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Eurith D. Rivers
Eurith Dickinson Rivers (December 1, 1895 – June 11, 1967), commonly known as E. D. Rivers and informally as "Ed" Rivers,[citation needed] was an American politician from Lanier County, Georgia. A Democrat, he was the 68th Governor of Georgia, serving from 1937 to 1941.
Eurith Dickinson Rivers was born on December 1, 1895, in Center Point, Arkansas.[citation needed] He attended Young Harris College in North Georgia and settled in Cairo in South Georgia.[citation needed] Rivers also obtained a law degree through La Salle Extension University. Rivers served as a Justice of the Peace, Cairo City Attorney, and Grady County Attorney. He later moved to another South Georgia community, Milltown (now called Lakeland), to become editor of the Lanier County News.[citation needed]
Rivers was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 1924 and to the Georgia State Senate in 1926. During this time, he was a member of the Ku Klux Klan. In 1928 and 1930, Rivers was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for Governor. In 1932, he ran for the Georgia House of Representatives. He was elected Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives, serving from 1933 to 1937.
In 1930, Rivers, a Great Titan of the Klan, spoke in front of a crowd in Clarke County, Georgia lamenting of an "alien invasion" attempting to "take away the freedom of government from the masses." The reference was made towards chain stores, which the Ku Klux Klan opposed.
His election as governor came after a stormy Democratic primary in 1936 in which the race served as a surrogate referendum on US President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal. Since Georgia did not allow three consecutive terms, Governor Eugene Talmadge was not eligible for re-election. Talmadge, who strongly opposed the New Deal and had delayed its implementation in Georgia, ran for the US Senate and backed Charles D. Redwine for governor. Rivers, who, as Speaker, had strongly supported the New Deal, was his opponent and won with about 60 percent of the vote, the same margin by which Talmadge lost his Senate race.[citation needed]
Rivers' first two-year term as governor saw Georgia pass the legislation required to bring New Deal programs into the state, and was widely acclaimed.[citation needed] Rivers created the 7-month school year.[citation needed] Under Rivers' leadership, electrical services were expanded to rural areas of the state.[citation needed] Georgia moved from the lowest-ranked state to the top of the list in the number of rural electrification associations.[citation needed] When he was in office, the State Bureau of Unemployment Compensation was created, allowing Georgians to receive unemployment benefits.[citation needed]
Upon his election, Rivers named Ku Klux Klan Imperial Wizard Hiram Wesley Evans as a member of his staff.
When Arthur Perry and Arthur Mack, two black men, faced rushed death sentences by an all-white jury for alleged murder, attorney and future Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall requested Rivers to grant due process to the defendants. Rivers issued a cold reply: "Prison commission has no record of matter you mentioned in your wire of yesterday."
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Eurith D. Rivers
Eurith Dickinson Rivers (December 1, 1895 – June 11, 1967), commonly known as E. D. Rivers and informally as "Ed" Rivers,[citation needed] was an American politician from Lanier County, Georgia. A Democrat, he was the 68th Governor of Georgia, serving from 1937 to 1941.
Eurith Dickinson Rivers was born on December 1, 1895, in Center Point, Arkansas.[citation needed] He attended Young Harris College in North Georgia and settled in Cairo in South Georgia.[citation needed] Rivers also obtained a law degree through La Salle Extension University. Rivers served as a Justice of the Peace, Cairo City Attorney, and Grady County Attorney. He later moved to another South Georgia community, Milltown (now called Lakeland), to become editor of the Lanier County News.[citation needed]
Rivers was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 1924 and to the Georgia State Senate in 1926. During this time, he was a member of the Ku Klux Klan. In 1928 and 1930, Rivers was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for Governor. In 1932, he ran for the Georgia House of Representatives. He was elected Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives, serving from 1933 to 1937.
In 1930, Rivers, a Great Titan of the Klan, spoke in front of a crowd in Clarke County, Georgia lamenting of an "alien invasion" attempting to "take away the freedom of government from the masses." The reference was made towards chain stores, which the Ku Klux Klan opposed.
His election as governor came after a stormy Democratic primary in 1936 in which the race served as a surrogate referendum on US President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal. Since Georgia did not allow three consecutive terms, Governor Eugene Talmadge was not eligible for re-election. Talmadge, who strongly opposed the New Deal and had delayed its implementation in Georgia, ran for the US Senate and backed Charles D. Redwine for governor. Rivers, who, as Speaker, had strongly supported the New Deal, was his opponent and won with about 60 percent of the vote, the same margin by which Talmadge lost his Senate race.[citation needed]
Rivers' first two-year term as governor saw Georgia pass the legislation required to bring New Deal programs into the state, and was widely acclaimed.[citation needed] Rivers created the 7-month school year.[citation needed] Under Rivers' leadership, electrical services were expanded to rural areas of the state.[citation needed] Georgia moved from the lowest-ranked state to the top of the list in the number of rural electrification associations.[citation needed] When he was in office, the State Bureau of Unemployment Compensation was created, allowing Georgians to receive unemployment benefits.[citation needed]
Upon his election, Rivers named Ku Klux Klan Imperial Wizard Hiram Wesley Evans as a member of his staff.
When Arthur Perry and Arthur Mack, two black men, faced rushed death sentences by an all-white jury for alleged murder, attorney and future Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall requested Rivers to grant due process to the defendants. Rivers issued a cold reply: "Prison commission has no record of matter you mentioned in your wire of yesterday."