Burr Powell Harrison (July 2, 1904 – December 29, 1973) was a Virginia lawyer, judge and Democratic politician who was a member of 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 ...

and served as U.S. Congressman representing

Virginia's 7th congressional district Virginia's seventh congressional district is a United States congressional district in the U.S. state, Commonwealth of Virginia. The district encompasses a vast swath of Northern Virginia, Northern and Greater Richmond Region, Central Virginia ...

(as had his father).

Early and family life

Born in

Winchester, Virginia Winchester is the northwesternmost Administrative divisions of Virginia#Independent cities, independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It is the county seat of Frederick County, Virginia, Frederi ...

to Virginia lawyer and soon-to-be Congressman Thomas W. Harrison and his wife, Burr Harrison was descended from the

First Families of Virginia The First Families of Virginia, or FFV, are a group of early settler families who became a socially and politically dominant group in the British Colony of Virginia and later the Commonwealth of Virginia. They descend from European colonists who ...

and named for his great-great-grandfather Burr William Harrison (1793–1865) who represented

Loudoun County Loudoun County () is in the northern part of the Virginia, Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. In 2020, the census returned a population of 420,959, making it Virginia's third-most populous county. The county seat is Leesburg, Virgi ...

in the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, and the first elected legislative assembly in the New World. It was established on July 30, ...

in the 1840s and great-great-great-great-grandfather

Burr Harrison Burr Powell Harrison (July 2, 1904 – December 29, 1973) was a Virginia lawyer, judge and Democratic politician who was a member of the Byrd Organization and served as U.S. Congressman representing Virginia's 7th congressional district (as ...

(1734–1790), who represented

Prince William County Prince William County lies beside the Potomac River in the Commonwealth of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 482,204, making it Virginia's second most populous county. The county seat is the independent city of Manassas. A part ...

and fought in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. This Burr Harrison attended the public schools, then

Woodberry Forest School Woodberry Forest School is a private, all-male boarding school located in Woodberry Forest, Madison County, Virginia, in the United States. Woodberry's current enrollment is 391. Students come from 34 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., and 36 coun ...

Virginia Military Institute The Virginia Military Institute (VMI) is a public senior military college in Lexington, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1839 as America's first state military college and is the oldest public senior military college in the U.S. In k ...

Hampden-Sydney College Hampden Sydney is a census-designated place (CDP) in Prince Edward County, Virginia, United States. The population was 1,450 at the 2010 census. Hampden Sydney is the home of Hampden–Sydney College, a private all-male college that is the tenth ...

, and the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

. He graduated from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

Law School,

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, in 1926.

Career

Harrison was admitted to the Virginia bar the same year and commenced practice in

with his father (who died in 1935). Harrison was the attorney for Frederick County in 1932–1940. During the years 1940–1943, Harrison represented Frederick County (part-time) in

Senate of Virginia The Senate of Virginia is the upper house of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senate is composed of 40 senators representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts. The Senate is presided over by the lieutenant governor of Vir ...

. His colleagues elected him as judge of the seventeenth judicial circuit and the corporation court of Winchester in 1943–1946. Voters of

(which his father had represented during World War I and before the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

) elected Harrison as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

to the Seventy-ninth and to the Eightieth Congress, initially by special election to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of

United States Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

A. Willis Robertson (who successfully ran for election as U.S. Senator). Voters reelected Harrison to the seven succeeding Congresses (November 5, 1946 – January 3, 1963). He was a member of the

House Un-American Activities Committee The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative United States Congressional committee, committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 19 ...

during the McCathy era. Like his father, Harrison was a member of the

led by Virginia's U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd (of Winchester) and accordingly supported Massive Resistance to the U.S. Supreme Court decisions in ''

Brown v. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the ...

''. He signed the 1956

Southern Manifesto The Declaration of Constitutional Principles (known informally as the Southern Manifesto) was a document written in February and March 1956, during the 84th United States Congress, in opposition to racial integration of public places. The manife ...

that opposed the desegregation of public schools. Harrison did not seek his party's renomination to the Eighty-eighth Congress in 1962, but instead resumed his legal practice in Winchester, Virginia. Fellow Democrat John O. Marsh, Jr. succeeded to the Congressional seat.

Death and legacy

Harrison died in Winchester on December 29, 1973, and was interred in Winchester's Mount Hebron Cemetery.

Electoral history

*1946; Harrison was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in a special election with 62.53% of the vote, defeating Republican Karl Jenkins. He was simultaneously elected in the general election with 62.32% of the vote, defeating Republican Jenkins. *1948; Harrison was re-elected with 60.43% of the vote, defeating Republican Stephen D. Timberlake. *1950; Harrison was re-elected with 69.41% of the vote, defeating Republican Jacob A. Garber. *1952; Harrison was re-elected with 79.09% of the vote, defeating Republican Glenn W. Ruebush. *1954; Harrison was re-elected with 74.17% of the vote, defeating Republican John P. Ruddick. *1956; Harrison was re-elected with 69.04% of the vote, defeating Republican A.R. Dunning. *1958; Harrison was re-elected with 76.64% of the vote, defeating Independent Henry A. Oder. *1960; Harrison was re-elected unopposed.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Burr Powell 1904 births 1973 deaths Georgetown University Law Center alumni Virginia lawyers Democratic Party Virginia state senators Virginia state court judges Politicians from Winchester, Virginia Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia 20th-century American lawyers Woodberry Forest School alumni 20th-century Virginia state court judges Burials at Mount Hebron Cemetery (Winchester, Virginia) Virginia circuit court judges Signatories of the Southern Manifesto 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 20th-century members of the Virginia General Assembly Members of the House Un-American Activities Committee

Early and family life

Career

Death and legacy

Electoral history

See also

Sources