple Terrace,” said Rodney Kite-Powell, curator of history at the Tampa Bay History Center.  

But Fowler’s mother wasn’t the only one who shaped the city. In 1928, Fowler served as mayor and drafted the city charter after serving as the first city attorney.  

In addition to those noteworthy documents, Fowler filed the application for the first federally chartered thrift in Tampa, First Federal, later named the Freedom Savings and Loan Association. He did this on the first day applications were being accepted as part of the New Deal in 1933, during the height of the Great Depression.  

By 1950, Fowler was elected president of the American Bar Association and chaired the Tampa Bi-Racial Commission in the late 1950s and 1960s.  

As a lawyer, Fowler was one of few who would represent African American individuals in court. Deeply committed to peaceful integration, Fowler worked with the Progressive Village Housing Development for African American Homeowners to secure fair housing opportunities for African Americans in Florida, long before the Fair Housing Act was passed in 1968.  

Among his work as chair of the Tampa Bi-Racial Commission, Fowler mediated racial disputes in the community and met privately to urge local businesses to adopt new policies to avoid further tensions.  

In 1960, civil rights protests and counter-protests resulted in scattered violence across the city. Fowler appeared across the state and led arbitration for these disputes. He also spoke at length with Governor LeRoy Collins, urging and advising him to address similar conflicts around the state that would result in peaceful resolution and integration.  

Furthermore, with the help of the NAACP and the Merchants Association, Fowler and the Bi-Racial Commission drafted a plan to desegregate lunch counters in Florida. Their plan was built so individuals in favor of continued segregation could not retaliate against any single establishment that enacted policies of racial equality.  

In the following years, Fowler and the Bi-Racial Commission worked to desegregate other services, including the Gasparilla Parade Commission, who they convinced to allow African American marchers in the parade – a strong victory for the time in terms of representation, inclusion and in the symbolism of equality.  

In recognition of his civil rights activism, Fowler was awarded the National Brotherhood Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews for his distinguished service in the field of human relations, and the Distinguished Service Award from Missouri Military Academy at the1963 Fall Convocation.  

MMA is proud to count Fowler among its noteworthy alumni.