Clarence Cleveland Dill (September 21, 1884January 14, 1978) was an

American politician The politics of the United States function within a framework of a constitutional federal republic and presidential system, with three distinct branches that share powers. These are: the U.S. Congress which forms the legislative branch, a bi ...

from the state of

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. A Democrat, he was elected to two terms each in both houses of

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

Early years

Dill was born in

Fredericktown, Ohio Fredericktown is a village in Knox County, Ohio, United States. The population was 2,493 at the 2010 census. History Fredericktown was platted in 1807, and named after Frederick, Maryland, the native home of a first settler. Geography Frederi ...

, and attended Ohio Wesleyan University, where he was a member of the social fraternity

Phi Kappa Psi Phi Kappa Psi (), commonly known as Phi Psi, is an American collegiate social fraternity that was founded by William Henry Letterman and Charles Page Thomas Moore in Widow Letterman's home on the campus of Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pen ...

. He completed his undergraduate work at the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 ma ...

in 1907. As a young man, Dill was a teacher, and moved west to

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Cana ...

, in 1908. He taught English at South Central High School and was a newspaper reporter at ''

The Spokesman-Review ''The Spokesman-Review'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Spokane, Washington, the city's sole remaining daily publication. It has the third-highest readership among daily newspapers in the state, with most of its readership base in ...

'' in the summer.

Political career

Dill became a lawyer in 1910, and soon entered politics. He was elected to the

U.S. House 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 chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...

and

1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that had been stored and cooled. * J ...

from the newly created fifth district. On April 5, 1917, Dill was one of 50 representatives who voted against declaring war on Germany. His vote was controversial among his constituents, including members of his own party. The Spokane County Democratic Committee debated censuring Dill, but ultimately voted against doing so. Dill was narrowly defeated for re-election in 1918 by

state supreme court In the United States, a state supreme court (known by other names in some states) is the highest court in the state judiciary of a U.S. state. On matters of state law, the judgment of a state supreme court is considered final and binding in b ...

justice J. Stanley Webster. Dill was elected to the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éireann, the day after Éamon de Valera ...

, beating two-term incumbent Republican

Miles Poindexter Miles Poindexter (April 22, 1868September 21, 1946) was an American lawyer and politician. As a Republican Party (United States), Republican and briefly a Progressive Party 1912 (United States), Progressive, he served one term as a United States ...

. Dill campaigned as a supporter of Progressive reform and pledged to repeal the

Esch–Cummins Act The Transportation Act, 1920, commonly known as the Esch–Cummins Act, was a United States federal law that returned railroads to private operation after World War I, with much regulation. It also officially encouraged private consolidation of rai ...

and push for the

Columbia Basin Project The Columbia Basin Project (or CBP) in Central Washington, United States, is the irrigation network that the Grand Coulee Dam makes possible. It is the largest water reclamation project in the United States, supplying irrigation water to over of ...

. Poindexter, who was supported by major newspapers such as ''The Spokesman-Review'' and ''

The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington ...

'', attempted to portray Dill as a radical for his war record and his support of the Plumb Plan. Dill carried

Spokane County Spokane County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 539,339, making it the fourth-most populous county in Washington. The largest city and county seat is Spokane, the second largest cit ...

, much of

Eastern Washington Eastern Washington is the region of the U.S. state of Washington located east of the Cascade Range. It contains the city of Spokane (the second largest city in the state), the Tri-Cities, the Columbia River and the Grand Coulee Dam, the Hanf ...

, and the urban counties of the

Puget Sound region The Puget Sound region is a coastal area of the Pacific Northwest in the U.S. state of Washington, including Puget Sound, the Puget Sound lowlands, and the surrounding region roughly west of the Cascade Range and east of the Olympic Mountains. ...

. Dill was re-elected in

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhan ...

, but did not seek a third term in

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 Nepal–Bihar earthquake strikes Nepal and Bihar with a maxi ...

. His election in 1928 marked the last time a candidate from

was elected U.S. Senator. In the Senate, he was the chief sponsor of both the 1927 Radio Act and the 1934 Communications Act, and was a staunch proponent of the

Grand Coulee Dam Grand Coulee Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, built to produce hydroelectric power and provide irrigation water. Constructed between 1933 and 1942, Grand Coulee originally had two powerh ...

. In June 1934, Congress amended the Watson-Parker

Railway Labor Act The Railway Labor Act is a United States federal law on US labor law that governs labor relations in the railroad and airline industries. The Act, enacted in 1926 and amended in 1934 and 1936, seeks to substitute bargaining, arbitration, and media ...

so it explicitly included non-operating train personnel and sleeping car companies. Senator Dill sponsored the new act since he thought

Pullman porter Pullman porters were men hired to work for the railroads as porters on sleeping cars. Starting shortly after the American Civil War, George Pullman sought out former slaves to work on his sleeper cars. Their job was to carry passengers’ bag ...

s and maids should be black. A jurisdictional dispute between the Order of Sleeping Car Conductors and the

Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters Founded in 1925, The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP) was the first labor organization led by African Americans to receive a charter in the American Federation of Labor (AFL). The BSCP gathered a membership of 18,000 passenger railwa ...

had to be first settled in the American Federation of Labor, but the effect was to quadruple membership in the Brotherhood. Black workers could now join the union without fear of losing their jobs. Dill ran for

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

in 1940 but was narrowly defeated by

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Arthur B. Langlie. His last attempt at elective office was for the open seat in Congress from Spokane's fifth district in

1942 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in w ...

, but was easily defeated by Walt Horan, the first Republican to win that district in twenty years. Horan had lost to Charles Leavy by eleven points in the previous race in

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * Januar ...

. Dill then served as a member of the Columbia Basin Commission from 1945 to 1948, and as a special assistant to the

U.S. Attorney General The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...

from 1946 to 1953. In between all of these jobs, he usually practiced law. He died in 1978 in Spokane at the age of 93, the last living U.S. senator elected before the Great Depression.

Personal

After he left the Senate, Dill sought a

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...

from his wife in 1936, the feminist

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

and author Rosalie Gardiner Jones of New York. Dill claimed that Jones told his friends that he was "a political coward" for not seeking re-election in 1934, and that she buried dogs and garbage in the backyard. Separated while he was still in office, the well-publicized divorce proceedings began in late June 1936 in Spokane. The court found in his favor: he kept the house, she got the furniture. Dill met home economics educator Mabel Aileen Dickson (1905–1969) in November 1936 in

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

, and they were married in May 1939. Born in

Crystal A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macro ...

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, So ...

, she was raised in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

; Dickson graduated from the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a Public university, public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexande ...

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

and earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

Washington State College Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant univer ...

in Pullman. They were married for thirty years, until her death from a heart ailment. Their home, ''Cliff Aerie'', built in 1941 at 708 W. Cliff Drive, is a Spokane landmark.

Electoral history

*1914 Congress 5 **C C Dill ( D), 24,410 **Harry Rosenhaupt ( R), 20,063 **Thomas Corkery (Prog), 15,509 **J O Harkness ( S), 4,502 **F H Flanders (Proh), 2,270 *1916 Congress 5 **C C Dill ( D), 37,479 **Thomas Corkery ( R), 32,298 **John M Powers ( S), 2,952 *1918 Congress 5 ** Stanley Webster ( R), 22426 **C C Dill ( D), 20,061 **Peter Harrison ( S), 473 *1922 US Senate **C C Clarence Dill ( D), 130,375 **

( R), 126,556 **James Duncan ( FL), 35,352 **David Burgess ( SL), 1,905 **Frans Bostrom ( Com), 489 *1928 US Senate **C C Clarence Dill ( D), 261,524 **Kenneth Mackintosh ( R), 227,415 **Alex Noral ( Com), 666 *1940 Governor ** Arthur B. Langlie ( R), 392,522 **C C Dill ( D), 386,706 **John Brockway ( Com), 1,674 **P J Ater ( SL), 426 *1942 Congress 5 ** Walt Horan ( R), 29,380 **C C Dill ( D), 18,766

References

External links

Washington Secretary of State
– History Makers – Clarence Dill

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 o ...

*
Historic Spokane
– Senator Clarence & Mabel Dill House (Cliff Aerie) – 708 W. Cliff Drive {{DEFAULTSORT:Dill, Clarence 1884 births 1978 deaths Ohio Wesleyan University alumni People from Fredericktown, Ohio Politicians from Spokane, Washington Democratic Party United States senators from Washington (state) Washington (state) lawyers Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Washington (state) American anti–World War I activists 20th-century American politicians Activists from Ohio Lawyers from Spokane, Washington 20th-century American lawyers