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Firefighter James Tempro received the FDNY's top award for valor from Mayor John Lindsay at Medal Day 1969. The first Black firefighter to receive the award, Tempro passed away last month.
James Tempro ran into the burning Bedford-Stuyvesant apartment building before he could get water through his hose and onto the fire. During what would later be called one of the worst blazes of 1968, Tempro helped clear the home’s occupants without water but, as he began exiting, the firefighter heard the faint but unmistakable cry of a young boy still trapped inside.
Tempro doubled back and rescued the unconscious boy, saving him before the blaze consumed even more of the apartment. His heroic actions resulted in severe burns and smoke inhalation injuries, for which Tempro spent several weeks in the hospital recovering .
For his lifesaving work that day, Tempro was awarded the FDNY’s highest award for valor the following year, which was then called the James Gordon Bennett Medal.
Tempro, the first Black firefighter to receive the FDNY’s most distinguished award, passed away on Feb. 8 at the age of 96 after a long illness.
His passing was announced last month by the Vulcan Society, a fraternal organization of Black firefighters of which Tempro was an active member. The group’s historian, former firefighter Elbert Washington, wrote in a message to members that the group had lost “another Vulcan of immeasurable complexity and commitment.”
Washington added that Tempro was a “staunch union man” who was the right-hand man of former Uniformed Firefighters Association President Jimmy Boyle.
Regina Wilson, a former president of the Vulcan Society who knew Tempro personally, said last week that the former firefighter encouraged others to be “better people and better firefighters” and that he would be "sorely missed.”
“Mr. Tempro was one of the biggest advocates for African Americans, making sure that they had equality in and outside of the fire department,” Wilson said. “He was a dedicated Vulcan society member, a historian and a mentor to many. He was just a wonderful human being who loved his family, loved the Vulcans and loved God."
A spokesperson for the FDNY said in a statement that the department is "saddened by the death of Firefighter Tempro, and we join his family in mourning his loss and celebrating his history-making impact on the FDNY."
A tarnished accolade
Tempro, despite being the first Black firefighter to earn the FDNY’s highest honor, strongly disapproved of its namesake, James Gordon Bennett. A prominent mid-19th century journalist and publisher who founded the New York Herald, Bennett paid $1,500 to set up the award’s endowment as thanks to firefighters who had extinguished a fire at his home.
Bennett, in his heyday one of richest and most powerful people in the country, was also a racist. In the lead-up to and early stages of the Civil War, he penned numerous editorials in his own newspapers attacking enslaved and free Black people, used various slurs regularly, and criticized President Abraham Lincoln for fighting a war that would free enslaved African Americans.
Historians credit Bennett with helping to spark the 1863 draft riots that targeted African Americans and antislavery advocates and left hundreds dead.
Tempro couldn’t square his own identity with Bennett's legacy, which pushed him to publicly declare his desire to return the medal in 2017.
“He realized the history of Gordon Bennett and felt he didn’t want any association with it,” said Wilson, who spoke with Tempro about his reservations in 2017. “He said he didn’t want this award if it came from a racist.”
The award named after the pro-slavery publisher was first handed out in 1869, exactly 100 years before Tempro received it.
While seeking to return the award, Tempro asked FDNY Commissioner Dan Nigro if they could change the name once and for all. Three years later the department did just that, replacing Bennett’s name with that of Peter J. Ganci Jr., the former chief of department who was the highest ranking uniformed FDNY member killed on 9/11.
“I picked up the phone and Commissioner Nigro told me the great news and I was elated,” Tempro said at the time. “I think very highly of the commissioner, he’s a good friend and I think he took a wonderful stance with this change. I think it’s important that the medal now honors one of our own in the FDNY and that it honors a 9/11 hero.”
A U.S Air Force veteran who served for 32 years in the FDNY, Tempro finally received his updated, renamed medal two years ago, Wilson said. She added that Tempro was active in the Vulcans throughout his retirement and guided younger firefighters.
Tempro is survived by his wife, Beverly; sons Christopher and Mark; and daughter Monica.
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