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Alva B. Adams | |
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| Chairman of theSenate Committee on Public Lands and Surveys | |
| In office January 3, 1937 – December 1, 1941 | |
| Preceded by | Robert F. Wagner |
| Succeeded by | Carl Hatch |
| United States Senator fromColorado | |
| In office March 4, 1933 – December 1, 1941 | |
| Preceded by | Karl C. Schuyler |
| Succeeded by | Eugene D. Millikin |
| In office May 17, 1923 – November 30, 1924 | |
| Appointed by | William Ellery Sweet |
| Preceded by | Samuel D. Nicholson |
| Succeeded by | Rice W. Means |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1875-10-29)October 29, 1875 Del Norte, Colorado, U.S. |
| Died | December 1, 1941(1941-12-01) (aged 66) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Resting place | Roselawn Cemetery,Pueblo, Colorado |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouses | |
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| Alma mater | Yale University Columbia Law School |
| Profession | Lawyer, politician |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch/service | United States Army Judge Advocate General's Corps |
| Years of service | 1918–1919 |
| Rank | Major |
| Battles/wars | World War I |
Alva Blanchard Adams Sr. (October 29, 1875 – December 1, 1941) was an American lawyer andDemocratic politician fromPueblo, Colorado. He served nine years as aUnited States senator fromColorado, serving by appointment from 1923 to 1924, then serving again from 1933 until his death in 1941.[1] He was the first U.S. senator from Colorado who was born in Colorado. He is the namesake of theAlva B. Adams Tunnel underRocky Mountain National Park.
His father,Alva Adams, and uncle,Billy Adams, both served as governors of Colorado.
Alva B. Adams was born October 29, 1875, inDel Norte,Colorado Territory. During his childhood, his father,Alva Adams, was elected the fifthgovernor of Colorado, and later was elected to two more non-consecutive terms. Alva B. Adams was raised and received his early education in Colorado, but for high school he was sent to thePhillips Academy in Massachusetts, where he graduated in 1893. He then attendedYale University, graduating in 1896, and went on to theColumbia Law School, where he earned his law degree in 1899.[2]
He returned to Colorado after completing his education and was admitted to the bar later that year, beginning a law practice inPueblo, Colorado. Throughout his early adulthood, Alva Adams's father remained highly active in politics as a leader of theColorado Democratic Party.
In 1909, Alva B. Adams became county attorney[a] ofPueblo County, Colorado. In 1911, he was appointed a regent of theState University of Colorado and was elected city attorney of Pueblo.[2]
After the United States enteredWorld War I, Adams was selected to serve on a special commission from Colorado toWashington, D.C., to advocate for Colorado's capacity to produce and warehouse war materiel.[3] In 1918, Adams was commissioned as a major in theUnited States ArmyJudge Advocate General's Corps, where he served through the end of the war.[2]
In 1920, Adams delivered the keynote address at the Democratic state convention, in which he gave a vigorous endorsement of PresidentWoodrow Wilson and theLeague of Nations.[4] At that convention, Adams was courted as a potential candidate for governor, but refused to run.[5] In 1921, Adams was appointed to another special commission to Washington, D.C., this time seeking flood relief.[6]
In March 1923, incumbent U.S. senatorSamuel D. Nicholson died after a long illness. Adams was immediately mentioned as a potential successor, alongside U.S. representativeEdward T. Taylor.[7] Within 24 hours of Nicholson's death, news leaked that the governor,William Ellery Sweet, had already more-or-less made up his mind to appoint Adams, due in large part to the influence of Adams's uncle,Billy Adams, who by then was a powerful state senator. The leak of Adams's name, however, provoked a significant backlash from pro-prohibition elements in the state. After the backlash, Governor Sweet announced he would not make an appointment for several weeks; during that time several more names were floated for the position.[8] Ultimately, Governor Sweet returned to his initial choice, and Adams was appointed United States senator on May 17, 1923.[9] Adams's appointment made him the first U.S. Senator from Colorado to have been born in the state.
Adams's appointment to the Senate was only for the period until the next general election, in November 1924, when aspecial election would be held for the remaining two years of Nicholson's term. Adams, however, declined to run in the 1924 special election, opting to instead run in theregularly scheduled 1924 U.S. senate election for a full six-year term against Republican incumbentLawrence C. Phipps.[10] The Democrats ultimately lost both U.S. Senate elections; Adams received just 44% of the vote.[11]
In1932, upon the decision of SenatorCharles W. Waterman not to seek re-election, Adams ran to succeed him, withOscar L. Chapman managing his campaign, and narrowly won the Democratic primary over former state Attorney General John T. Barnett. Waterman died before his term expired, creating a vacancy, but Adams declined to be appointed to the seat and was not a candidate in the special election. Accordingly, state party chairmanWalter Walker was appointed to the seat. In the election, Adams narrowly defeated Republican nomineeKarl C. Schuyler, but Walker narrowly lost to Schuyler in the special election. Adams was re-elected in1938 in a landslide. He died in office from amyocardial infarction, also known as a heart attack, inWashington, D.C. in 1941, just days before the Japanese attack onPearl Harbor.
Alva B. Adams was first appointed to theU.S. Senate to fill a vacancy during the first session of the68th Congress. Even though he had been appointed in May 1923, Congress did not convene its first session until December of that year. A first edition of the Official Congressional Directory indicates he did not serve on any committees that session.[12]
After Adams was elected in 1932 at the beginning of the73rd Congress, he was appointed to several standing committees. Overall, he served on fivestanding committees[13] and threeselect or special committees.[14] Adams also served as chairman of theCommittee on Irrigation and Reclamation during the73rd and74th Congresses and chaired theCommittee on Public Lands and Surveys from the75th through77th Congresses.[15]
| Committee | Congresses | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Irrigation and Reclamation | 73rd –75th | Chairman (73rd – 74th) |
| Public Lands and Surveys | 73rd –77th | Chairman (75th – 77th) |
| Appropriations | 73rd – 75th | |
| Banking and Currency | 73rd – 75th | |
| Rules | 73rd – 75th | |
| Survey Land and Water Policies of the U.S. Government (Select) | 74th | |
| Senatorial Campaign Expenditures in 1940 (Select) | 76th | Appointed October 3, 1940, to fill a committee vacancy[14] |
| Production, Transportation, and Marketing of Wool (Special) | 74th – 77th | Chairman |
Alva Blanchard Adams was the only son ofAlva Adams and his wife Ella Charlotte (née Nye). Alva Adams was a Colorado pioneer, brought to theColorado Territory with his siblings by his mother due to an outbreak oftuberculosis in southern Wisconsin, where his father,John Adams, was a state legislator.[16] Alva decided to remain in Colorado when the rest of his family returned to Wisconsin; he grew to become a successful merchant in the new state and eventually won three terms asgovernor of Colorado. His brothers ultimately returned to Colorado as well; his younger brother,William Herbert "Billy" Adams, also served three terms as governor of Colorado.[17]
Alva Blanchard Adams's middle name comes from his paternal grandmother, Eliza Blanchard. Eliza's younger brother, Alvin Blanchard, was the founder and namesake ofBlanchardville, Wisconsin.[16]
Alva Blanchard Adams married twice. His first wife was Clyda Yorke Moses; they were married in August 1904, but she died just a year later in July 1905, leaving no children. In 1909, Adams married Elizabeth Leo Matty; they had four children together and were married for 32 years before his death in 1941.[18]
Alva Blanchard Adams suffered a serious heart attack in Washington, D.C., on November 25, 1941. He survived the initial attack, but he was ordered to remain in bed by his physicians. In the early morning of December 1, 1941, he suffered a subsequent heart attack at his D.C. residence at the Park Hotel, which proved fatal.[18]
TheAlva B. Adams Tunnel underRocky Mountain National Park is named for him. The Alva B. Adams tunnel is the key component of the largest transmountain water diversion in the state of Colorado—theColorado-Big Thompson Project (C-BT). The tunnel is 13.1 miles (21.1 km) long and has a concrete lined diameter of 9.75 feet (2.97 m). The tunnel runs in a straight line under theContinental Divide from west to east and passing underRocky Mountain National Park.
TheOrman-Adams House in Pueblo, where Alva B. Adams lived from 1918 until his death in 1941, is listed on theNational Register of Historic Places.[19]
*Alva B. Adams TunnelArchived July 23, 2011, at theWayback Machine
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forU.S. Senator fromColorado (Class 2) 1924 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forU.S. Senator fromColorado (Class 3) 1932,1938 | Succeeded by James A. Marsh |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. Senator (Class 3) from Colorado May 17, 1923 – November 30, 1924 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | U.S. Senator (Class 3) from Colorado March 4, 1933 – December 1, 1941 (died) | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chairman of theSenate Committee on Public Lands and Surveys January 3, 1937 – December 1, 1941 (died) | Succeeded by |
| Class 2 |  | |
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| Class 3 | ||
| Public Lands (1816–1921) | | |
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| Public Lands and Surveys (1921–1947) | ||
| Interior and Insular Affairs (1947–1977) | ||
| Energy and Natural Resources (1977–) | ||
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
