Ezekiel Candler Gathings
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromArkansas's1st district
In office January 3, 1939 – January 3, 1969
Preceded by	William J. Driver
Succeeded by	Bill Alexander
Member of theArkansas Senate from the 32nd district
In office January 14, 1935[1] – January 9, 1939[2]
Preceded by	Marvin B. Norfleet[3]
Succeeded by	J. O. E. Beck, Jr.[4]
Personal details
Born	(1903-11-10)November 10, 1903 Prairie, Mississippi, U.S.
Died	May 2, 1979(1979-05-02) (aged 75) West Memphis, Arkansas, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Alma mater	University of Alabama (did not graduate) University of Arkansas School of Law

Ezekiel Candler "Took" Gathings (November 10, 1903 – May 2, 1979) was aU.S. Representative fromArkansas, representingthe state's first congressional district from 1939 to 1969. A Democrat and segregationist conservative, Gathings was an ally ofStrom Thurmond, and stood against all civil rights legislation. Gathings also chaired the 1952House Select Committee on Current Pornographic Materials, which advocated for censorship of obscene magazines, books, and comics.^[5]

After Gathings was born inPrairie, Mississippi, his family moved toEarle, Arkansas when the boy was school-aged.^[6]

His nickname was derived from Gathings's younger brother's mispronunciation of his childhood nickname, "Sugar" ("Tooker", shortened to "Took").

Gathings graduated from high school in Earle, and briefly attended University of Alabama. He transferred to theUniversity of Arkansas School of Law, where he graduated in 1929. He wasadmitted to the bar the same year and commenced practice inHelena, Arkansas. A few years later in 1932, he moved his practice toWest Memphis.

Gathings served in theArkansas Senate from 1935–1939, representingCrittenden andSt. Francis Counties. He served in the 50th and 51st Arkansas General Assembly, which were entirely Democratic during theSolid South period. He was elected as aDemocrat (defeating incumbentWilliam J. Driver in the 1938 Democratic primary) to theSeventy-sixth and to the fourteen succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1939 – January 3, 1969) as a representative of Arkansas' 1st Congressional District. He was a signatory of the 1956Southern Manifesto^[7] that opposed the desegregation of public schools ordered by the Supreme Court inBrown v. Board of Education. Gathings voted against theCivil Rights Acts of 1957,^[8] theCivil Rights Acts of 1960,^[9] theCivil Rights Acts of 1964,^[10] and theCivil Rights Acts of 1968^[11] as well as the24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution^[12] and theVoting Rights Act of 1965.^[13]

Gathings resided inWest Memphis, Arkansas, where he died May 2, 1979. He was interred in Crittenden Memorial Park,Marion, Arkansas.

 This article incorporatespublic domain material fromBiographical Directory of the United States Congress.Federal government of the United States.

• 1903 births
• 1979 deaths
• People from Monroe County, Mississippi
• Democratic Party Arkansas state senators
• Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Arkansas
• People from West Memphis, Arkansas
• Signatories of the Southern Manifesto
• 20th-century United States representatives
• 20th-century members of the Arkansas General Assembly
• Dixiecrats
• Old Right (United States)

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress