John Austin Darden (1879 – June 7, 1942)Memorial Dedicated To John A. Darden
, ''The Goodwater Enterprise-Chronicle'' (July 14, 1949), p. 1.Former Senator Darden Dies At Goodwater Home
, ''The Huntsville Times'' (June 8, 1942), p. 8.Ex-Solon Dies
, ''The Decatur Daily'' (June 8, 1942), p. 7. was an Alabama attorney and publisher who served in the state legislature. Darden was "a prominent, very wealthy member of his community", and served in the

Alabama House of Representatives The Alabama House of Representatives is the lower house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of state of Alabama. The House is composed of 105 members representing an equal number of districts, with ...

from 1914 to 1919, and again from 1926 to 1933, and in the

Alabama Senate The Alabama State Senate is the upper house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alabama. The body is composed of 35 members representing an equal number of districts across the state, with each district con ...

from 1931 to 1933. In addition, Darden practiced law in

Goodwater, Alabama Goodwater is a town in Coosa County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 1,291. It is part of the Talladega-Sylacauga Micropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Goodwater is located near the northeast corner of Coosa ...

, for 40 years, and was the publisher of a newspaper called the ''Goodwater Enterprise'', and "served as correspondent for the ''Birmingham News and Age-Herald'' and the ''Montgomery Advertiser''. In 1919, Darden established an annual homecoming at Poplar Springs Baptist Church, and in 1940 he established another one at the Flint Hill Methodist Church. In 2023, it was discovered that Darden was the biological grandfather of civil rights activist

Angela Davis Angela Yvonne Davis (born January 26, 1944) is an American Marxist and feminist political activist, philosopher, academic, and author. She is Distinguished Professor Emerita of Feminist Studies and History of Consciousness at the University of ...

, through an extramarital relationship with Davis's grandmother, who was black. Darden also had four sons and two daughters through his marriage to his white wife, who survived him. Darden died in Goodwater, Alabama, at the age of 63. A memorial was dedicated to him at his church the following month.

References

1942 deaths Members of the Alabama House of Representatives Alabama state senators Alabama lawyers 20th-century members of the Alabama Legislature {{Alabama-stub