Hugh Quincy Alexander

Hugh Quincy Alexander

Hugh Quincy Alexander(August 7, 1911 – September 17, 1989) was aDemocraticU.S. RepresentativefromNorth Carolinabetween 1953 and 1963.

Born on a farm nearGlendon, North CarolinainMoore Countyin 1911, Alexander attended local public schools and thenDuke University,graduating in 1932. He then studied law at theUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hilland was admitted to the bar in 1937. Practicing law inKannapolis, North Carolinafor several years, Alexander then served in theUnited States NavyduringWorld War IIfrom 1942 to 1946, including thirty-four months of duty overseas.

In 1947 and 1949, Alexander served in theNorth Carolina House of Representatives.He was a solicitor for theCabarrus CountyRecorders Court from 1950 to 1952 and a state commander for theAmerican Legionin 1951.

In 1952, Alexander was elected to the83rd U.S. Congress,succeeding formerWays and Meanschairman Robert Doughton. He was reelected four times, but never was able to establish a secure foothold in his district due to a somewhatliberalvoting record and growingRepublicaninfluence in the district.

He was a signatory to the 1956Southern Manifestothat opposed the desegregation of public schools ordered by the Supreme Court inBrown v. Board of Education.

North Carolina lost a congressional district after the 1960census,and the state legislature saw a chance to get rid ofCharlotte-area congressmanCharles R. Jonas,then the only Republican in the North Carolina delegation. In the process, however, they added several Republican-leaning areas to Alexander's district. The plan backfired disastrously in the 1962 elections, in which Jonas won easily in his new district and Alexander lost by less than a percentage point to Republican furniture executiveJim Broyhill.As of 2020; no Democrat has represented North Carolina's 9th district since Alexander's defeat.

After leaving Congress, he was chief counsel to the Senate Rules and Administration Committee from 1963 to 1976. Alexander died in Kannapolis in 1989.

External links

• United States Congress."Hugh Quincy Alexander (id: A000094)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.