Fulmer, Willa Lybrand, 1884-1968

<p>Like several other congressional widows from the South, Willa Lybrand Fulmer filled her late husband’s seat long enough for party officials to successfully insert a long-term successor. Fulmer did not participate actively in the long career of her powerful husband, Hampton Pitts Fulmer, author of the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) of 1933. But her name recognition with voters secured her a short term in the final months of the 78th Congress (1943– 1945), helping to preserve a narrow Democratic majority in the House.</p>

<p>Willa Essie Lybrand was born in Wagener, South Carolina, on February 3, 1884. She attended public schools in Wagener and the Greenville Female Seminary. In 1901, at age 17, she married Hampton Fulmer, a successful cotton farmer, merchant, and banker. Hampton Fulmer would eventually serve in the South Carolina state house and then go on to a 23-year career in the U.S. House of Representatives that included the chairmanship of the influential Agriculture Committee. Congressman Fulmer was a tireless advocate for farmers and a major figure in New Deal efforts to alleviate their economic woes. He authored the AAA, which dealt with the problem of low farm commodities prices by controlling surplus crops and providing low-interest farm mortgage refinancing. Congressman Fulmer also authored the U.S. Cotton Grading Act, which standardized cotton-grading methods and he was well-known for helping to draft a $1.3 billion bill to build a national veterans’ hospital network. Willa Fulmer raised their three daughters: Margie, Ruby, and Willa, and, by the 1930s was a fixture at many capital society events. Although she and her husband maintained a home in Orangeburg, South Carolina, Mrs. Fulmer spent much of her time in Washington, DC, where two of her daughters settled into married life. On a roster of Representatives with family members working in their congressional offices, the name Willa Fulmer appears as an aide to Congressman Fulmer in the early 1930s; she earned $266 dollars per month, which put her in the upper salary bracket for Capitol Hill staff at the time.</p>

<p>?The day after Hampton Fulmer died suddenly of a heart attack on October 19, 1944, South Carolina Democratic officials phoned Willa Fulmer to ask her to run in a special election to fill her husband’s vacant seat, which encompassed six counties in the southeastern part of the state, including the city of Orangeburg. Congressman Fulmer’s death had reduced the Democratic advantage in the closely divided House to just two seats, sending party leaders scrambling for a sure-fire successor for the remainder of the 78th Congress. But the process was complicated because Congressman Fulmer had already been nominated, and his death occurred less than three weeks before the general election. Party leaders were forced to call a nominating convention for November 1, a week before the general election.</p>

<p>Willa Lybrand Fulmer (February 3, 1884 – May 13, 1968) was a United States Representative from South Carolina. She was born in Wagener, South Carolina where she attended the Wagener public schools. She graduated from Greenville (Baptist) Female College in Greenville, South Carolina, which eventually merged with Furman University.</p>

<p>Fulmer's husband, Hampton P. Fulmer, was a United States Representative from 1923 to 1944. She was elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-eighth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by his death in 1944, and served from November 7, 1944, to January 3, 1945. She was not a candidate for election to the Seventy-ninth Congress. After leaving Congress, she engaged in agricultural pursuits until her retirement. She died May 13, 1968 aboard a ship on the North Atlantic Ocean en route to Europe and was buried in Memorial Park Cemetery, Orangeburg, South Carolina.</p>