Ball, Joseph H. (Joseph Hurst), 1905-1993

Ball, Joseph Hurst; Republican; Senator from Minnesota, 1905-1993

From the guide to the Joseph H. Ball letter, 1943, (The New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division.)

Joseph Hurst Ball was born in Crookston, Polk County, Minnesota, on November 3, 1905. He attended Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio (1922-1924); Eau Claire (Wis.) Normal School (1925); and the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis (1926-1927). He then worked as a fiction writer and Twin Cities newspaper reporter, including as a state political writer for the Saint Paul Pioneer Press and Dispatch .

Ball was appointed to the U.S. senate in 1940 to fill the vacancy left by Ernest Lundeen's death. In 1942 he was elected to this seat but lost to Hubert Humphrey in 1948. During his terms, Ball served on the Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, on the Committee on Education and Labor, on the Joint Committee on Labor Management Relations (chairman), and on the Senate Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program. On leaving the senate, Ball lobbied for the Association of American Ship Owners (1949-1953) and served as vice president of States Marine Lines in New York City (1953-1962). Upon retiring, he and his wife, Elizabeth (Robbins) moved to a farm at Front Royal, Virginia. Ball died on December 18, 1993, in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

From the guide to the Joseph H. Ball papers., 1937-1993 (bulk 1940-1948)., (Minnesota Historical Society)