Carl Elias Milliken (July 13, 1877May 1, 1961) was an

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politician, and business executive. He served as the 51st Governor of Maine, and was the Chief Spokesman for the Motion Picture Association of America.

Early life and education

A native of Pittsfield, Maine, Milliken was the son of Charles Arthur Milliken and Phoebe Ellen Knowlton. Milliken graduated from Bates College in 1897. He went on to receive his master's degree from Harvard University in 1899, before moving to

Island Falls, Maine Island Falls is a town in Aroostook County, Maine, United States. The population was 758 at the 2020 census. The primary village of Island Falls in the town is situated at a falls in the West Branch Mattawamkeag River. Geography According to ...

to enter the lumber business.

Early business career

During the next six years, Milliken held positions as general manager of two lumber companies and an axe manufacturer and as president of a local telephone company.

Political career

His political career began in 1905, when he was elected to the

Maine House of Representatives The Maine House of Representatives is the lower house of the Maine Legislature. The House consists of 151 voting members and three nonvoting members. The voting members represent an equal number of districts across the state and are elected via p ...

. Milliken moved up to the

Maine State Senate The Maine Senate is the upper house of the Maine Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maine. The Senate currently consists of 35 members representing an equal number of districts across the state, though the Maine Constitution ...

in 1909, and was president of that body from 1913 to 1915.

As governor

Running for Governor of Maine as a Republican Party candidate in 1916, Milliken easily defeated the

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incumbent,

Oakley C. Curtis Oakley Chester Curtis (March 29, 1865 – February 22, 1924) was an American politician and the 50th Governor of Maine. Early life Curtis was born in Portland, Maine, on March 29, 1865. He studied at the local schools. He worked in the bankin ...

. He was reelected in 1918, this time by a smaller margin over Bertrand McIntire. As governor, he strictly enforced state and federal alcohol prohibition laws, which he strongly supported. Milliken lost renomination to

Frederic Hale Parkhurst Frederic Hale Parkhurst (November 5, 1864 – January 31, 1921) was an American politician. He was the 52nd Governor of Maine. Biography He graduated from Washington, D.C.'s Columbian Law School (now George Washington University Law School) ...

in the 1920 Republican primary.http://bridgton.advantage-preservation.com/Viewer/?k=milliken%20parkhurst&i=f&by=1920&bdd=1920&d=01011920-12311920&m=between&fn=the_bridgton_news_usa_maine_bridgton_19200625_english_2&df=1&dt=10

Motion Picture career

Milliken left office on January 5, 1921. The following year, he became executive secretary and chief spokesman of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors Association (later the Motion Picture Association of America), the movie industry's first self-censorship body. Milliken served as executive secretary for more than two decades, retiring in 1947.

In retirement

After stepping down from the MPAA, Milliken served as the managing trustee of Teaching Film Custodians, a trust for educational films, and also served a term as president of the

American Baptist Foreign Missionary Society International Ministries is an international Baptist Christian missionary society. It is a constituent board affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. The headquarters is in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, United States. History The soc ...

Personal life

Milliken married twice. His first wife, the former Emma Chase, died in 1930. He then married her sister, Caroline Chase. With his first wife, Milliken had one son and six daughters. His first wife was the daughter of his alma mater's president

George Colby Chase George Colby Chase (March 15, 1844 - May 27, 1919) was an American intellectual and professor of English who served as the second President of Bates College succeeding its founder, Oren Burbank Cheney, from March 1894 to November 1919. Known as "t ...

, while his second wife was Chase's other daughter.

References

* "Ex-Gov. Milliken of Maine was 83." ''New York Times'', 2 May 1961: 37.
Senate Presidents - Maine Legislature - Carl E. Milliken
{{DEFAULTSORT:Milliken, Carl E. Republican Party governors of Maine Bates College alumni Harvard University alumni People from Pittsfield, Maine 1877 births 1961 deaths American media executives Maine Progressives (1912) People from Aroostook County, Maine Republican Party members of the Maine House of Representatives Republican Party Maine state senators