Joe Starnes (March 31, 1895 – January 9, 1962) was a U.S. Representative from

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...

Early life

Joe Starnes was born on March 31, 1895, in

Guntersville, Alabama Guntersville (previously known as Gunter's Ferry and later Gunter's Landing) is a city and the county seat of Marshall County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census, the population of the city was 8,553. Guntersville is located in a HUBZon ...

, and attended the public schools.

Career

He taught school in Marshall County, Alabama from 1912 to 1917. During the

First World War 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 served overseas as a second lieutenant in the Fifty-third Infantry, Sixth Division, in 1918 and 1919. He became a member of the One Hundred and Sixty-Seventh Infantry, Alabama National Guard in 1923 and advanced through the ranks to colonel. In 1931, as a Major, he commanded the Alabama National Guard troops who guarded the African American Scottsboro Boys from the mob gathered outside the Jackson County, Alabama Court House while those defendants were on trial for allegedly raping white women Ruby Bates and Victoria Price. He served as member of the State board of education 1933-1949 and became vice chairman in January 1948. He graduated from the law department of the

University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the public ...

in 1921. He was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1921 and commenced practice at

. Starnes was elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-fourth and to the four succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1935 – January 3, 1945). In 1938 he served on the Dies Committee, precursor to

HUAC 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 disloy ...

, and gained notoriety and ridicule for enquiring of

Hallie Flanagan Hallie Flanagan Davis (August 27, 1889 in Redfield, South Dakota – June 23, 1969 in Old Tappan, New Jersey) was an American theatrical producer and director, playwright, and author, best known as director of the Federal Theatre Project, a pa ...

whether the English

Elizabethan Era The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personific ...

playwright

Christopher Marlowe Christopher Marlowe, also known as Kit Marlowe (; baptised 26 February 156430 May 1593), was an English playwright, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe is among the most famous of the Elizabethan playwrights. Based upon t ...

and ancient Greek tragedian " Mr. Euripides" were

communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

. He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1944. He served as a colonel of Infantry in the European Theater of Operations and in the Army of Occupation from January 4, 1945, until discharged on February 22, 1946, when he resumed the practice of law in

. Starnes was also an active

Civitan Civitan International, based in Birmingham, Alabama, is an association of community service clubs founded in 1917. The organization aims "to build good citizenship by providing a volunteer organization of clubs dedicated to serving individual an ...

Death

He died in Washington, D.C., January 9, 1962, aged 66, and was interred in City Cemetery,

. The Airport in Guntersville, Alabama is called Joe Starnes Field.Joe Starnes Field
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References

External links

* Retrieved on 2010-01-02 {{DEFAULTSORT:Starnes, Joe 1895 births 1962 deaths People from Guntersville, Alabama Alabama lawyers American military personnel of World War I National Guard (United States) officers Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Alabama 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American lawyers American anti-communists

Early life

Career

Death

See also

References

External links