Dale Alford
Dale Alford | |
---|---|
reapportionment | |
Little Rock School Board | |
In office 1955–1958 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Thomas Dale Alford January 28, 1916 Newhope, Arkansas, U.S. |
Died | January 25, 2000 Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S. | (aged 83)
Resting place | Mount Holly Cemetery in Little Rock |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse | L'Moore Smith Alford (married 1940; deceased) |
Children | Thomas D. Alford, Jr. (died 1989) L'Moore Fontaine Alford (died 2001) |
Alma mater | Arkansas State University University of Central Arkansas Ophthalmologist |
Military service | |
Allegiance | United States |
Branch/service | United States Army
|
Rank | Captain |
Battles/wars | World War II |
Thomas Dale Alford Sr. (January 28, 1916 – January 25, 2000)
Early years and education
Alford was born to Thomas H. Alford and the former Ida Womack in the small community of
Alford first attended Arkansas State College in Jonesboro in eastern Arkansas, followed by the Arkansas State Teachers College in Conway, and received his medical degree in 1939 from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences at Little Rock.
Military service and medical practice
Alford served as a
Elections to Congress, 1958 and 1960
Alford was elected as a
Osro Cobb, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, recalled that:
There were loud protests and allegations of irregularities and fraud from Hays supporters. Because it was a federal election, I had a grand jury impaneled, and an order was obtained from the U.S. District Court that impounded all of the ballots cast for review by the grand jury. When the grand jury completed its minute review of all the votes cast, it was established that the count had been unusually accurate for each candidate [Alford and Hays], and the grand jury was so outraged by the allegations made and the lack of evidence to support them that it seriously considered indicting those who had made the accusations. I was surprised by Hays' defeat because I did not realize the extent and commitment of the majority of the voters in the Fifth Congressional District to separate-but-equal schools in lieu of integration, which they feared would destroy their schools.[5]
In 1960, Alford won his second term in the House with 57,617 votes (82.7 percent) to Republican L. J. Churchill (1902–1987) of
Two gubernatorial races
Alford's Little Rock-based district was merged with
Alford ran for governor again in 1966 and finished fourth with 53,531 votes (12.7 percent). He received fewer voters than his old nemesis Brooks Hays, who with 64,814 (15.4 percent) finished third in the primary balloting. The runoff positions went to former Arkansas Supreme Court Justices James D. Johnson, a segregationist, and Frank Holt. Johnson narrowly defeated Holt in the Democratic runoff but then lost to Republican Winthrop Rockefeller in the general election. In 1984, Alford entered the Democratic primary election for Congress in Central Arkansas's Second District for the open seat being vacated by Republican Ed Bethune. Appearing to many voters as a throwback to another era, Alford ran a distant fifth in a race ultimately won by Pulaski County Sheriff Tommy Robinson. Alford, was far outpolled by African-American Thedford Collins, a Little Rock banker and former aide to U.S. Senator David Pryor.
Civic leadership
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Alford's death
Alford died in Little Rock of
See also
References
- ^ Social Security Death Index Interactive Search
- ^ Thomas Dale Alford, Who's Who in America, 1962-1963, pp. 62-63
- ^ Thomas Dale Alford obituary, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, January 26, 2000
- ^ a b c Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections
- ^ Osro Cobb, Osro Cobb of Arkansas: Memoirs of Historical Significance (Little Rock, Arkansas: Rose Publishing Company, 1989), p. 62
- ^ "L.J. Churchill, 84, dies at Dover", Arkansas Gazette, October 3, 1987, obituary section
Adapted from the article Dale Alford, from