Edward John Robeson Jr. (August 9, 1890 – March 10, 1966) was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the 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 Article One of th ...

from

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. Born in

Waynesville, North Carolina Waynesville is the county seat of Haywood County, North Carolina, United States. It is the largest town in North Carolina west of Asheville. Waynesville is located about southwest of Asheville between the Great Smoky and Blue Ridge Mountains ...

, Robeson moved from Wythe County, Virginia, with his parents to

Cartersville, Georgia Cartersville is a city in and the county seat of Bartow County, Georgia, Bartow County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States; it is located within the northwest edge of the Atlanta metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, ...

, in 1891. He attended the public schools in Quitman, Marietta, and Sparta, Georgia. He graduated from the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

at Athens in 1910. While a student at the university, he was a member of the

Phi Kappa Literary Society The Phi Kappa Literary Society is a College literary societies (American), college literary society, located at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, and is one of the few active literary societies left in America. Originally founded in ...

. He worked as a civil engineer in

Bay Minette, Alabama Bay Minette is a city in and the county seat of Baldwin County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 8,107. History In the first days of Baldwin County, the town of McIntosh Bluff (now in Mobile Cou ...

, and Ironwood, Michigan from 1910 to 1915. He was employed with the Newport News (Virginia) Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co. from 1915 until his retirement April 30, 1950, as vice president and personnel manager.

Coaching career

Robeson was the third head football coach at

The Apprentice School The Apprentice School is a four to eight-year apprenticeship vocational school founded in 1919 and operated by Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company in Newport News in the U.S. state of Virginia. The school trains students for careers i ...

Newport News, Virginia Newport News () is an Independent city (United States), independent city in southeastern Virginia, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the List of c ...

and he held that position for two seasons, from 1924 until 1925. His record at Apprentice was 7–6–4.Apprentice Builders coaching records

Political career

Robeson was elected 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 Eighty-first Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Schuyler Otis Bland. He was reelected to the Eighty-second and to the three succeeding Congresses and served from May 2, 1950, to January 3, 1959. He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1958. He was a signatory to 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 ordered by the Supreme Court 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 ...

''.

Elections

*1950 – Robeson was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives with 81% of the vote, defeating Republican Nile Straughan and Independent Stanley S. Garner. *1952 – Robeson was re-elected unopposed. *1954 – Robeson was re-elected unopposed. *1956 – Robeson was re-elected with 50.83% of the vote, defeating Republican Horace E. Henderson. *1958 – Robeson was defeated by Thomas N. Downing for renomination.

Post political life

He was a resident of

, until 1964, at which time he returned to Waynesville, North Carolina. He died in

Pascagoula, Mississippi Pascagoula ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Mississippi, United States. It is the principal city of the Pascagoula metropolitan area, and is part of the Gulfport, Mississippi, Gulfport–Biloxi, Mississippi, Biloxi–Pascag ...

, on March 10, 1966. He was interred in Green Hill Cemetery, Waynesville.

Sources

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Robeson, Edward J. Jr. 1890 births 1966 deaths The Apprentice Builders football coaches People from Waynesville, North Carolina North Carolina Democrats University of Georgia alumni Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia Signatories of the Southern Manifesto 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives