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Colgate Whitehead Darden Jr. (February 11, 1897 – June 9, 1981) was an American lawyer and Democratic politician aligned with the
Byrd Organization The Byrd machine, or Byrd organization, was a political machine of the Democratic Party led by former Governor and U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd (1887–1966) that dominated Virginia politics for much of the 20th century. From the 1890s until the ...
who served as U.S. Representative from
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...
(1933–37, 1939–41), the 54th Governor of Virginia (1942–46), Chancellor of the College of William and Mary (1946–47) and the third President of the
University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...
(1947–59). The Darden Graduate School of Business Administration of the University of Virginia was named for him.


Early life

Darden was born on Marle Hill, a farm in
Southampton County Southampton County is a county located on the southern border of the Commonwealth of Virginia. North Carolina is to the south. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,996. Its county seat is Courtland. History In the early 17th centu ...
,
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...
, near Franklin, to Katherine Lawrence (Pretlow) Darden (1870–1936) and Colgate Whitehead Darden (1867–1945). His ancestors had lived in Southampton County for generations, Darden's Tavern had figured in Nat Turner's Revolt. Darden volunteered to serve in the French Army before the United States entered World War I and became an ambulance driver, although he returned in 1917 to recover and enlist in the
United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through c ...
. He was commissioned a lieutenant and became a fighter pilot during
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
. He later attended the
University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...
, where he was a member of
Phi Gamma Delta Phi Gamma Delta (), commonly known as Fiji, is a social Fraternities and sororities, fraternity with more than 144 active chapters and 10 colonies across the United States and Canada. It was founded at Washington & Jefferson College, Jefferson C ...
fraternity, and graduated in 1922 before going on to
Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...
(graduated 1923) and then
Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
.


Career

Admitted to the Virginia
bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar ( ...
, Darden began his legal practice in
Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia B ...
. He became active in the local Democratic party and aligned with the
Byrd Organization The Byrd machine, or Byrd organization, was a political machine of the Democratic Party led by former Governor and U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd (1887–1966) that dominated Virginia politics for much of the 20th century. From the 1890s until the ...
. In 1929, Darden won his first election, becoming one of Norfolk's four (part-time) representatives to the
Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-number ...
. He also won re-election and served alongside Daniel Coleman, Vivian L. Page and Wilson W. Vellines from 1930 to 1933, when Darden resigned because of his election to Congress. Ralph H. Daughton and Richard W. Ruffin replaced Darden and the deceased Vellines in the special election for the vacancies.


Congressional service

In 1932, Darden won election as a Democrat in an
At-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather than ...
election to select Virginia's U.S. Representatives to the
73rd Congress The 73rd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1933, ...
. The Byrd Organization controlling the Virginia legislature had switched from an election by congressional districts to an at-large method that year in order to unseat Republican
Menalcus Lankford Menalcus ("Mack") Lankford (March 14, 1883 – December 27, 1937) was a Virginia lawyer, naval aviator and Republican politician who served two terms as U.S. Representative from Virginia's 2nd congressional district, whose largest city is Nor ...
, who represented the 2nd district, and thus Democrats swept all Virginia's congressional seats in that election. Darden won re-election two years later, this time representing the 2nd district in the
74th Congress The 74th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1935, ...
, and served from March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1937. Norfolk port official and Portsmouth publisher Norman R. Hamilton unseated Darden in the Democratic primary in 1936, so he did not serve in the
75th Congress The 75th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1937 ...
, but defeated Hamilton in the next Democratic primary and thus won re-election in 1938 and 1940 to the 76th and
77th Congress The 77th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1941, ...
es. Thus he served from January 3, 1939 – March 1, 1941, when Darden resigned to run for Governor of Virginia. While in Congress, as a Byrd Organization loyalist, Darden supported the Dies Committee (predecessor of the
House Unamerican Activities committee The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disl ...
) and opposed federal anti-lynching legislation in 1940 (though he supported Virginia legislation concerning the same crime). Darden also supported loans to European allies as early as 1939, before the United States entered World War II.


Electoral history

*1932; Darden was elected to Congress with the rest of the Democratic slate as an at-large member winning 8.24% of the vote in a 24-way race. *1934; Darden was re-elected defeating Republican Gerould M. Rumble, Socialist George Rohlsen, and Communist Herbert S. Carrington, winning 76.14% of the vote. *1938; Darden was re-elected defeating Independent Carl P. Spaeth, winning 87.7% of the vote. *1940; Darden was re-elected unopposed.


Governor of Virginia

Darden was elected Governor of Virginia with 80.72% of the vote, defeating Republican
Benjamin Muse Benjamin Muse (April 17, 1898 – May 4, 1986) was an American lawyer, soldier, diplomat, newspaper publisher, author and politician. He briefly served as a member of the Virginia Senate (switching allegiances from the Democratic to the Repub ...
, Communist Alice Burke, and Socialist M. Hilliard Bernstein. Inaugurated on January 21, 1942, Darden served until January 16, 1946. As governor, Darden reorganized Virginia's civil defense, reformed Virginia's penal system, and created a pension plan for state employees and teachers. He also eliminated the state debt (a core value of the Byrd organization) and created a surplus which was allocated to vocational schools, colleges, hospitals and other public services (including electrification of all Virginia educational institutions). However, Darden's record on race relations reflected Byrd organization values: blacks would receive financial help to study at Meharry Medical College in Tennessee (since Virginia medical schools remained only for whites) and he called to remove legislative obstacles to blacks serving on juries. Governor Darden also refused to overturn the firing of several black educators following the 1940 federal equal pay decision in ''Alston v School Board of Norfolk''.


President of the University of Virginia

Darden was elected president of the University of Virginia in 1947, despite public misgivings from some among the university faculty, who resented his lack of faculty experience, and some students feared that he planned to abolish the fraternity system at the university. The latter concern had its origin in Darden's actions as Governor of Virginia, where he recommended barring students at the College of William and Mary from living in fraternity or sorority houses on the grounds that it was "undemocratic" and placed undue financial burden on parents. While Darden did not impose similar restrictions at Virginia, he did attempt to implement other measures, such as a ban on first year rushing. While Darden favored admitting African Americans to professional and graduate schools after the Supreme Court mandated such, he otherwise shared the "separate but equal" stance of many white Southerners of the pre-'' Brown v. Board of Education'' (1954) era. In 1950 Darden advocated that public schools remain, in his words, racially "segregated," but "first-rate." In that year, following federal litigation, Gregory Swanson became the first black student admitted to the
University of Virginia School of Law The University of Virginia School of Law (Virginia Law or UVA Law) is the law school of the University of Virginia, a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson as part of his "academical v ...
. Darden also testified as a witness favoring segregation in '' Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County'', one of the companion cases to ''Brown'', and Judge Albert Bryan, in the 3-judge decision upholding the unequal schools which the Supreme Court reversed, specifically cited Darden's testimony as influential. In August 1954, Darden also addressed a Ruritan gathering in Southampton and warned about the white race being only a tiny fraction of the population.Parramore p. 225 citing Tidewater News (Franklin VA) August 5, 1954 At Virginia, Darden was responsible for erection of the student union building, named Newcomb Hall for his predecessor
John Lloyd Newcomb John Lloyd Newcomb (December 18, 1881 – February 22, 1954) was an American educator. He served as the second president of the University of Virginia, ascending to the position after the death of Edwin Alderman. Newcomb, a member of the engineeri ...
; the establishment of the Judiciary Committee (which handled student misconduct that did not rise to the level of an honor offense); the creation of the graduate school of business administration (named in his memory) and significant improvements to faculty salaries. Upon his retirement, he was presented with the Thomas Jefferson Award and the
Raven Award The Raven Award is an award given annually by the Mystery Writers of America as part of the Edgar Awards. The recipient can be a writer, editor, reviewer, or librarian or possibly a professional in the field: medical examiners and forensic speci ...
.Dabney, 417-418. President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed Darden as a U.S. delegate to the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...
General Assembly in 1955, as he broke with the Byrd Organization's
Massive Resistance Massive resistance was a strategy declared by U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd Sr. of Virginia and his brother-in-law James M. Thomson, who represented Alexandria in the Virginia General Assembly, to get the state's white politicians to pass laws and ...
policy.


Personal life

Darden died in 1981 at his home in
Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia B ...
. He was buried in the family plot with his parents. In addition to his wife, he was survived by his younger brother Joshua Pretlow Darden, who had served as Norfolk's mayor (1949–50). Darden is memorialized with a historic marker at the site of his birth. Darden enjoyed a close friendship with Tidewater resident Barham Gary, whose sister, writer
Myra Page Dorothy Markey (born Dorothy Page Gary, 1897–1993), known by the pen name Myra Page, was a 20th-century American communist writer, journalist, union activist, and teacher. Background Page was born Dorothy Page Gary on October 1, 1897, ...
, referred to Darden by the nickname "Clukey." His nephew (Joshua Darden) went on to be the rector at UVA, as well as head of the board. Joshua has two daughters; Audrey and Holley Darden.


References


External links


Colgate Whitehead Darden entry
at the
National Governors Association The National Governors Association (NGA) is an American political organization founded in 1908. The association's members are the governors of the 55 states, territories and commonwealths. Members come to the association from across the politica ...

Colgate Whitehead Darden Jr. entry
at
The Political Graveyard The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 American political figures and political families, along with other information. The name comes from the website's inclusion of burial locations ...
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Darden, Colgate 1897 births 1981 deaths United States Marine Corps personnel of World War I Chancellors of the College of William & Mary Columbia Law School alumni Democratic Party governors of Virginia Democratic Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates People from Southampton County, Virginia Presidents of the University of Virginia Recipients of the Croix de Guerre (France) United States Marine Corps officers University of Virginia alumni Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia Virginia lawyers 20th-century American politicians Old Right (United States)