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>John J. Sparkman
John Sparkman (1899-1985) represented Alabama for 42 years in the U. S. Congress, first in the House of Representatives (1937‑46), and then in the Senate (1946‑79).
He became known as one of the nation's most skilled legislators and in 1952 won the Democratic nomination for vice‑president.
http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1441
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John Jackson Sparkman (December 20, 1899 – November 16, 1985) was an American jurist and politician from the state of Alabama.
A Southern Democrat, Sparkman served in the United States House of Representatives from 1937 to 1946 and the United States Senate from 1946 until 1979.
He was also the Democratic Party's nominee for Vice President in the 1952 presidential election.
Born in Morgan County, Alabama, Sparkman established a legal practice in Huntsville, Alabama after graduating from the University of Alabama School of Law.
He won election to the House in 1936 and served as House Majority Whip in 1946.
He left the House in 1946 after winning a special election to succeed Senator John H. Bankhead II.
While in the Senate, he helped establish Marshall Space Flight Center and served as the chairman of several committees.
Known as a segregationist proponent during the Civil Rights era,
Sparkman was a regular voter against civil rights legislation and condemned the "judicial usurpation" of the Supreme Court decision of Brown v. Board of Education,
Sparkman signed the 1956 Southern Manifesto, which pledged opposition to racial integration and promised to use "all lawful means" to fight the ruling
that put court power behind the integration of public institutions.
He became the longest-serving Senator from Alabama in 1977, a record that was surpassed by Richard Shelby in 2019.[1]
Sparkman chose not to seek re-election in 1978 and retired from public office the following year.
Sparkman was involved in many civic organizations, including serving as the district governor of the Kiwanis Club of Huntsville in 1930,[14]
and later serving as the president of the Huntsville Chamber of Commerce.[15]
A Freemason, he was life member of Helion Lodge#1 in Huntsville.[16]
He was also member of the Huntsville Scottish Rite bodies and a recipient of the Knight Commander Court of Honor (KCCH).
He was chairman of the Select Committee on Small Business (81st, 82nd, and 84th through 90th Congresses),
co-chairman of the Joint Committee on Inaugural Arrangements (86th Congress),
chairman of the Committee on Banking and Currency (90th and 91st Congresses),
co-chairman of the Joint Committee on Defense Production (91st and 93rd Congresses),
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs (92nd and 93rd Congresses),
and a member of the Committee on Foreign Relations (94th and 95th Congress).
In 1941,
he was instrumental in encouraging the Army to locate a chemical munitions plant near Huntsville, and later that year an ordnance plant was also located there.
These were the forerunners of the present Redstone Arsenal. { key RED stone + CHEMICALS ? }
This brought Wernher von Braun and the German Operation Paperclip scientists and engineers to Huntsville,
forming the foundation to what eventually became the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.
Von Braun selected Huntsville to relocate his fellow German engineers because it reminded him of Germany.
Sparkman was a representative of the United States at the Fifth General Assembly of the United Nations in 1950.[4]
On September 8, 1951 he was the fourth signatory to the Treaty of Peace with Japan (with two declarations).
In 1952, he was the Democratic Party's nominee for Vice President, running on the ticket of Adlai Stevenson.
However, the election was won by the Republican candidate, Dwight D. Eisenhower. Sparkman was slated against Richard M. Nixon, a senatorial colleague from California.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Sparkman
John J. Sparkman (1899-1985)
Sparkman was admitted to the Bar in 1925 and started a solo practice in Huntsville.
He later joined the law firm of Richardson, Taylor, and Sparkman which lasted until his election to Congress in 1936.
During ten years in Congress, Sparkman served on the Military Affairs Committee and was elected majority whip.
In 1941, he was instrumental in encouraging the Army to locate a chemical munitions plant near Huntsville, and later that year an ordnance plant was also located there.
These were the forerunners of the present Redstone Arsenal. { key RED stone + CHEMICALS ? }
https://web.archive.org/web/20130314170751/http://alabar.org/members/hallfame/2006/sparkman.cfm