Terry McGovern Carpenter (March 28, 1900 – April 27, 1978) was an American politician.Nebraska Legislature, The Official Site of the Nebraska Unicameral Legislature: ''Sen. Terry Carpenter'', http://nebraskalegislature.gov/education/carpenter.php, accessed 5 Feb 2012. Though he changed his party five times, he was elected as a Democrat to 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 chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

and later served 22 years in the

Nebraska Legislature The Nebraska Legislature (also called the Unicameral) is the legislature of the U.S. state of Nebraska. The Legislature meets at the Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln. With 49 members, known as "senators", the Nebraska Legislature is the sm ...

. He also unsuccessfully ran for the Senate,

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 ...

and Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska, and also unsuccessfully and then subsequently successfully for mayor of

Scottsbluff, Nebraska Scottsbluff is a city in Scotts Bluff County, in the western part of the state of Nebraska, in the Great Plains region of the United States. The population was 14,436 at the 2020 census. Scottsbluff is the largest city in the Nebraska Panhand ...

. Carpenter was also a successful businessman and founded the village of Terrytown, Nebraska.

Early life

Carpenter was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on March 28, 1900, the son of Burt and Martha Carpenter. He moved to Scottsbluff in 1916 and was employed in various capacities by a railroad company. From 1922 to 1923 he sold tobacco and candy, moving to

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

in 1923. There, he was the manager of the municipal gas and water department. He returned to Scottsbluff in 1927 where he worked in the garage business and the retail coal business. After two brief marriages, Carpenter married Hazeldeane Carruthers on February 1, 1930, and they had three sons: Terry Jr., Gary, and Michael.

Career

Carpenter ran unsuccessfully for mayor of

in 1931, but the next year was elected to the Seventy-third Congress (March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1935) as a Democrat for the 5th District. He did not run for reelection, since he was running for Governor of Nebraska in 1934. Failing to get the Democratic nomination, he next ran for a seat in the U.S. Senate but lost the election, coming in a distant third place with 18% of the vote, as he was running against the incumbent independent Republican George W. Norris and another Republican candidate. Norris won the election. Carpenter continued to run for various offices unsuccessfully through the 1940s, but was a very successful businessman. He established the only gasoline

refinery A refinery is a production facility composed of a group of chemical engineering unit processes and unit operations refining certain materials or converting raw material into products of value. Types of refineries Different types of refineries ...

in Nebraska in Scottsbluff, with his own chain of gas stations in several states which created gas wars wherever they opened. He eventually sold this operation and started several new businesses. Carpenter was a major in the United States Air Corps from 1942 to 1945 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. He was elected mayor of Scottsbluff in 1947, but later stepped down due to perceived conflicts with his many businesses in the city. He founded a new village on the other side of the river from Scottsbluff in 1949 and called it Terrytown. He based his new businesses there, selling liquor by the drink before Scottsbluff did, starting a radio station, a drive-in movie theater, and two restaurants. Carpenter changed political affiliation five times, being a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1956. He was successful in being elected to the state legislature in 1952 and served 22 years as a state senator. In 1970, Carpenter conducted much-publicized legislative hearings against a

gay studies Queer studies, sexual diversity studies, or LGBT studies is the education of topics relating to sexual orientation and gender identity usually focusing on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender dysphoria, asexual, queer, questioning, inte ...

course being offered at UNL. Carpenter considered homosexuality "a terrible disease" and believed that the college course would turn students gay. Carpenter attempted to expose the names of students taking the course. In 1971, he introduced legislation to prohibit courses pertaining to "aberrant" sexuality. It did not pass into law. During his legislative career, he also operated Terry Carpenter, Inc., in Terrytown. He retired in Scottsbluff, Nebraska where he died April 27, 1978. He is buried in Fairview Cemetery in Scottsbluff.

Campaign failures

Carpenter ran for but failed to be elected to the following offices: *Mayor of Scottsbluff in 1931 *nomination for governor 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 ...

*United States Senate in

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

*lieutenant governor in 1938 *governor 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 ...

*nomination to the United States Senate 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 ...

*United States Senate in 1948 *nomination for governor in

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 crashes in a snowstorm. All 19 ...

*nomination to the United States Senate in 1954 *nomination for governor in 1960 *United States Senate in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

*lieutenant governor in 1974

Campaign successes

Carpenter was elected to the following offices: *United States House of Representatives in 1932 *Mayor of Scottsbluff in 1947 (but later stepped down) *Nebraska Legislature in 1952 (served through 1974)

References

Sources

# # * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Carpenter, Terry 1900 births 1978 deaths Politicians from Cedar Rapids, Iowa People from Scottsbluff, Nebraska American city founders Mayors of places in Nebraska Nebraska Republicans Nebraska state senators United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Nebraska 20th-century American politicians United States Army Air Forces officers Military personnel from Iowa