Frank Park (March 3, 1864November 20, 1925) was an American politician, educator, lawyer and jurist from the state of
Georgia.
Early years and education
Park was born in
Tuskegee, Alabama
Tuskegee () is a city in Macon County, Alabama, United States. It was founded and laid out in 1833 by General Thomas Simpson Woodward, a Creek War veteran under Andrew Jackson, and made the county seat that year. It was incorporated in 1843. ...
, in 1864 to James Fletcher Park and Emma Augusta Park (
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
Bailey). His father was the principal and founder of Park High School (later known as Tuskegee Military Institute for Boys), and later served as mayor of
Lagrange, Georgia. The younger Park graduated from local public schools before attending the
University of Georgia
, mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things."
, establ ...
in
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
(UGA), where he was a member of the
Phi Kappa Literary Society
The Phi Kappa Literary Society is a college literary society, located at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, and is one of the few active literary societies left in America. Founded in 1820, the society continues to meet every academic ...
.
He taught from 1882 through 1885 then worked as a railway civil engineer from 1885 until 1889. Park then attended the
Atlanta Medical College and graduated in 1891. He studied law and was admitted to the state bar in 1891, at which time he started a private law practice.
Judicial service
In 1898, Park became a judge in the county court and served in that position until 1903 when he became a judge in the Albany judicial circuit. He served in that position until 1908.
Judge Park served on the board of trustees for the
Georgia Agricultural and Mechanical School in
Tifton from 1911 until 1915.
Political activity and election
From 1891 to 1902, Park served as chair of the
Democratic executive committee for
Worth County, Georgia. From 1902 through 1904 Park was the chair of the Democratic congressional committee for
Georgia's 2nd congressional district.
Despite his affiliation with the Democratic Party, in February 1909, Judge Park helped organize a banquet to honor Republican President-elect
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...
.
The dinner, for 500, was held at the newly constructed Armory-Auditorium (now the
Atlanta Municipal Auditorium). The feast was prepared by the head chef of the
Piedmont Hotel, with the assistance of three cooks from Park's plantation.
The event was hosted by the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, with
Asa Candler
Asa Griggs Candler (December 30, 1851 – March 12, 1929) was an American business tycoon and politician who in 1888 purchased the Coca-Cola recipe for $238.98 from chemist John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta, Georgia. Candler founded The Coca-Co ...
, founder of
The Coca-Cola Company
The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational beverage corporation founded in 1892, best known as the producer of Coca-Cola. The Coca-Cola Company also manufactures, sells, and markets other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups ...
acting as
toastmaster
Toastmaster is a general term, prevalent in the United States in the mid-20th century, referring to a person in charge of the proceedings of a public speaking event. The toastmaster is typically charged with organization of the event, arrangin ...
. Judge Park volunteered to provide 100 "
fat possums", captured from the wilds of
Worth County, as the headline feature of the banquet.
The "Possum and 'Taters" dinner, as it came to be known, also included 100 gallons of
persimmon beer.
The chief chef of the Piedmont Hotel created a special opossum
basting sauce for the occasion.
In addition to the opossum and
sweet potatoes ('Taters), the menu included
turtle soup, broiled Georgia
shad
The Alosinae, or the shads,[Alosinae]
casserole
A casserole ( French: diminutive of , from Provençal 'pan') is a normally large deep pan or bowl a casserole is anything in a casserole pan. Hot or cold
History
Baked dishes have existed for thousands of years. Early casserole recipes ...
.
The opossum was brought to President-elect Taft in a
chafing dish
A chafing dish is a metal cooking or serving pan on a stand with an alcohol burner holding chafing fuel below it. It is used for cooking at table, notably in Gueridon service, or as a food warmer for keeping dishes at a buffet warm.
Historical ...
. It was reported that "Five hundred eyes were on the President-elect as he lifted the top of the dish and gazed at the boast of Georgia." Taft is said to have remarked that it was "The best dish I have toasted in weeks". After the dinner, boosters presented Taft with a small
plush marsupial they dubbed "Billy Possum".
Their expectation was that Billy Possum would soon outshine Taft's predecessor's famous plush toy, the
Teddy Bear
A teddy bear is a stuffed toy in the form of a bear. Developed apparently simultaneously by toymakers Morris Michtom in the U.S. and Richard Steiff under his aunt Margarete Steiff's company in Germany in the early 20th century, the teddy bea ...
.
Stone and Webster
Stone & Webster was an American engineering services company based in Stoughton, Massachusetts. It was founded as an electrical testing lab and consulting firm by electrical engineers Charles A. Stone and Edwin S. Webster in 1889. In the earl ...
Public Service Journal wrote that "Thousands of little possums are being made, which promise to be as favorably received as was the teddy bear".
While that was not to be, public reaction to the dinner was exceptionally positive. Response to the dinner was so positive that the chef of the Piedmont Hotel received letters from New York restaurants stating that they had placed "Possum and 'Taters" on their menus, and requesting quantities of persimmon beer.
1913 election
In 1913, Park won a special election to fill Georgia's vacant 2nd district seat in the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...
during the
63rd United States Congress
The 63rd 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, 1913, to ...
. Judge Park prevailed over fellow Democratic opponent Roscoe Luke by 5.1 points. The vacancy was the result of incumbent
Seaborn Roddenbery's death earlier in the year. Like all members of the Georgia Congressional delegation at that time, Park was a
Democrat. After finishing the partial term of his predecessor, he was reelected to four additional full terms in that seat. During his tenure in office, Park resided in
Sylvester, Georgia, the county seat of Worth County.
Controversial acts
In December 1913, shortly after taking office, Park introduced legislation to make changes to the
Second Amendment of the
Constitution of the United States
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...
to allow state and federal authorities to regulate the practice of "pistol toting". Park stated that his experience as a judge had taught him that the "evil practice of pistol toting" was responsible for a large percentage of homicides in the United States. The freshman congressman wrongly predicted that his measure would receive the "overwhelming support of congress and the states."
In 1914, Park introduced a bill that would ban all African-Americans from being commissioned as military or naval officers.
Fighting political corruption
In 1914, Park introduced a resolution of
impeachment
Impeachment is the process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements.
In ...
against
Daniel Thew Wright,
Associate Justice of the
Supreme Court of the District of Columbia for corruption.
Wright resigned from the Court ahead of the threatened impeachment proceedings.
In 1915, Park made charges against corrupt District of Columbia police chief
Richard H. Sylvester, who was already under fire for the way his police force failed to protect participants in a
Women's Suffrage
Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...
march. Like Judge Wright before him, Sylvester chose to resign ahead of an investigation.
1916 election
In 1916 Park was challenged in the Democratic primary by
Edward E. Cox, who had succeeded Park as judge of the Albany judicial circuit when Park stepped down. Cox did what he could to stir up public interest in his campaign, even sending Congressman Park a telegram challenging him to a debate at the July 4 festivities in
Thomasville, Georgia
Thomasville is the county seat of Thomas County, Georgia, United States. The population was 18,413 at the 2010 United States Census, making it the second largest city in southwest Georgia after Albany.
The city deems itself the "City of Roses" a ...
. Cox continued pressing. On August 10. 1916 he held a large barbecue rally in
Lucile, Georgia which attracted voters from
Early County and surround areas.
It was reported that "several hundred" voters attended. Park was able to best Cox in the 1916 congressional race, and would not see another challenge to his seat until 1924.
Representing constituent concerns
In the aftermath of the sinking of the ocean liner
Lusitania
Lusitania (; ) was an ancient Iberian Roman province located where modern Portugal (south of the Douro river) and
a portion of western Spain (the present Extremadura and the province of Salamanca) lie. It was named after the Lusitani or Lus ...
, which cost the lives of numerous Americans, President
Wilson issued a warning to the German government about attacking ships carrying American citizens. But many southerners took a different view. The Gore-McLemore resolution, introduced by two southern members of Congress directed the President to warn Americans against traveling aboard foreign ships of belligerent nations, and even proposed confiscating passports of citizens who failed to comply. In keeping with that sentiment, and supporting the
isolationist
Isolationism is a political philosophy advocating a national foreign policy that opposes involvement in the political affairs, and especially the wars, of other countries. Thus, isolationism fundamentally advocates neutrality and opposes entangl ...
views of his constituents, Park affirmed that he opposed any policy that would "hurl the sons of the South to death and destruction because some fool, or idiot, or nonpatriotic rascal" chose to sail on a "belligerent armed vessel".
Park was also mindful of representing the farmers of his district in Georgia who counted agriculture, particularly the harvesting of pecans and peanuts, as a primary concern. His congressional district produced a large percentage of the pecans grown in Georgia. Park pushed through a more than 50% increase in funding for pecan growers, in the annual Agriculture Appropriations Act of 1917. In addition to nuts and legumes, farmers in Park's 2nd Congressional District harvested a large quantity of "yellow yams" (actually
sweet potatoes). With the help of President Woodrow Wilson (who had strong ties to Georgia) Park persuaded the Army's
Quartermaster General to add "yellow yams" to the army's menu, increasing both sales and consumer awareness of the vegetable.
In a consumer protection measure Park introduced legislation requiring that manufacturers of clothing and shoes disclose the nature of "the material entering the composition of the article manufactured".
1924 election defeat
Park faced another contested election in 1924. On July 19, 1923 a front-page article in the ''Early County News'' reported that a mass meeting of
Tift County voters had taken place, with the express purpose of placing the name of Judge Raleigh Eve in nomination for the Second Congressional District, to replace Frank Park.
Eve was the presiding judge of the Tift Judicial Circuit, and a former judicial colleague of Park. The paper reported that "The auditorium was packed and enthusiasm marked the reception of five or six speeches preceding the formal nomination. The nomination was unanimous."
Nonetheless, it was Park's previous challenger, Edward E. Cox who proved Park's undoing, defeating him in the Democratic primary of September 10, 1924.
Out of roughly 13,000 votes cast, Park lost decisively by a margin of nearly 3,000 vote.
Once in office, Cox was re-elected thirteen times. In all, Cox served from March 4, 1925, until his death in 1952.
Death and legacy
On November 20, 1925, a few months after leaving office, Park died in
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...
. He was buried in White Springs Cemetery in
White Springs, Florida
White Springs is a town in Hamilton County, Florida, United States, on the Suwannee River. The population was 777 at the 2010 census, down from 819 at the 2000 census. Home of the annual Florida Folk Festival, it is a tourist destination not ...
, next to his wife Emma Augusta Bridges Park, who had died the previous year.
Park was a member of the fraternal order of
Masons, and the masonic symbol appears on his gravestone.
The WWII
liberty ship
Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. M ...
, the
SS ''Frank Park'', laid down on June 10, 1944 in
Brunswick, Georgia
Brunswick () is a city in and the county seat of Glynn County, Georgia, Glynn County in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. As the primary urban and economic center of the lower southeast portion of Georgia, it is the second-largest ...
, was named after the late congressman.
The SS ''Frank Park'' was scrapped in 1962.
References
External links
*
The Amazing Stories of Persimmons in Craft BeerSouthern Style Roasted Possum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Park, Frank
1864 births
1925 deaths
People from Tuskegee, Alabama
Georgia (U.S. state) lawyers
Georgia (U.S. state) state court judges
University of Georgia alumni
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Georgia (U.S. state)
19th-century American lawyers