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Modern Era
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Jesse Helms (1921- ) Encyclopedia
A reporter, television-radio executive, and U.S. Senator, Jesse Helms was born October 18, 1921, in Monroe, N.C., to Jesse Alexander and Ethel Mae Helms.
The Almanac of American Politics labeled the conservative Helms a “Jeremiah” for believing in an imminent doom and warning against the encroaching dangers of big government, communism, and abortion—to name three examples.
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Lieutenant Governor Encyclopedia
Until 1868, the Governor was North Carolina's only elected executive. The Constitution of 1868, however, created the office of Lieutenant Governor and provided for the popular election of the office of the Governor and the Lt. Governor, each for four-year terms. In 1970 the Lt. Governorship became full-time and evolved into the only elected post with executive and legislative duties.
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Cameron Morrison (1869-1953) Encyclopedia
At times conservative, at times progressive (as defined in the early 1900s), Cameron Morrison rose to political prominence in North Carolina as an ally of Furnifold M. Simmons, Democratic stalwart who dominated the state’s politics in the early decades of the twentieth century. During the late 1800s, Morrison started gaining statewide fame for leading the “Red Shirts." But he is most known for being "The Good Roads Governor" (1921-1925) and opposing the teaching of evolution in public schools. After his gubernatorial career, Morrison served as a United States Senator and Congressman.
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New Deal Encyclopedia
Federal programs to fight the Great Depression brought almost $440 million by 1938 to North Carolina. Conservative Democrats who had fought the reforms in the state, nonetheless, eagerly accepted the largesse from Washington, D.C. The most important New Deal program in the state was the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA), which essentially paid farmers a modest amount to grow less tobacco, the state's largest crop, as well as controlling other crops.
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New Deal Governors Encyclopedia
After his gubernatorial victory in 1928, with no opposition in the Democratic Party, Gardner chose his successor, John C. B. Ehringhaus, who won the governor’s race in 1932; Gardner's brother-in-law and fellow citizen of Shelby, Clyde R. Hoey, also won in 1936. As a result, Gardner and his allies controlled the Democratic Party when it dominated the state and the South.
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Susie Sharp (1907-1996) Encyclopedia
Judge Susie Sharp was an old school Southern Democrat. She publicly opposed the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) of the early 1970s and even attempted to persuade legislators to vote in the negative. Some have credited her, along with her friend Senator Sam J. Ervin, Jr. (1896-1984), for playing a big part in defeating the ERA in North Carolina.
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Richard M. Weaver, Jr. (1910-1962) Encyclopedia
Paragon of post-World-War II-era conservatism, Richard M. Weaver, son of North Carolina, was one of the most important American thinkers of the twentieth century. Although he lived outside of North Carolina for most of his life, Richard M. Weaver visited his family often (he even purchased a home in Weaverville), and never lost a sense of place.
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Robert Franklin Williams (1925-1996) Encyclopedia
A Monroe native and an African American leader who gained national fame for advocating “armed self-defense," Robert Franklin Williams inspired Black Panthers and other groups that criticized what they considered the ineffective, less-violent techniques of the Civil Rights Movement. During the 1960s, Williams went into exile and lived in Cuba and China, where he published newsletters and produced radio programs for dissemination in the United States.
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John W. Winters, Sr. (1920-2004) Encyclopedia
Born on January 21, 1920 in Raleigh, North Carolina, John W. Winters, Sr. lived an accomplished life in the city where his “family home” had always been. Before he died on February 15, 2004, Winters started a construction company and real estate management business and became Raleigh’s first African American city councilman and one of the first African Americans elected to the North Carolina State Senate since the Reconstruction Era.
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