Gov. Seth Gordon Persons, Sr.

• http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1911
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Persons

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. He was born and died in Montgomery, Alabama. The Dauphin Island Bridge south of Mobile is formally named for him.

Persons was an alumnus of Auburn University.

Seth Gordon Persons was born in Montgomery, Alabama, on February 5, 1902. He attended public and private schools in Montgomery and studied electrical engineering at Alabama Polytechnic Institute (Auburn University) in 1921-1922. Persons pursued a career in radio broadcasting and eventually operated WSFA, one of Alabama's first radio stations. He served as chairman of the Alabama Rural Electrification Authority (REA) in the late 1930s and later served as a member of the Public Service Commission (PSC). He was defeated by James "Big Jim" Folsom in the 1946 gubernatorial race but in 1950 Persons was elected over Chauncey Sparks.

Persons proved to be "a sober, conservative executive who made no effort at significant reform." [Gilliam, p.49] His first official act as governor was to replace Auburn's head football coach, Earl Brown, with Ralph (Shug) Jordan. During Person's administration, legislation was passed that reformed the welfare system and the pardon-parole system, increased funding for education and roads and strengthened the merit system. The Educational Television Commission was established which made Alabama a pioneer in the area of public broadcasting in the 1950s. Persons also made a public display of burning the straps used by prisons to inflict corporal punishment and he backed the Highway Patrol's campaign against careless drivers.

While many of Persons' programs had a humanitarian slant, some did not. He signed a Right-to-Work bill that severely limited the ability of unions to organize in Alabama. Although he supported and signed a bill that eliminated the cumulative feature of the poll tax, most of Persons' legislation did nothing to secure civil rights for Alabama's citizens. He supported a bill, known as the "Little Boswell Amendment," that established voting qualifications designed to disenfranchise blacks. He also signed a bill that prohibited Communists from holding public office and required them to register their party affiliation.

Two significant events occurred during the Persons' administration. Attorney General-elect Albert Patterson was murdered while attempting to clean-up the vice and corruption that prevailed in Phoenix City. This 1954 incident caused Persons to place Phoenix City and Russell County under martial law. Also in 1954 the Supreme Court outlawed segregation in public schools when it rendered its decision in Brown v. Board of Education. The brunt of Alabama's reaction to this ruling, however, affected the second administration of Folsom more than Persons.

Plagued by bad health throughout his political career, Persons suffered a heart attack in 1954 before his term as governor ended. A mild stroke four years later prevented him from running for a second term as governor but he did run unsuccessfully for probate judge of Montgomery County in 1958.

Persons and his wife, Alice McKeithen, had two children, Seth Gordon, Jr. and Alice Elizabeth. He died in Montgomery from a stroke on May 29, 1965.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Authorities: Alabama Official and Statistical Register, 1951. Birmingham Post-Herald, May 31, 1965.

Gilliam, Thomas J. "The Second Folsom Administration: The Destruction of Alabama Liberalism, 1954-1958." Ph.D. Dissertation, 1975.

Grafton, Carl and Permaloff, Anne. Big Mules and Branchheads: James E. Folsom and Political Power in Alabama, 1985. Lee County Bulletin, June 3, 1965. Montgomery Advertiser, May 30, 1965. Montgomery Advertiser, June 1, 1965.

Stewart, John Craig. The Governors of Alabama, 1975.

Governor of Alabama. A member of the Democratic party, he served as Alabama's 46th governor for one term from January 1951 until January 1955. The youngest child of a local drug store, proprietor, he attended Starke University School in Montgomery, Alabama for two years before switching to Alabama Polytechnic Institute (now Auburn University) in Auburn, Alabama where he studied electrical engineering and dropped out after only one year. Over the next several years he worked different jobs and was working for a radio parts store in Montgomery when he saw the potential for radio in his state. He then pursued a career in radio broadcasting, during which time he owned the Southern Radio Service (1928 until 1930) and served as president of the Montgomery Broadcasting Radio Station WSAF (1935 to 1939). In 1935 Governor Bibb Graves appointed him chairman of Alabama's Rural Electrification Authority and he was later elected to Alabama's Public Service Commission. In 1946 he made a bid for the Democratic nomination for governor but finished last in the primary race. In 1950 he ran for the Democratic nomination again and was successful, and went on to be elected Alabama's governor. During his term, he oversaw the creation of Alabama's Education Television Commission and pushed for increased funding for roads and education. He did not seek re-election in 1954 and after suffering a serious heart attack in November of that year, he did not return to his office. Following the completion of his term, he returned to private life and died from a stroke at the age of 63.

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Jan 9 2019, 22:40:22 UTC