Personnel Update: Lori Jhons to join Alabama League of Municipalities
The Alabama League of Municipalities announced on Tuesday that Lori Jhons has joined the League as the Director of its communications team. “We are thrilled to welcome Lori Jhons to the team as our communications director Jhons, a native of Browntown, AL, most recently served as Governor Kay Ivey’s director of digital media relations, the League announced on Facebook. “She was an integral part of the communications team, where she held various roles facilitating media interactions, social media engagement, event preparations and video production. Prior to that, Jhons was appointed by Governor Robert Bentley in 2016 to serve as a digital content producer in his administration. To read more about Lori, visit www.almonline.org.” “I am excited to join the team! I sincerely appreciate Greg Cochran and @Al_League for entrusting me with leading the League’s communication efforts as we work to support our cities and towns,” Jhons stated on Twitter. Lorelai Lean is the general counsel of the League. The League traces its roots to 1935 during the Great Depression. Then-Governor Bibb Graves gave the fledgling organization office space on Goat Hill in the Capital until they could afford to lease space. Ed Reid was the first salaried director of the association. To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
Steve Flowers: 1962 governor’s race
It is hard to believe it has been 60 years since George Wallace’s first victorious race for governor. Let’s go down memory lane and reminisce about the 1962 governor’s race and Wallace’s classic inaugural victory. The 1962 governor’s race really began in 1958. The governor’s chair and the race for it was the big show in Alabama politics in that era. Being a U.S. Senator was secondary in Alabama politics. Governor is still probably the most important and glamorous political position, but it certainly was at that time. Television had not come into its own. Most Alabamians did not own a TV. There were no southern major league baseball teams to follow, such as the Atlanta Braves, who were still in Milwaukee at that time. The closest team was the St. Louis Cardinals, and they were miles away and not really in the south. The Grand Ole Opry was only on the radio on Saturday night. So, southerners had to include politics as a prime source of entertainment. That is why we had such colorful political characters. They were really our entertainers and, in some cases, real clowns. Thus, we had more entertaining politicians than the rest of the country. We had a legacy of Jimmy Davis and Huey Long in Louisiana, Bilbo in Mississippi, the Talmadges in Georgia, and the most colorful of all time was our very own 6’9” Big Jim Folsom. Big Jim was the most uninhibited, gregarious, fun-loving of them all. He traveled the state with his country band, the “Strawberry Pickers.” Alabamians thought Big Jim’s barefoot musical antics and down-home soaking the rich speeches spiced with country humor were better than the circus coming to town. Big Jim was first elected governor in 1946. He upset the Big Mules of Birmingham and the Big Planters of the Black Belt to become the first people’s governor in 50 years. All twelve Governors before him had been picked in the closed-door board rooms of Birmingham and had been well-heeled Big Mules or Big Planters and had gone out and given dull speeches and simply bought the election with corporate and large agricultural money. Big Jim went directly to the country people all over the state, and most people in Alabama at that time were rural or lived in small towns. He convinced them that he was their friend. He won their hearts. He became the youngest and most progressive Alabama Governor in history. He was the little man’s big friend. However, the governor could not succeed himself. It was one four year-term, and you were out. So Big Jim left after four years, 1946-1950. A quaint aristocrat named Gordon Persons became governor from 1950-1954, but Big Jim came storming back to win a landslide victory in 1954. He won without a runoff, despite the fact that most of the State’s big daily newspapers endorsed other people and predicted he would lose. He became only the second person to be elected to two terms. Bibb Graves had done it earlier in the century. Big Jim served his second term from 1954-1958, then waited out another four years and was running for his third term in 1962. He was legendary by this time and had almost unanimous name identification as simply “Big Jim,” but he was up against another populist and maybe even better politician, George Wallace. George Wallace had run his first race for governor in 1958 and lost to John Patterson. Patterson had beaten Wallace for two reasons. First was sympathy for Patterson resulting from his daddy’s assassination at the hands of the Phenix City mafia, but primarily because Patterson was the most ardent racist and segregationist. Patterson was the candidate of the Klan, and race was the issue in 1958. Wallace was considered the moderate, but Wallace woke up the day after the defeat and swore he would never be out-segged again. After George Wallace’s loss to John Patterson in 1958, Wallace worked tirelessly for the next four years, 1958-1962, while Patterson served his only term as governor. Wallace made sure he was the racist segregationist candidate in 1962. Race was the only issue in the 1962 Governor’s race. Wallace rode the race issue to his first victory as governor, defeating Big Jim Folsom and State Senator Ryan DeGraffenreid of Tuscaloosa. That 1962 race had an interesting, entertaining, and historical twist to it that I will share with you next week. Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at www.steveflowers.us.
Alabama State University renames residence hall for civil rights leader Jo Ann Robinson
Alabama State University is naming a residence hall after civil rights pioneer Jo Ann Robinson. Robinson played a key role in the historic 13-month Montgomery Bus Boycott in the mid-1950s, The Montgomery Advertiser reported. University officials named the building after her this week in Montgomery. The hall was previously named for Bibb Graves, former Alabama state governor and a member of the Ku Klux Klan. The Board of Trustees had voted to change the name in September. “She’s finally being brought to the forefront,” said Dr. Sheree Finley, one of Robinson’s relatives. At a ceremony this week on the campus, civil rights attorney Fred Gray recalled the times that he planned the bus boycott in Robinson’s living room. “Little did many know that (many of the) activities that (had an) impact on the civil rights movement in Alabama occurred at Jo Ann Robinson’s house,” Gray said. “She was the person who was interested in having mass participation,” Gray said after the ceremony. “We could have desegregated the buses without a protest, but she was interested in getting something done with the community.” Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
University of Alabama to remove KKK leader’s name from hall
University of Alabama trustees voted Friday to strip the name of a one-time governor who led the Ku Klux Klan from a campus building and rename it solely for the school’s first Black student. The unanimous vote reversed a decision last week to add the name of Autherine Lucy Foster, who briefing attended the all-white state school in 1956, to a building honoring Bibb Graves, a progressive, pro-education governor who also ran a Montgomery KKK group a century ago. Rather than Lucy-Graves Hall, the classroom building will be known as Autherine Lucy Hall, trustees decided. “It’s never too late to make the right decision,” said John England, a former trustee who led a committee that initially recommended the joint name and then reversed itself after criticism that Graves didn’t deserve to have his name alongside that of Lucy, now 92 and living in metro Birmingham. Trustees didn’t mention the topic of Graves’ leadership in the notorious hate group during an online meeting, but England said some questioned why the woman’s married name of “Foster” wouldn’t be on the structure. Foster’s family wanted to use her maiden name since she was known as Autherine Lucy while originally on campus, said Chancellor Finis St. John. Foster had expressed ambivalence about being honored alongside Graves, saying she didn’t know much about him or seek out the recognition but would accept it. Foster briefly attended classes in Graves Hall but was expelled after three days when her presence brought protests by whites and threats. Foster was awarded an honorary doctorate in 2019 by the university, where she had returned and earned a master’s degree in education in 1992. Explaining the original reasoning for proposing Lucy-Graves Hall, England said committee members hoped that having a building named for both Graves and Foster would “generate educational moments that can help us learn from our conflicts and rich history.” While the main intent was meant to honor Foster, that “sort of took the background” after the decision, he said. “That’s not what we wanted,” he said. The student newspaper was among those complaining about the inappropriateness of retaining the name of a Klan leader on a campus building. Several Alabama universities have removed Graves’ name from buildings in recent years as the nation reconsidered its history and white supremacy. Troy University renamed its Bibb Graves Hall for the late Rep. John Lewis, who was denied admission there in 1957 and led voting rights marchers in Selma in 1965. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
University of Alabama revisits pairing KKK leader and Black student names
The University of Alabama is reconsidering its decision last week to retain the name of a one-time governor who led the Ku Klux Klan on a campus building while adding the name of the school’s first Black student. Trustees will meet publicly in a live-streamed video conference on Friday to revisit their decision to keep the name of former Alabama Gov. Bibb Graves on a three-story hall while renaming it Lucy-Graves Hall to also honor Autherine Lucy Foster, the University of Alabama System said. The decision to honor Foster alongside a one-time KKK grand cyclops was criticized harshly by some. An editorial in the student newspaper said Graves’ name doesn’t belong beside Lucy’s, given his association with the violent, racist organization. Foster herself expressed ambivalence, telling WIAT-TV she didn’t know much about Graves, who was considered a progressive, pro-education governor in the 1930s, despite having led the Klan in Montgomery during a period when it was at its strongest. “I wouldn’t say it doesn’t bother me, but I accept it because I didn’t ask for it, and I didn’t know they were doing it until I was approached the latter part of last year,” said Foster, 92. The committee that recommended honoring both people together “acknowledges the complexity of this amended name,” the university said. “The board’s priority is to honor Dr. Autherine Lucy Foster, who, as the first African American student to attend the University of Alabama, opened the door for students of all races to achieve their dreams at the university. Unfortunately, the complex legacy of Governor Graves has distracted from that important priority,” it said. Foster, who lives in metro Birmingham, briefly attended classes in Graves Hall after enrolling at all-white Alabama in 1956 but was expelled three days later after her presence brought protests and threats against her life. In 2019, she was awarded an honorary doctorate by the university, where she had returned and earned a master’s degree in education in 1992. The university also recognized Foster in 2017 with a historic marker in front of Graves Hall, which houses the college of education. It named a clock tower after Foster, and she’s a member of the university’s student hall of fame. Graves, who began the first of two terms as governor in 1927, left the KKK in the late 1920s, after multiple terms in the legislature. As a member of the House, he opposed the ratification of Alabama’s 1901 Constitution, which was meant to ensure white supremacy in the state and remains in effect today although heavily amended. Several state universities have stripped Graves’ name from buildings in recent years as the nation reconsidered its past. Troy University renamed its Bibb Graves Hall for the late Rep. John Lewis, who was denied admission there in 1957 and led voting rights marchers in Selma in 1965. John England Jr., a former Alabama trustee who is Black, served as chairman of the naming committee. He previously said the members wrestled with what to do about Graves’ name. “Some say he did more to directly benefit African American Alabamians than any other governor through his reform. Unfortunately, that same Gov. Graves was associated with the Ku Klux Klan. Not just associated with the Ku Klux Klan, but a Grand Cyclops – It’s hard for me to even say those words,” he said. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Steve Flowers: Bibb Graves, the Education Governor
Most states have one General Fund Budget. We are only one of five states that have two. Some of you have asked why we have two budgets – one for the General Fund and one for Education. Here is why. During the era of the Great Depression and even afterward, education in Alabama was woefully underfunded, and that is really being generous to simply say underfunded. Our schools were similar to a third-world country. We had two separate systems, one for white students and one for black students. Many rural schools were one-room shanties like folks used in the 1800s, like Blab schools, no air conditioning, wood-burning stoves for heat. There were no buses to transport children, so they really did walk to school, barefooted, many times miles to and from. This was for the white schools. You can only imagine what an abysmal education was afforded black kids. Many times teachers were not even being paid. They were given script notes in hopes of getting paid in the future. We had a governor come along named Bibb Graves that made it his mission to make education a priority in Alabama. He and the Legislature created the Special Education Trust Fund Budget. They earmarked two tax revenues to be used for the new Education Budget. Education was to be the recipient of the state sales tax and the state income tax, which was a new tax system idea just created by the federal government. Little did Governor Bibb Graves know that today, these two revenue streams would be the largest source of revenue for the state. That little Special Education Fund Budget now dwarfs the General Fund by over a two-to-one amount. When I was first elected to the Legislature in 1982, the General Fund and Education budgets were 50/50 dead even. Today, the budgets the Legislature will pass are at least 75% Education and around 25% General Fund. Governor Bibb Graves built an indelible legacy as the Education Governor. His efforts also enhanced higher education in the state. He established teacher’s colleges at Troy, Florence, Jacksonville, and Livingston, along with enhancing funding at the State’s two flagship institutions. The University of Alabama and at the time the Alabama Polytechnic Institute, now Auburn University, were recipients of new education dollars. Every university in the State has a primary building, usually in the center of the campus, named after Governor Bibb Graves. That is quite appropriate because Governor Bibb Graves left an education legacy as governor. He may very well be Alabama’s greatest Governor. In fact, he was our only two-term governor between 1901 and 1954. Alabama law did not allow governors to succeed themselves. Therefore, they would have to wait out four years to run again. Graves was governor from 1927 to 1931 and again from 1935 to 1939. The only other two-term governor in the no succession era was James E. “Big Jim” Folsom. He also had an indelible legacy. Many of the rural roads in the state were dirt and impassable when the rains would come. Most folks in the state farmed for a living. When the roads washed out, they could not get their crops to the market, so their year-long work was washed out. Big Jim knew the plight of these farmers; he was the little man’s and rural man’s big friend. Big Jim paved almost every rural road in the state with his legendary Farm-to-Market Road Program. Ole Big Jim has a legacy as Governor. His son, Jim Folsom, Jr., has a legacy as governor. Even though he was only Governor for two years, he brought Mercedes to Alabama. The German company now builds more of their luxury automobiles at their Vance-Tuscaloosa plant than anywhere in the world. This initial Mercedes coupe by Folsom was the impetus for Hyundai, Honda, and now Toyota-Mazda making Alabama the home of automobile manufacturing. With these facilities come major spin-off accessory manufacturing plants. We are now the second-largest automobile manufacturing state in America and are poised to supersede Michigan and become number one in the next few years. Some Governors have left a legacy. Bibb Graves, “Big Jim” Folsom, and Jim Folsom, Jr. are three that have left their mark on Alabama history. Bibb Graves has a legacy as Alabama’s Education Governor. See you next week. Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at www.steveflowers.us.
Historically black school renames hall honoring KKK leader
A historically black university in Alabama has renamed a dormitory that honored a one-time governor who also led a Ku Klux Klan chapter nearly a century ago. Workers at Alabama State University removed the name “Bibb Graves” from a residence hall on Wednesday. The building had carried Graves’ name since 1928, when he served as the head of a state government that constitutionally mandated white supremacy. At least two other state schools also have renamed campus buildings that honored Graves, who was known as a pro-education, progressive governor despite leading a KKK chapter in the capital city. Klan membership was so large at the time that politicians used connections in the racist terror group to win votes. Alabama State President Quinton T. Ross Jr. said the idea of replacing the building’s name had been discussed at least as far back as when he was a student at the school, located a few miles from the Alabama Capitol. “Many of our alumni have asked for this to happen,” he said in a statement. Alabama State trustees voted to rename the building earlier this year during the national discussion generated by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The school has yet to decide on a new name for the residence hall. Troy University has renamed its Bibb Graves Hall for the late Rep. John Lewis, the civil rights icon who grew up near campus and died earlier this year. The University of Montevallo, near Birmingham, voted to rename buildings honoring Graves and Braxton Bragg Comer, who worked to maintain remnants of the old plantation system as governor. Graves served two four-year terms as governor beginning in 1927 and 1935. He resigned from the Klan and denounced its violence in the late 1920s, according to the Encyclopedia of Alabama. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Inside the Statehouse: The 1965 special succession session
Steve Flowers details the 1965 special succession session.
Alabama’s long history with Senate special elections
With Alabamians about to head to the polls Tuesday, Sabato’s Crystal Ball published a look back over the Yellowhammer State’s long and fascinating history with Senate special primary elections. Since the ratification of the 17th Amendment, which requires U.S. Senators to be directly elected, Alabama has had five special elections for Senate. The first of those five, held in 1914, was actually “the first to test the authority of a Governor to fill a vacancy since the direct election amendment to the Constitution was adopted” according to a Los Angeles Times article published at the time. The amendment, in part, states “that the legislature of any state may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.” But the Alabama Legislature, which didn’t meet annually during that era, wasn’t scheduled to be back in session until 1915. The second race, in 1920, brought about the preferential primary voting system, which requires candidates to win a majority of the vote to secure their party’s nomination. If that doesn’t happen in the primary election, the top two finishers duke it out in a runoff election. The same system is still in place today, and if recent polls are anything to go by, the primary runoff will have to be used on the GOP side again this year. The lead up to the 1938 election saw Alabama with its first female senator, Dixie Bibb Graves, who was appointed by her husband, then-Gov. Bibb Graves, so he could avoid showing any favoritism among candidates in his party. Once the special primary election was decided, Graves rescinded his wife’s appointment and put the winner, J. Lister Hill, into the seat before holding the general election. In the fourth special election saw George Sparkman win a seat in the Senate and avoid a primary runoff with a narrow 50.1 percent victory. He went on to hold the seat for 32 years and is to this day the state’s longest-serving senator. He could have never made it to office, though, if it were not for his two primary opponents splitting the conservative vote down the middle in a contentious campaign. Alabama’s most recent Senate special election was held in 1978, and it is the most similar to the 2017 edition. After the death of Sen. Jim Allen his wife, Maryon Pittman Allen, was appointed to the seat. She was considered a favorite early on in the race but fell sharply in the polls after bad-mouthing then-Gov. George Wallace in a Washington Post interview. The move marked her as undignified and, more importantly, not conservative, though she came in second place in the primary and ultimately lost the runoff by 15 points.
Steve Flowers: For 2018 governor’s derby, a cavalcade of characters
We are on the cusp of one of the best political years in modern political history in the Heart of Dixie. Prior to the 1970s, our constitution disallowed succession of office for our state constitutional offices. In other words, you could not run for two consecutive four-year terms. That is why George Wallace ran his wife in his place in 1966. George and Lurleen campaigned side-by-side. George would wink at the crowds still drawn to courthouse squares by a country band and say, “I’m going to be her No. 1 adviser.” By the way, she won in a landslide. She beat eight male opponents without a runoff, including two former governors, an agriculture commissioner, the sitting state attorney general and two powerful state senators. However, you could serve a four-year term and wait out four years and run for a second term. Only two men had done that in Alabama history. Prior to the constitutional change in the 1970s, Bibb Graves of Montgomery had done it early in the century and Big Jim Folsom did it in 1946 and again in 1954. Now that governors can succeed themselves, it has become common practice for governors to serve eight years rather than four. Thus, the 2018 governor’s race will be a once in an eight-year opportunity. Folks, we are in for one heck of a year and the bell rings June 6. Therefore, the horses will begin lining up over the next few months. It will be a great cavalcade of characters. The early favorite horse in the 2018 Derby is Roy Moore. The Chief Justice’s expulsion from the bench by the Judicial Inquiry Commission has propelled him to stratospheric levels in polling. Leading a horserace is a good analogy for Moore since he traditionally rides his horse to vote at his polling place in Gallant in rural Etowah County. Some of you may question Moore’s popularity, but the numbers are there in every poll. The JIC has made him a martyr. Alabama is a very religious state and being thrown out of office by an unaccountable commission for being against homosexual marriages is a pretty good issue to run on in the Bible Belt. Roy Moore is the wild card in the early 2018 jockeying. Most folks have him in the governor’s race. However, he has two other options. Attorney general or the U.S. Senate seat. He would probably win either of these posts. The governor’s office is another question. Historically, people do not think of him as governor. He lost miserably both times he ran, whereas he wins handily for a state judgeship. His best race is for attorney general or U.S. Senate. Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh has a free shot in 2018. She was just re-elected to a four-year term as Public Service Commission President. She is already out running for governor and sometimes the early bird gets the worm. State Agriculture Commissioner John McMillan is term-limited in that job that he has done well for eight years. He is well liked by everyone who knows him and is planning to run for governor. Young Boozer has also served his two-term eight-year limit as State Treasurer. He is a wild card and gives no hints as to what his future political plans are for 2018. Young is not a natural politician. He is an erudite Stanford-educated successful banker who was perfectly suited for the State Treasurer’s post and he has done an excellent job. Secretary of State John Merrill is probably the best retail politician in the state at this time. Lots of people have encouraged him to run. However, he is one of the few constitutional officeholders who can run for re-election in 2018. He will probably bide his time and run for re-election. State Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh of Anniston is itching to pull the trigger on the governor’s race, but being a powerful state senator does not translate into statewide name identification. However, Marsh is said to be wealthy. If he were to spend $3 to $5 million of his own money, he could be a player. The very popular mayor of Huntsville, Tommy Battle, is seriously considering the race. If he joins the fray he could be a player. He would come out of the Tennessee Valley with a strong start. There are a lot of votes in North Alabama. We are in for a heck of a campaign year. I will keep you posted. See you next week. ___ Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state Legislature. Steve may be reached at www.steveflowers.us.
