Alvin Bentley | |
|---|---|
 Bentley on Nov. 13, 1958 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMichigan's8th district | |
| In office January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1961 | |
| Preceded by | Fred L. Crawford |
| Succeeded by | James Harvey |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Alvin Morell Bentley III (1918-08-30)August 30, 1918 Portland, Maine, U.S. |
| Died | April 10, 1969(1969-04-10) (aged 50) Tucson, Arizona, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Education | University of Michigan (BA,MA) |
Alvin Morell Bentley III (August 30, 1918 – April 10, 1969) was an Americanpolitician from theU.S. state ofMichigan. As four-term a U.S. representative from 1953 to 1961, he made national headlines as one of the wounded of the1954 United States Capitol shooting.
Bentley, the only child of Alvin M. Bentley Jr., and Helen Webb Bentley, was born inPortland, Maine, only three months before his father died serving inFrance duringWorld War I. Although fatherless, Bentley was heir to a family fortune, from his grandfather who founded the Owosso Manufacturing Company.
He graduated in 1934 from Southern Pines High School inSouthern Pines, North Carolina, and in 1936 from Asheville Prep School inAsheville, North Carolina.[1] He received his bachelor's degree in 1940 from theUniversity of Michigan and attended Turner's Diplomatic School,Washington, D.C., to qualify for the U.S.diplomatic service.[1]
He served as vice consul andsecretary with theUnited States Foreign Service, serving inMexico (1942–1944),Colombia (1945–1946),Hungary (1947–1949), andItaly (1949–1950).[1] He returned toWashington, D.C., on March 15, 1950, for work in theState Department.
Disagreeing with theTruman administration's foreign policy, Bentley resigned from the diplomatic service in 1950 and returned to live inOwosso, Michigan. He was adelegate to Republican State conventions in 1950, 1951, and 1952.[1] He wasvice president of Lake Huron Broadcasting Company,Saginaw, Michigan, starting in 1952, and a director of Mitchell-Bentley Corporation.[1]
In 1952, Bentley defeated the incumbentRepublicanU.S. RepresentativeFred L. Crawford in the primary election forMichigan's 8th congressional district and went on to win in the1952 general election. Bentley was elected to theEighty-third and to the three succeeding Congresses, serving from January 3, 1953, to January 3, 1961.[1] Bentley voted present on theCivil Rights Act of 1957 and voted in favor of theCivil Rights Act of 1960.[2][3] He was not a candidate for re-nomination in 1960,[1] instead running for a seat in theUnited States Senate and losing toDemocratic incumbentPatrick V. McNamara in the1960 general election.
Bentley was one of five Representatives shot in the March 1,1954 United States Capitol shooting, when fourPuerto Rican nationalists opened fire from the visitors' balcony into the chamber of theUnited States House of Representatives. Bentley was shot in the chest and abdomen but survived.[4]
From 1961 to 1962, Bentley was a delegate from the 15th Senatorial District to the Michigan State Constitutional Convention, which produced theMichigan state constitution adopted in 1963. In 1962, Bentley again ran for the U.S. House for aone-term, at-large seat created as a result of the1960 U.S. Census, but he lost in the general election to DemocratNeil Staebler. He continued public service by receiving appointments to education-related positions in the state. Also, after leaving Congress in 1961, he had returned to theUniversity of Michigan as agraduate student in theHistory department.
Alvin M. Bentley served on the board of directors for theNational Conference on Citizenship in 1960.
While continuing to maintain offices inWashington, D.C., Bentley commuted by air to Ann Arbor to attend classes. He received anM.A. degree in 1963. In 1966, while pursuing a doctoral degree, GovernorGeorge W. Romney appointed him to theboard of regents of the University of Michigan.[1]
Bentley died, aged 50, while on vacation inTucson, Arizona, of an "inflammation affecting thecentral nervous system". Bentley had been confined at a wheelchair for two years after "corrective surgery" when his condition suddenly worsened.[1][5] He is interred in Oak Hill Cemetery inOwosso, Michigan.[1][6]
In 1961, Bentley established the Alvin M. Bentley Foundation to support educational, scientific, and charitable projects. Through thefoundation, Bentley continues to foster academic excellence in the state of Michigan.
In 1983, the foundation established the Bentley Scholarships at the University of Michigan for Michigan residents who have demonstrated academic excellence and promise. The foundation also sponsors Operation Bentley, "a week-long intensive academic program held atAlbion College for high school juniors who have been selected to participate in a rigorous and rewarding study of local, state, and national politics."[7]
In 1967, he contributed money to theUniversity of Michigan to establish an endowed professorship in the Department of History in memory of his parents.
In the mid-1960s, Bentley served as chairman of theMichigan Freedom from Hunger Council, a humanitarian organization set up to gather, interpret, and disseminate information about hunger problems in the world, especially in theWestern Hemisphere. Bentley also chaired the Michigan branch of thePartners of the Alliance, an organization that had begun nationally in 1964, to act as a channel through which civic clubs, unions, business and professional groups, schools, and individuals could work directly with groups, villages, or areas inLatin America to improve the way of life in that particular area. The objective was not charity, but the promotion of self-help programs. The State of Michigan tookBritish Honduras (Belize) as its partner.
He died on April 10, 1969, at the age of 50.In 1971, his widow, Arvella D. Bentley, gave a generous donation to theUniversity of Michigan's "Michigan Historical Collections", enabling it to construct a new building which was subsequently renamed theBentley Historical Library.[8]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMichigan's 8th congressional district 1953–1961 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Republican nominee forU.S. Senator fromMichigan (Class 2) 1960 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
