The Frank Holloman Collection consists of personal letters, photographs and official documents spanning Holloman's professional life. The collection includes material related to his service in the FBI and the Memphis Police Department, and the material gives details related to the inner workings of these law enforcement agencies. The material related to Holloman's service as Fire and Police Director in Memphis is especially significant, because his period of service was marked by important events such as the sanitation workers' strike and the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Frank Holloman died in 1997 and is remembered as a man dedicated to law enforcement who served the citizens of Memphis during a very difficult period in its history.

Frank C. Holloman was born in Itta Bena, Mississippi, and grew up in nearby Ruleville. After graduating from Ruleville High School in 1932, Holloman attended the University of Mississippi, where he earned a law degree in 1937. Later that year he joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a Special Agent, and he served with this organization for the next twenty five years. During his service with the FBI, Holloman acted as Special Agent in Charge at the Atlanta, Cincinnati, Jackson, Mississippi and Memphis offices and conducted security inspections of South American war production plants. Perhaps most importantly, he was the inspector in charge of Director J. Edgar Hoover's Washington office from 1949 to 1959. After retiring from the FBI in 1964, Holloman was named Director of Development for Memphis State University and then Executive Director of the Mid-South Medical Center Council. In 1968, Holloman was appointed the first Fire and Police Director of Memphis. Leaving the Memphis Police Department in October of 1970, Holloman became Coordinator of Security for the University of Missouri. He remained there in a full-time capacity until 1972 and served as part-time coordinator until 1978. Holloman returned to Memphis in 1972 to become Executive Director of Future Memphis, Inc., a position he held until his retirement in 1980.

Frank Holloman Collection, Memphis Public Library, Memphis, Tennessee

Permission to reproduce or publish this item is required and may be subject to copyright or other legal restrictions imposed by parties outside of the Library. Please contact the History Department of the Memphis Public Library & Information Center at 901.415.2742 or hisref@memphislibrary.org to request permission. Any image from the library's collection published in any form must cite as the source: Memphis and Shelby County Room, Memphis Public Library & Information Center.