Tuck, William M. (William Munford), 1896-1983
Variant namesBiographical notes:
William Munford Tuck was born 28 September 1896 in Halifax County, Virginia, to William Robert James Tuck (1863-1930) and Virginia Susan Fitts Tuck (1860-1909). He was the grandson of the William Munford Tuck (1832-1899) of the biographical sketch he wrote. Tuck attended the College of William and Mary, but left to enlist in the United States Marine Corps during World War I. After the War he returned to Virginia and graduated from Washington and Lee University. He returned to Halifax County and began practicing law. Tuck was elected to the House of Delegates in 1924 and served until his election to the state Senate in 1932. After ten years of service in the state Senate, he was elected lieutenant governor in 1942 and governor in 1946 and served until 1950. Tuck was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1953 and served until 1969. He married Eva Ellis Lovelace Dillard (1894-1975) 26 February 1928. Tuck died in Halifax County 9 June 1983, and was buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery in South Boston, Virginia.
From the description of Wm. M. Tuck and the Third Virginia Infantry. (Library of Virginia). WorldCat record id: 288544677
William Munford "Bill" Tuck was born 28 September 1896 in Halifax County, Va. He attended the College of William and Mary. He received a law degree from Washington and Lee University. He served in the Virginia House of Delegates and in the Virginia Senate. Tuck served as lieutenant-governor and was elected governor for term 1946-1950. He served in the U. S. Congress 1953-1968. Tuck died in 1983.
From the description of Papers, 1918-1968. (College of William & Mary). WorldCat record id: 23365541
Jay Winston Johns, Jr. was a coal industrialist from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who moved to Virginia and became a leader in preserving homes of renowned Virginians. He married Helen Lambert (1881-1964). Johns became blind in the late 1950's.
He and his wife owned "Ash Lawn," Albemarle County, Virginia which had been the home of James Monroe and designed by Thomas Jefferson. Johns was founder of the Lee-Jackson Memorial, Inc., a foundation dedicated to preserving the memory of Robert E. Lee, Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson and the South's part in the Civil War; and a founder of the Virginia Trust for Historic Preservation, an organization whose main purpose was that of purchasing, restoring, and maintaining for the public, homes of renowned men specifically, the Lee-Fendall House in Alexandria, Virginia.
Johns, himself was a strong Democrat and corresponded with and publicly supported all of the prominent Virginia political figures of his time. He was a spirited supporter of the Virginia Military Institute as a member of the Board of Visitors, and as an honorary member of the Alumni Association; a charter member, and later trustee of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts; and a member of the Virginia Chapter of the Society of the Cincinnati. He also received an honorary degree from the College of William and Mary in 1967.
From the guide to the Jay Johns Papers, 1918-1974., (Special Collections, Earl Gregg Swem Library, College of William and Mary)
Mills Edwin Godwin, Jr., was born November 19, 1914, at Chuckatuck in Nansemond County, now the City of Suffolk, Virginia.
He completed public school and attended the college of William and Mary. He obtained his degree in law from the University of Virginia in 1938. Honorary doctorate degrees have been awarded him by Elon College, Roanoke College, Elmira College, the College of William and Mary, Washington and Lee University, Hampden-Sydney College, the University of Richmond and Bridgewater College.
While awaiting a commission in the U. S. Navy in World War II, he was appointed a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation where he served for three years prior to resuming the practice of law in Suffolk until he was elected governor of Virginia in 1965.
He first entered politics in 1948 when he began service in the House of Delegates. From 1952 to 1962 he served in the State Senate of Virginia. He was lieutenant-governor of Virginia from 1962 to 1966. During the 26 years he held public office, he ran seventeen times and was never defeated.
His first election as governor in November 1965, came after he had received the Democratic nomination without opposition.
During his administration from 1966 to 1970, he became known as "Virginia's Education Governor," taking the lead in upgrading education at every level from kindergarten through graduate school. Initiated and developed during his first term was the State's system of community colleges, two-year colleges offering occupational-technical and liberal arts training at minimum tuition. Salary increases and other improved benefits were granted teachers and faculty members. State aid to kindergartens, summer schools and classes for the handicapped encouraged broader opportunities throughout Virginia, and a number of other innovations were made in the public schools and higher education. The momentum followed a series of governor's conferences on education early in the administration. He persuaded the General Assembly to enact the Retail Sales Tax which was the first new broad-based tax passed in Virginia in more than one hundred years.
He continued and enlarged the emphasis on industrial development begun by his predecessor, Governor Harrison. He led the first two foreign trade missions and engaged in other efforts designed to attract high caliber new industry to Virginia and to encourage expansion by firms already located in the State. He saw industrial development and education as the principal means of continuing progress in Virginia.
During his tenure, Virginia made major strides also in water and air pollution control, port and park development, interstate, arterial and other highway construction, highway safety, mental health and other areas of State concern.
A blue ribbon commission appointed by Godwin proposed the State's first constitutional revision in forty years. The result was approved overwhelmingly by the voters. He also proposed the first general obligation bond issue in this century and led the campaign in which Virginia's voters approved it by a margin of more than two to one.
As governor he served as chairman of the Southern Regional Education Board, Vice Chairman of the Southern Governors Conference and as a member of the Executive Committee of the Democratic Governors Conference and the National Governors' Conference. He also served as Chairman of the Appalachian Regional Commission.
After serving as governor from 1966 to 1970, he returned home and became a Director of Standard Brands, Inc., Norfolk and Western Railway Company, Union Camp Corporation, Virginia Real Estate Investment Trust, and Dan River, Inc. and served as a member of the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors of Virginia National Bank. He was also on the Board of Directors of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation.
He resigned all of these posts after being elected governor a second time in November 1973, the first man ever twice elected by the people in Virginia to serve as Chief Executive. He was elected as the Republican nominee after being unopposed in their State Convention. He remains the only candidate in the country ever to win gubernatorial elections in the same state on both Democrat and Republican tickets.
During his second term as governor, he faced a series of crises of major proportions. The Arab oil embargo of late 1973 depressed the State's economy and the State revenues. As governor he ordered reduction of State spending by more than $200 million to keep the budget in balance and, as the economy improved later in his administration, he left a sizable surplus in the budget for his successor. Godwin dealt with the crises of shortages of gasoline, natural gas and fuel oil, the problem of Kepone, ten major floods and seven minor ones and the most serious drought in fifty years occurred in the last year of his administration which caused 115 of the State's 136 political jurisdictions to be designated as disaster areas. Despite these problems, Virginia's forward movement continued during his second term with major improvements in all areas, in job opportunities, and especially in our correctional programs and in public and higher education. He obtained approval from the General Assembly in 1977 for a Referendum on a $125 million General obligation Bond Program, largely earmarked for education and corrections, and again led the campaign which resulted in overwhelming approval for all five bond issues presented to the voters.
His leadership as governor was evidenced everywhere. Virginia's noted Pulitzer Prize winner and editor, Virginius Dabney, wrote that: "His two terms combine to form a series of constructive advances for the Commonwealth that are unsurpassed in the long history of Virginia's governors."
As governor from 1974 to 1978, he was Chairman of the Southern Governors Conference, a member of the Executive Committees of the National Governors' Conference and the Republican Governors' Conference. He was Chairman for the second time of the Southern Regional Education Board and Vice President of the Council of State Governments.
Godwin again returned to his home in Suffolk in January 1978, and served as a consultant to management and a member of the Executive Committee and Board of Directors of the Virginia National Bank. He was also a member of the Board of Directors of Union Camp Corporation, Standard Brands, Inc. and the Royster Company.
Married to the former Katherine Thomas Beale, Governor Godwin lived in Suffolk where for many years he owned and operated the 500-acre family farm. He has been active in the Oakland Christian Church, where he taught the Men's Bible Class for more than twenty-five years, and engaged in numerous community activities. He was a 33rd degree Mason, past president of Ruritan National, and a member of Omicron Delta Kappa, Phi Delta Phi, the Raven Society and Sigma Phi Epsilon. He was the recipient of the Virginia State Chamber of Commerce's Distinguished Service Award, the Virginia National Guard's Distinguished Service Medal, the Virginia Education Association's citation as "Virginia's Education Governor," the Thomas Jefferson Award for Public Service from the old Dominion Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America, the Centennial Medal from Hampton Institute, the Virginians of Maryland Medal, the FFA State Farmer Medal, also twice received a First Citizen's Award from Suffolk and Nansemond County, and the Colgate Whitehead Darden, Jr. Award from Norfolk State College, an award exemplifying highest caliber of statesmanship and interest in education in the Commonwealth. Virginia Military Institute has given him its New Market Medal, the highest award made by V.M.I.
On January 30, 1999, Mills E. Godwin Jr. died in Newport News, Virginia at the age of 84.
From the guide to the Mills E. Godwin Jr. Papers, 1947-1989., (Special Collections, Earl Gregg Swem Library, College of William and Mary)
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Subjects:
- Antietam, Battle of, Md., 1862
- Ash Lawn (Virginia : Estate)
- Bull Run, 2nd Battle of, Va., 1862
- Chlordecone
- College of William and Mary
- Communism
- Communism
- Democratic Party (U.S.)
- Education, Higher
- Fair Oaks, Battle of, Va., 1862
- Fredericksburg, Battle of, Fredericksburg, Va., 1862
- Gettysburg, Battle of, Gettysburg, Pa., 1863
- Gettysburg Campaign, 1863
- Maryland Campaign, 1862
- Oysters
- Peninsular Campaign, 1862
- Republican Party (U.S. : 1854-)
- Segregation in education
- Segregation in education
- Seven Days' Battles, Va., 1862
- Taxation
- Williamsburg, Battle of, Williamsburg, Va., 1862
- Communism
- Segregation in education
Occupations:
Places:
- Virginia (as recorded)
- Virginia (as recorded)
- United States (as recorded)
- United States (as recorded)
- Johnson's Island (Oh.) (as recorded)
- Halifax County (Va.) (as recorded)
- Virginia (as recorded)
- United States (as recorded)
