The Crow Chronicles, Part Two
Justice Clarence Thomas’ billionaire donor and the Nazi memorabilia
On April 7, 2023 The Washingtonian referred to a 2014 article by the Dallas Morning News where a tour of Harlan Crow’s mansion revealed an extensive art collection—including a signed copy of Adolph Hitler’s Mein Kampf (reportedly given to him by Justice Clarence Thomas) and an assortment of Nazi memorabilia.
The Nazi stuff has been controversial and made news again in 2015 when Marco Rubio attended a fundraiser at Crow’s house on the eve of Yom Kippur.
Here are just two photos taken by someone who attended an event at Harlan’s home and whose name has yet to be made public.
And now let me share my findings which may explain Crow’s Nazi collection.
His father is the late Trammell Crow (1914-2009) considered to be the world’s largest property owner. If we were to compare Donald Trump to Trammell Crow, we’d need a telescope to find Trump.
Despite the fact that Crow is described as America’s largest landlord, he is perhaps the one Dallas businessman who kept his life private. Unlike his contemporaries (and close friends) George H.W. Bush or Ross Perot, he never had a public persona.
I won’t rattle off the famous buildings he built, not only in Dallas, but all over the world—as it would take up too much space for this article. However, I’ll share that in 1960 Crow built his first two buildings in Germany. Yes, the Nazi party’s birthplace and, in my opinion, when the macabre memorabilia became part of the Crow family legacy.
From that point on Crow continued to develop large-scale projects in Germany and Australia.
The early years
Crow was the fifth of eight children born to Jefferson Brim Crow (1875-1955) and Mamie Inez Crow nee Simonton (1884-1975). His full name is Fred Trammell Crow and his parents were impoverished. They lived in a tiny three-room house in Dallas—and food for the family of 10 came from the land. He remembers eating eggs three times every day until the chickens went missing. What’s the secret to his rags-to-riches story? Typically the answer to this was he worked hard. He didn’t attend college, but took night classes for over a decade—even when he enlisted in the Navy when World War II broke out. Having passed the exam to become a certified public accountant he was assigned to first New Orleans and later to Washington, D.C. as a naval accountant.
But, that’s just the top layer of the onion.
The fact is he married well.
In August 1942, while still in the Navy, he wed Margaret Doggett—a millionairess.
She was the only child of wealthy Dallas businessman E.B. Doggett and his wife Lillian. The couple were killed in a car crash in 1939 when Margaret was 19. Her family lineage goes back to President George Washington’s inauguration. Among the many prestigious groups that Margaret belonged to was the Daughter’s of the American Revolution (DAR).
Her great-great-grandmother Francis Sims Daniel arrived in Dallas, Texas following the death of her husband, the Rev. John M. Daniel, in 1848 from Tuscaloosa, Alabama. This was only four years after Texas was annexed to the United States. Accompanying her on the trip were six of her nine children, 22 other family members and their slaves. Francis was the youngest daughter of Judith Cross Sims and William Sims, a Revolutionary War soldier.
The Crow family were slave owners for generations.
In April 2019, Danah Boyd, a Partner Researcher at Microsoft Research, attended a meeting at Southern Methodist University in Dallas with artists, academics, & government officials. The night before they had dinner at Harlan Crow's house where they were horrified by his Nazi collection and the antebellum (pro slavery) artifacts. Boyd tweeted about this on April 8th.
Discrimination against blacks and Jews
At the time that Margaret and Trammell Crow began their life together blacks and Jews were very much discriminated against. This was especially true in Southern states like Texas.
The Nazi Collection
Crow began his real estate career in 1947 and early on began traveling abroad with Margaret in tow. They studied—and purchased—art while also absorbing the architecture of these European cities. The open atrium idea Crow used for some of his well-known buildings came from their trips to Italy. And Margaret began a chain of gift stores selling trinkets and artifacts the couple found on their exotic trips.
Margaret is remembered as a gracious host to other wealthy Texans and Presidents, beginning with John F. Kennedy. What we can safely conclude, however, is that the couple were antisemitic. Even though Jews began arriving in Texas as early as the 16th century, the state suffered from antisemitism (and racism) to present day.
While much has been written about Margaret Crow’s collection of Asian art—even founding the Crow Museum of Asian Art in Dallas—you won’t find anything about her collection of Nazi memorabilia.
And, her son, Harlan, isn’t going to tell you much either.
What’s clear is that people who would normally call out Harlan Crow as being antisemitic for having Nazi memorabilia in his home have remained mum. Is it because of the Crow family’s deep connections to George H.W. Bush, former CIA Director and CIA operative?
Sexual perversions
The Crow men, as stated in my previous article, have an odd connection to women of ill-repute and well-known madams. And then there is Clarence Thomas’ 1991 hearings where Anita Hill, a law professor at the University of Oklahoma, accused him of sexually harassing her. Many people believe Hill was right and that Thomas should never have been confirmed to be a Supreme Court Judge in the first place. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez calls Thomas’ trips a ‘very serious issue’ that warrants impeachment.
However, these sexual perversions may explain why Harlan Crow and Thomas are such close friends. Can the Crow men have these obsessions because of a possible incestuous relationship between a young Trammell Crow and his father?
In a 1986 Texas Monthly article the elder Crow told journalist Joe Nocera that he ‘remembers being his father’s best friend. When he was young, Trammell shared a double bed with his father.’
To be continued. ‘The Crow Chronicles’ is an on-going series.
For Part One, see here.
The Crow Chronicles, Part Three
🙌🔥💯🌪️☄️🌪️🔥🔥🔥🔥Damnnnnn nice family history!!!!!💥
I lived in Dallas years ago. The Crow name was everywhere. I also remember listening to the Anita Hill hearings on my little Walkman. I always believed her. I was living in a tight knit Christian community. Some were shocked that I believed Ms. Hill. I was shocked that they didn’t believe her.