Jewell Christopher McNair (November 22, 1925 – May 8, 2019) was an African-American politician and businessman. McNair was born in

Fordyce, Arkansas Fordyce is a small town in Dallas County, Arkansas, United States. Its population has been decreasing since the 1980's when the town reached an all time high of 5,175. The population in 2020 was 3,396 down from 4,300 at the 2010 census, and from ...

and served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He received his degree in

agronomy Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants by agriculture for food, fuel, fiber, chemicals, recreation, or land conservation. Agronomy has come to include research of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and ...

from

Tuskegee University Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU), formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute, is a private, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama. It was founded on Independence Day in 1881 by the state legislature. The campus was d ...

in 1949. McNair was the owner of a photography business in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

. He served in the

Alabama House of Representatives The Alabama State House of Representatives is the lower house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature of state of Alabama. The House is composed of 105 members representing an equal number of districts, with each constituency contai ...

from 1973 to 1981 and was a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

. McNair then served on the Jefferson County Commission from 1986 until 2001. In 2006, McNair was convicted on bribery and corruption charges and served his sentence in prison from 2011 until 2013. He died at his home in Birmingham, Alabama. On September 15, 1963, his daughter Denise McNair and three other children were killed in the

bombing A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechanica ...

, of the 16th Street Baptist Church, in Birmingham, Alabama.Celebrating Chris McNair Father, Friend, Husband and Legend
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References

1925 births 2019 deaths People from Fordyce, Arkansas Businesspeople from Birmingham, Alabama Politicians from Birmingham, Alabama Military personnel from Arkansas Tuskegee University alumni African-American state legislators in Alabama Democratic Party members of the Alabama House of Representatives County commissioners in Alabama Alabama politicians convicted of crimes 20th-century African-American people {{Alabama-politician-stub