Joe L. Evins
Joe L. Evins | |
|---|---|
 Evins in 1973 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromTennessee's4thdistrict | |
| In office January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1977 | |
| Preceded by | Albert Gore Sr. |
| Succeeded by | Albert Gore Jr. |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromTennessee's5thdistrict | |
| In office January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1953 | |
| Preceded by | Harold Earthman |
| Succeeded by | Percy Priest |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Joseph Landon Evins October 24, 1910 DeKalb County, Tennessee,U.S. |
| Died | March 31, 1984(aged 73) Nashville, Tennessee,U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Relatives | Dan Evins(nephew) |
| Alma mater | Vanderbilt University Cumberland School of Law George Washington University |
Joseph Landon Evins(October 24, 1910 – March 31, 1984) was an American lawyer and politician who served 15 terms as aDemocraticU.S. RepresentativefromTennesseefrom 1947 to 1977.
Early life
[edit]Evins was a native of the Blend Community ofDeKalb County, Tennessee,the son ofJames Edgar Evinsand Myrtie Goodson Evins.[1]His father was aTennessee state senatorand a successful local businessman.[2]He was also the namesake ofEdgar Evins State Parknear Smithville. One of his brother's children ran a localbank.Another nephew,Dan Evins,was the founder of theCracker Barrel Old Country Storerestaurant chain.[3]
Evins graduated fromVanderbilt UniversityinNashville, Tennesseein 1933 and theCumberland School of LawinLebanon, Tennesseein 1934, as well asThe George Washington University.[4]He was admitted to thebarin that same year and began practice inSmithville,thecounty seatof DeKalb County.[4]
Career
[edit]In 1935 Evins was named a staffattorneyfor theFederal Trade Commission,and served in this position until 1938, when he was named the FTC's assistant secretary, a position which he held until 1940.[4]
Shortly afterU.S.entry intoWorld War II,he was commissioned in theUnited States ArmyJudge Advocate General Corps,serving on active duty until 1946, when he resumed his law practice in Smithville.[4]
Upon his return, he was also elected chairman of the DeKalb County Democratic Party. Later in that same year, he won the nomination of the Democratic Party for the seat from the 5th District. He won the election easily in this solidly-Democratic area, and was re-elected to fourteen more terms, generally with little or no opposition. His district was renumbered the 4th after the1950 Census,when Tennessee lost a congressional district.[citation needed]
Evins was a powerful figure inCongress.He was chairman of the House Select Committee on Small Business for six years, and for the following Congressional session of theUnited States House Committee on Small Business,and served on the importantHouse Appropriations Committee.
He used his influence to make sure that his district, a mostly rural area east and south ofNashville,was well taken-care of; Smithville was the smallest city chosen for participation in theModel Cities Programand its major thoroughfare was renamed "Congressional Boulevard".[citation needed]
TheTennessee Technological UniversityAppalachian Center for Craft near Smithville was built with a $5 million federal grant that Evins secured as a member of the Appropriations Committee.[5]
Evins, aconservative Democrat,was slow to accept racialdesegregation.He signed the 1956Southern Manifesto[6]and voted against theCivil Rights Acts of 1957,[7]1960,[8]1964,[9]and1968.[10]But Evins voted present on the24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.[11]and voted in favor of theVoting Rights Act of 1965.[12]
Evins decided not to stand for re-election in 1976, after serving a total of 15 terms. At the time of his retirement in January 1977, his continuous service in the U.S. House of Representatives was longer than that of any other House member from Tennessee.[1][13][14]
In a spiritedprimaryto succeed him,Al Gorewon and began his political career.[citation needed]
Personal life and death
[edit]His wife, Ann Smartt, with whom he had three daughters, was the daughter of aMcMinnvillejudge.[15]
Evins died in Nashville on March 31, 1984, and is buried in the Smithville Town Cemetery in Smithville.[16]
References
[edit]- ^abCarroll Van West, "Joseph Landon Evins, 1910-1984,"Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture;accessed November 26, 2017.
- ^The History of Evins MillArchivedMay 14, 2008, at theWayback Machine,accessed July 8, 2008
- ^Langer, Emily (January 16, 2012)."Dan Evins, founder of Cracker Barrel highway empire, dies".Washington Post.RetrievedJanuary 28,2011.
- ^abcdJoe L. Evinsat the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress; accessed November 26, 2017.
- ^About the Appalachian Center for CraftArchivedMay 9, 2008, at theWayback Machine,Appalachian Center for Craft website, accessed July 8, 2008.
- ^"Southern Congressmen Present Segregation Manifesto".CQ Almanac.1956.RetrievedJanuary 3,2024.
- ^"HR 6127. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957".GovTrack.us.
- ^"HR 8601. PASSAGE".
- ^"H.R. 7152. PASSAGE".
- ^"TO PASS H.R. 2516, A BILL TO ESTABLISH PENALTIES FOR INTERFERENCE WITH CIVIL RIGHTS. INTERFERENCE WITH A PERSON ENGAGED IN ONE OF THE 8 ACTIVITIES PROTECTED UNDER THIS BILL MUST BE RACIALLY MOTIVATED TO INCUR THE BILL'S PENALTIES".
- ^"S.J. RES. 29. CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO BAN THE USE OF POLL TAX AS A REQUIREMENT FOR VOTING IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS".GovTrack.us.
- ^"TO PASS H.R. 6400, THE 1965 VOTING RIGHTS ACT".
- ^Who was Joe L. Evins?,DeKalb County, Tennessee website; accessed July 8, 2008.
- ^B. Carroll Reece,who died early in his 18th term in Congress, served longer in the House of Representatives than anyone else in Tennessee history, but his House tenure was not continuous.Jimmy Quillenserved 17 consecutive terms in the House, breaking Evins' record for the longest continuous tenure in the House for a Tennessee congressman.
- ^Joe L. Evins,in Tennessee Blue Book, 1975-1978, page 49
- ^"Former congressman Joe L. Evins Dies".United Press International.March 31, 1984.
External links
[edit]- United States Congress."Joe L. Evins (id: E000273)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Joe L. EvinsatFind a Grave
- Who was Joe L. Evins?,DeKalb County, Tennessee website
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| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
- 1910 births
- 1984 deaths
- American members of the Churches of Christ
- Burials in Tennessee
- George Washington University alumni
- Vanderbilt University alumni
- People from Smithville, Tennessee
- Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee
- 20th-century American legislators
- Signatories of the Southern Manifesto