Wiggins, A. L. M. (Archibald Lee Manning), 1891-1980

Archibald Lee Manning Wiggins of Hartsville, S.C., was a businessman; banker and, in 1943, president of the American Bankers Association; undersecretary of the U.S. Treasury, 1947-1948; in the 1950s, chairman of the board of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad and the Louisville and Nashville Railroad and director of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company; and an officer and active participant in many charitable and educational organizations.

A. L. M. (Archibald Lee Manning) Wiggins was born on April 9, 1891 in Durham, North Carolina. He received an A.B. from the University of North Carolina in 1913. He married Pauline Lawton in 1915. From 1913 to 1953 he worked at various times for J. L. Coker and Company. He also served as president of the South Carolina Bankers Association from 1931 to 1932; as a lecturer in the Rutgers University Graduate School of Banking from 1941 to 1957; and as Director of the American Cancer Society from 1947-1948. He served the Federal government as a member of the Regional Advisory Committee of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation from 1930 to 1946. In January 1947 he became Under Secretary of the Treasury under President Harry S. Truman. Secretary of the Treasury John W. Snyder considered Wiggins his partner in the work of the Treasury Department. Secretary Snyder created a committee to conduct management studies of the Bureau of Internal Revenue and enlisted Wiggins for the job. Recognized and honored as an astute and honest businessman, he brought a great deal of practical knowledge to his position. Wiggins primary interest was the revamping of taxation, and he studied the topic in great detail with the goal of making changes and having an impact on tax policy during his term as Under Secretary. As Under Secretary, Wiggins' job encompassed a wide array of duties. He focused on personnel issues, cultivating a working relationship with Senators and Representatives, the postal system, the Treasury Department budget, a Port Patrol conflict, morale issues in the Customs Service due to personnel cuts, funds for the Coast Guard, labor racketeers, farm problems, and his main interest, tax problems and revisions. Following the end of his time as Under Secretary in July 1948, Wiggins continued to serve Secretary of the Treasury John W. Snyder as his special assistant for almost five additional years. In 1969 he published an autobiography titled "Autobiography of A. Lee M. Wiggins." He passed away on July 7, 1980.

Archibald Lee Manning Wiggins (1891-1981) was born in Durham, North Carolina, the son of Archie Lee and Margaret London Council Wiggins. In 1913, he graduated from the University of North Carolina. Two years later he married Pauline Lawton of Hartsville, South Carolina. The Wiggins family settled in Hartsville where Lee Wiggins began a business partnership with David R. Coker (1870-1933). Coker developed the Pedigreed Seed Company with the assistance of Wiggins (see The Encyclopedia of Southern History, 1979). By 1938, Wiggins had served as treasurer and business manager of the company, as well as general manager of J. L. Coker & Company, and organizer of Coker's Wholesale Company.

In addition to his ties with Coker, Wiggins held several positions with the Bank of Hartsville and purchased a publishing company that published The Hartsville Messenger . Wiggins also served as president of the Southern Retail Merchants Conference in Richmond. During the Depression, he was president of the South Carolina Independent Merchants Association, the South Carolina Bankers Association, and the South Carolina Federation of Commerce, Agriculture and Industry. He was also a member of the Federal Reserve Council and chairman of the Deposit Liquidation Committee for South Carolina.

In 1941, Wiggins started a seventeen-year tenure as a lecturer at the Graduate School of Banking at Rutgers University. Two years later, he was elected president of the American Bankers Association. From 1942 until 1960, Wiggins was a member of the A.B.A.'s committee on governmental borrowing. Shortly after World War II, Wiggins severed all business connections and resigned from his numerous positions to become undersecretary of the United States Treasury, an office he held from January 1947 until July 1948. Wiggins returned to private business as the chairman of the Board of Directors of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad and Louisville and Nashville Railroad Companies, and director of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company. At the age of seventy, Wiggins retired from the railroad post but continued to fill various advisory roles.

Throughout his life, Wiggins dedicated much of his time, money, and financial expertise to a variety of charities and public service organizations, including the American Cancer Society, the American Red Cross, and state and national crippled children societies. He was greatly concerned with the quality of ducation in the South, donating money to his alma mater, serving as chairman of the Darlington County Board of Education from 1934 to 1942, chairing the South Carolina governor's task force on education, and holding membership in the Horace Williams Society.

For all of Wiggins's accomplishments and contributions he received a wealth of awards and honorary degrees. In 1940, he earned a certificate for distinguised service to agriculture from the Clemson Agricultural College (Clemson University). Coker College of South Carolina presented him with the Algernon Sydney Award. Additionally, he accepted honorary degrees from Campbell College, Duke University, and the Universities of North Carolina and South Carolina. Finally, in 1971, he was inducted into the Wisdom Hall of Fame.