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Carl Elliott | |
|---|---|
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| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromAlabama | |
| In office January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1965 | |
| Preceded by | Carter Manasco |
| Succeeded by | James D. Martin (redistricting) |
| Constituency | 7th district (1949-1963) At-large (1963-1965) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Carl Atwood Elliott (1913-12-20)December 20, 1913 |
| Died | January 9, 1999(1999-01-09) (aged 85) Jasper, Alabama |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Alma mater | University of Alabama University of Alabama Law School |
| Occupation | Attorney |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | United States Army |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
Carl Atwood Elliott (December 20, 1913 – January 9, 1999) was aU.S. representative from theU.S. state ofAlabama. He was elected to eight consecutive terms, having served from 1949 to 1965.
Elliott was born in ruralFranklin County in northwest Alabama. He graduated at the age of sixteen from Vina High School inVina in Franklin County. Few expected him to be able to afford college because of theGreat Depression. However, theUniversity of Alabama, under its president George H. Denny, allowed young Elliott to work at a variety of jobs about campus to pay his educational expenses. In 1933, he received his undergraduate degree, and he subsequently enrolled at theUniversity of Alabama School of Law, also located inTuscaloosa.
While a law student, Elliott ran for the high-profile position of president of the student government. With the support of the growing number of out-of-state students and women, Elliott became the first person to defeat "the Machine", a select coalition of fraternities and sororities that to this day dominates campus politics at the university. In 1936, Elliott completed his term as SGA president and graduated with his law degree.
Elliott then began his law practice inRussellville near his hometown but soon moved to the community that he would call home for the remainder of his life:Jasper inWalker County, Alabama. As an attorney in Jasper, Elliott spent most of his time representing coal miners and their families, foreshadowing his long political career of fighting for Alabama's poorest, most disadvantaged people.
He served in theUnited States Army from 1942 to 1944.
He was twice elected a local judge in Jasper before he ran for Congress in 1948. His "Farm Boy to Congress" persona proved popular among the working class in his district, and in 1948, he unseated RepresentativeCarter Manasco, to the surprise of many political observers. Upon winning the election, Elliott and his wife purchased a residence in the nation's capital and spent the next sixteen years traveling back and forth betweenWashington, D.C., and Jasper.
Elliott representedAlabama's 7th congressional district. He served on the House Veterans Committee, the Education and Labor Committee, and the Rules Committee. He chaired the Select Committee for Government Research. In 1956, Elliott authored the Library Services Act, which brought mobile libraries (bookmobiles) and continuing library service to millions of rural Americans. The same year, he was one of 101 politicians to sign theSouthern Manifesto in opposition to racial integration of public places. In 1957, he voted against the Civil Rights Act.[1] In 1958, he co-authored theNational Defense Education Act, which, in the wake of the U.S.S.R.'s early post-Sputnik lead in the Space Race, improved science, foreign language, and technology education nationwide and provided low-interest loans for college and graduate school for needy students. Both laws have been extended; more than 30 million college students nationwide have obtained loans under Elliott's NDEA legislation. In 1960 and 1964, he voted against the Civil Rights Acts of those years.[2]
Alabama had failed to redistrict itself from nine to eight districts in 1962, based on the 1960 census. Primaries were held in each of the nine districts, and a statewiderunoff election narrowed the number elected to eight. By the time of the 1964 primaries, a redistricting plan still had not passed, so Elliott defeated later 7th District RepresentativeTom Bevill in a primary. Then in the statewide runoff, Elliott was the congressman who was eliminated. His defeat was attributed to his policy conflicts with thenGovernorGeorge C. Wallace. Alabama passed a redistricting plan after the runoff primary to avert a second statewide general election.
In the 1964 congressional general election, the Democrat George C. Hawkins, the president pro tempore of theAlabama State Senate, was defeated by theRepublican James D. Martin, an oil products distributor fromGadsden. Martin had made a strong but losing race in 1962 againstU.S. SenatorJ. Lister Hill. Some Elliott backers threatened to withhold votes from Hawkins or even to vote for Martin on the theory that Elliott might be able to reclaim the House seat in 1966 if he were pitted against a Republican in the historically Democratic district.[3]
In 1966, Elliott did not run for Congress against Martin; nor did Martin seek reelection to the U.S. House. Instead, Elliott and Martin were unsuccessful candidates for governor. Elliott and three other prominent Democrats,Attorney GeneralRichmond Flowers, Sr. and former governorsJames Folsom andJohn Malcolm Patterson, lost their party's nomination toLurleen Burns Wallace, the surrogate candidate of her husband, George Wallace, who was ineligible to succeed himself at that time. Lurleen Wallace then defeated Martin in the gubernatorial general election.In his gubernatorial bid, Elliott stressed federal assistance to the needy, improved education, and racial tolerance. In the campaign, he faced bomb threats, defaced campaign billboards, andKu Klux Klan protest appearances at several of his speeches.[citation needed]
After Elliott's defeat, he slipped into political obscurity, having spent his congressional pension on the failed gubernatorial bid. He resumed practicing law, writing books about local history, producing columns and book reviews for area newspapers, and publishing books by local authors. His books include five volumes ofAnnals of Northwest Alabama, a history ofRed Bay, Alabama, and seven volumes on the history of area coal miners.
In 1982 he was awardedAmerican Library Association Honorary Membership.
In 1990, Elliott received new recognition of his achievements when he became the first recipient of theJohn F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award; the second in 1991 was U.S. RepresentativeCharles Weltner, another civil rights advocate fromGeorgia. In the twilight of his life, he received long-sought vindication when he was able to travel toBoston,Massachusetts, to accept the award from then U.S. SenatorEdward M. Kennedy. His autobiography,The Cost of Courage: The Journey of An American Congressman, written with journalistMichael D'Orso and published in 1992, was reprinted by theUniversity of Alabama Press.
A one-hour television special,Conscience of a Congressman: The Life and Times of Carl Elliott, was produced as an episode of TheAlabama Experience documentary series by the University of Alabama Center for Public Television & Radio. Only weeks before her death, the ailingJacqueline Kennedy Onassis watched "Conscience of a Congressman." She had met Elliott when he had served in Congress with her husband. Mrs. Onassis was also the editor of Elliott's memoirs. In a letter to Elliott, she wrote that the power of the program "was going to be in what it does to young people."
Elliott died in 1999.[4]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromAlabama's 7th congressional district January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1963 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by District inactive | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromAlabama's at-large congressional district January 3, 1963 – January 3, 1965 all representatives elected at-large on a general ticket | Succeeded by District inactive |
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