Seth Gordon Persons (February 5, 1902 – May 29, 1965) was an American
Democratic politician who was the
43rd Governor of Alabama from 1951 to 1955. A relative moderate, Persons provided reforms to the state prison system, and limited
poll tax
A poll tax, also known as head tax or capitation, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources. ''Poll'' is an archaic term for "head" or "top of the head". The sen ...
reform, while expanding highway spending and creating the state's educational television system. His term was relatively quiet, between the
Dixiecrat
The States' Rights Democratic Party (whose members are often called the Dixiecrats), also colloquially referred to as the Dixiecrat Party, was a short-lived segregationist, States' Rights, and old southern democratic political party in the ...
revolt and the eve of the turbulent
civil rights era.
Early life and career
Persons enrolled at
Auburn University
Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...
in 1921. While at Auburn, he served as president of the "Hobo Club" that traveled to away football games dressed as
hobo
A hobo is a migrant worker in the United States. Hoboes, tramps, and bums are generally regarded as related, but distinct: a hobo travels and is willing to work; a tramp travels, but avoids work if possible; a bum neither travels nor works.
Et ...
s. Persons studied electrical engineering, but left school after one year.
Persons held various jobs, working for the
Farm Bureau and for
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...
in
Ithaca, New York
Ithaca () is a city in and the county seat of Tompkins County, New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York (state), New York, Ithaca is the largest community in the Ithaca metrop ...
, before returning to Montgomery to run a
service station and open a radio parts store.
In 1930, he and partner Howard Pill founded
WSFA
WSFA (channel 12) is a television station in Montgomery, Alabama, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Gray Media alongside Selma–licensed low-power, Class A Telemundo affiliate WBXM-CD (channel 15). The two stations sha ...
, Montgomery's first radio station.
Persons would go on to serve on the board of directors for the
National Association of Broadcasters
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is a Industry trade group, trade association and lobbying, lobby group representing the interests of commercial and non-commercial over-the-air radio and television broadcasting, broadcasters in th ...
from 1935 to 1939, and as the chief radio consultant of the
Office of War Information
The United States Office of War Information (OWI) was a United States government agency created during World War II. The OWI operated from June 1942 until September 1945. Through radio broadcasts, newspapers, posters, photographs, films and other ...
from 1942 to 1943.
In 1935, Persons was appointed by governor
Bibb Graves
David Bibb Graves (April 1, 1873 – March 14, 1942) was an American United States Democratic Party, Democratic politician and the List of governors of Alabama, 38th governor of Alabama 1927–1931 and 1935–1939, the first Alabama governor to ...
as chairman of the state
Rural Electrification Administration. Three years later, he opened his own engineering firm installing electrical lines; in addition to financial gain, he also won considerable popularity.
After an unsuccessful run for the presidency of the
Alabama Public Service Commission in 1940, he won election as an associate commissioner in 1942, and as president in 1944. He unsuccessfully campaigned for Governor in
1946
1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...
, finishing last in the five-candidate
Democratic primary.
Governor of Alabama
1950 election
Persons ran for Governor again in 1950, seeking to avoid conflict between the white supremacist
Dixiecrat
The States' Rights Democratic Party (whose members are often called the Dixiecrats), also colloquially referred to as the Dixiecrat Party, was a short-lived segregationist, States' Rights, and old southern democratic political party in the ...
loyalists and the national Democratic party. While campaigning, Persons gained notoriety by touring the state in a two-seat helicopter, prompting one opponent to dub him "the man from Mars". He won the Democratic nomination by defeating a crowded field that included former governor
Chauncey Sparks. Owing to Democratic dominance of state politics, Persons was elected in November 1950 with nearly 91% of the vote.
Tenure
Persons sought to counter the bombastic nature of his predecessor and successor,
Jim Folsom, with a no-nonsense, business-like approach. He declined an inaugural parade and ball, and took the oath of office in a simple business suit, rather than a formal top hat and coat.
Persons and his family were the first to occupy the current
Alabama Governor's Mansion.
His first official act as governor was to call a meeting of the
Auburn University
Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...
board to trustees to fire football coach
Earl Brown and replace him with
Shug Jordan.
Owing to good relations with the Legislature, Persons was able to institute a sweeping agenda. He reformed the prison system, placing it under a new supervisory board and ending fiscal mismanagement, and abolishing corporal punishment, deriding it as barbaric. He increased spending on highway construction, and imposed a 60 mile-per-hour speed limit, significantly reducing traffic fatalities. In 1953, Alabama created the Educational Television Commission (the predecessor of
Alabama Public Television), becoming the first state in the nation to do so.
Persons also signed "
right-to-work" legislation that limited
union activity, and established new voting qualifications aimed at restricting African Americans.
In the midst of
McCarthyism
McCarthyism is a political practice defined by the political repression and persecution of left-wing individuals and a Fear mongering, campaign spreading fear of communist and Soviet influence on American institutions and of Soviet espionage i ...
, he also barred Communists from holding public office, and required them to register their party membership. Although he had campaigned on abolishing the
poll tax
A poll tax, also known as head tax or capitation, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources. ''Poll'' is an archaic term for "head" or "top of the head". The sen ...
, he compromised with the legislature on limiting unpaid poll taxes and eliminating them for older voters. Near the end of his term, the
U.S.Supreme Court struck down segregation in schools in the ''
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 ...
'' ruling. Persons refused to convene a special session of the legislature, which would seek to maintain segregation.
In July 1954, Persons
ordered the National Guard into Phenix City after the assassination of Attorney General-elect
Albert Patterson.
Unable to run for a second consecutive term, Persons suffered a
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...
in November 1954, days before Folsom's re-election. He never returned to office, and directed his secretary to read his farewell address to the legislature.
Post-Governorship and death
After leaving office as governor, Persons never sought statewide public office again. He was considered a frontrunner for the
1958 Alabama gubernatorial election, but a
stroke
Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...
prevented him from running.
He died after another stroke on May 29, 1965.
Legacy
The
Dauphin Island Bridge south of
Mobile is formally named for him. The Gordon Persons Building is a six floor, 60,000 square foot state government office building in Montgomery that houses the state departments of
Education
Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...
, Revenue, and Human Resources.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Persons, Gordon
1902 births
1965 deaths
Auburn University alumni
Politicians from Montgomery, Alabama
Democratic Party governors of Alabama
20th-century Alabama politicians
Members of the Alabama Public Service Commission