John T. T. Warren

John T. T. Warren

Library of Congress

A Pillar in the Community

John T. T. Warren involved himself in all parts of Hot Springs’ African American community. But he got his start, like many, in the bathhouses. Warren worked in many of the industries that catered to Hot Springs’ national appeal, serving as a waiter and then a bath attendant in the Park Hotel. These professions propelled Warren into jobs with larger responsibilities. In 1908, Warren became manager of the Crystal Bathhouse, the only bathhouse in town that offered the park’s thermal waters to African Americans. Hot Springs’ superintendent W. Scott Smith believed Warren’s leadership “can increase the business of the Crystal Bathhouse very materially.” African American publications wrote that Warren conducted the Crystal “in a manner that gave it a national reputation.”

Warren was raised by his grandmother and recognized the importance of kinship and community aid. Before federal assistance programs like Social Security, fraternal organizations and mutual aid societies were the best way for Americans to feel some sort of safety net in life. Warren dedicated his life to these groups. He belonged to more Black fraternal organizations than reporters could keep track, according to biographies; one obituary tallied over 26. Warren was “an active participant in their work and a liberal contributor to all their charities.”

Newspaper reports show Warren active in Arkansas politics and donated funds to improve the local African American schools in town. As owner of the town’s primary African American funeral home, Warren was a key part of the Black community. Articles describing his funeral described tributes by both Black and white residents and business leaders in Hot Springs. His life of service made him a part of the national park’s history as well as a leader in the local and regional African American community.