George Alfred Carlson (October 23, 1876 – December 6, 1926) was the 20th Governor of Colorado from 1915 to 1917.

Biography

He was born on October 23, 1876, in

Alta, Iowa Alta is a city in Buena Vista County, Iowa, United States. The population was 2,087 at the 2020 census. History Alta was platted in 1872, and it was incorporated in 1878. By 1882, Alta contained three general stores, two drug stores, two groc ...

. Carlson graduated from the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

in 1902 and earned his law degree there in 1904. He practiced law in

Fort Collins, Colorado Fort Collins is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality in Larimer County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The population was 169,810 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, an i ...

, from 1905 to 1908, and was

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

in Fort Collins from 1908 to 1914. He ran for governor as a Republican in 1914 and won, benefiting from vote-splitting between Democrats and Progressives. Carlson's administration was noted for labor reforms, including the passage of a

workers' compensation Workers' compensation or workers' comp is a form of insurance providing wage replacement and medical benefits to employees injured in the course of employment in exchange for mandatory relinquishment of the employee's right to sue his or her emp ...

law and the establishment of the Industrial Commission of Colorado. He also supported and signed into law a

prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

bill making Colorado a "dry state." Carlson was defeated for reelection in 1916. After leaving office, he returned to law practice in Denver. He died on December 6, 1926, in

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

References

External links

*
State of Colorado biography

at the

National Governors Association The National Governors Association (NGA) is an American Politics of the United States, political organization founded in 1908. The association's members are the governors of the 55 U.S. state, states, Territories of the United States, territories ...

George Alfred Carlson entry
at

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carlson, George Alfred 1876 births 1926 deaths Republican Party governors of Colorado People from Buena Vista County, Iowa University of Colorado alumni University of Colorado Law School alumni