Percy Priest

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This article is about the U.S. Congressman. For the reservoir named for him, see Percy Priest Lake.
Percy Priest
U.S. House of Representatives
from Tennessee
In office
January 3, 1941 – October 12, 1956
Preceded byJo Byrns Jr.
Succeeded byJ. Carlton Loser
Constituency5th district (1941–1943)
6th district (1943–1953)
5th district (1953–1956)
Personal details
Born
James Percy Priest

(1900-04-01)April 1, 1900
Carters Creek, Maury County, Tennessee, U.S.
DiedOctober 12, 1956(1956-10-12) (aged 56)
Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Political partyIndependent Democrat (1940)
Democratic (from 1941)
Spouse
Mildred Webster Noland
​
​
(m. 1947)​
Children1
Parents
  • George Priest (father)
  • Harriet Hastings (mother)
Peabody College
University of Tennessee
Occupation
  • Teacher
  • newspaper editor
  • politician
NicknameJ. Percy Priest

James Percy Priest (April 1, 1900 – October 12, 1956) was an

American teacher, journalist and politician who represented Tennessee in the United States House of Representatives
from 1941 until his death.

Background

Priest was born in

Peabody College in Nashville, and the University of Tennessee. He taught school in Culleoka, in his native Maury County, from 1920 until 1926, when he joined the editorial staff of the Nashville Tennessean. In 1937, he began courting Mildred Webster Noland, whom he would marry in 1947. They had one daughter, Harriet.[1]

Congress

In 1940, Priest was encouraged to run for the United States House of Representatives as an

Independent
, defeating the incumbent, one-term
House majority whip between 1949 and 1953. Priest was one of three Democrats in the Tennessee House delegation who did not sign the 1956 Southern Manifesto, the others being Joe Evins and Ross Bass
.

At the time of his death, Priest was serving as the chairman of the

Reconstruction.[citation needed
]

Death and legacy

In early October 1956, Priest entered a Nashville hospital for an operation on an ulcer and was reported in satisfactory condition. However, complications developed and he died in the early morning hours of October 12.[2]

Priest was interred at Woodlawn Cemetery in Nashville. J. Percy Priest Dam, a United States Army Corps of Engineers hydroelectric and flood control structure just east of Nashville on the Stones River (and easily visible from Interstate 40) is named in his honor, as is Percy Priest Lake (created by the dam) and an elementary school in Forest Hills, a suburb of Nashville.[3]

In August 2010, it was announced that Priest's papers, along with the research files of Rebecca Stubbs, author of the biography J. Percy Priest and His Amazing Race, had been donated to the Tennessee State Library and Archives.[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ "J. Percy Priest Papers" (PDF). Tennessee State Library and Archives. Retrieved 2021-12-31.
  2. ^ "Priest Dies; Democratic Party Whip" (PDF). Niagara Falls Gazette. October 12, 1956.
  3. ^ "PPE History" Percy Priest Elementary website
  4. ^ "State Library & Archives Receives Donation of Papers of J. Percy Priest, Prominent Former Tennessee Congressman and Journalist" Tennessee Department of State press release
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Tennessee's 5th congressional district
1941–1943 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Tennessee's 6th congressional district
1943–1953 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Tennessee's 5th congressional district
1953–1956 		Succeeded by
J. Carlton Loser
Party political offices
Preceded by
Leslie Cornelius Arends
(R-IL)
House Majority Whip

1949–1953 		Succeeded by
Leslie Cornelius Arends
(R-IL)
Preceded by
John William McCormack
(MA)
House Democratic Whip

1949–1953 		Succeeded by
John William McCormack
(MA)
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