Edward John Robeson Jr. (August 9, 1890 – March 10, 1966) was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. Born in

Waynesville, North Carolina Waynesville is a town and the county seat of Haywood County, North Carolina. It is the largest town in North Carolina west of Asheville. Waynesville is located about southwest of Asheville between the Great Smoky and Blue Ridge Mountains. As ...

, Robeson moved from Wythe County, Virginia, with his parents to

Cartersville, Georgia Cartersville is a city in Bartow County, Georgia, United States; it is located within the northwest edge of the Atlanta metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 23,187. Cartersville is the county seat of Bartow Coun ...

, in 1891. He attended the public schools in Quitman, Marietta, and Sparta, Georgia. He graduated from the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

at Athens in 1910. While a student at the university, he was a member of the

Phi Kappa Literary Society The Phi Kappa Literary Society is a college literary society, located at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, and is one of the few active literary societies left in America. Founded in 1820, the society continues to meet every academic ...

. He worked as a civil engineer in

Bay Minette, Alabama Bay Minette is a city in and the county seat of Baldwin County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city was 8,044. History In the first days of Baldwin County, the town of McIntosh Bluff (now in Mobile County ...

, and Ironwood, Michigan from 1910 to 1915. He was employed with the Newport News (Virginia) Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co. from 1915 until his retirement April 30, 1950, as vice president and personnel manager.

Coaching career

Robeson was the third head football coach at

The Apprentice School The Apprentice School is a four to eight-year apprenticeship vocational school founded in 1919 and operated by Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company in Newport News in the U.S. state of Virginia. The school trains students for careers in ...

Newport News, Virginia Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...

and he held that position for two seasons, from 1924 until 1925. His record at Apprentice was 7–6–4.Apprentice Builders coaching records

Political career

Robeson was elected as 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 ...

to the Eighty-first Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Schuyler Otis Bland. He was reelected to the Eighty-second and to the three succeeding Congresses and served from May 2, 1950, to January 3, 1959. He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1958. He was a signatory to the 1956

Southern Manifesto The Declaration of Constitutional Principles (known informally as the Southern Manifesto) was a document written in February and March 1956, during the 84th United States Congress, in opposition to racial integration of public places. The manife ...

that opposed the desegregation of public schools ordered by the Supreme Court in ''

Brown v. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segregat ...

''.

Elections

*1950 – Robeson was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives with 81% of the vote, defeating Republican Nile Straughan and Independent Stanley S. Garner. *1952 – Robeson was re-elected unopposed. *1954 – Robeson was re-elected unopposed. *1956 – Robeson was re-elected with 50.83% of the vote, defeating Republican Horace E. Henderson. *1958 – Robeson was defeated by Thomas N. Downing for renomination.

Post political life

He was a resident of

, until 1964, at which time he returned to Waynesville, North Carolina. He died in

Pascagoula, Mississippi Pascagoula ( ) is a city in Jackson County, Mississippi, United States. It is the principal city of the Pascagoula Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is part of the Gulfport–Biloxi–Pascagoula Combined Statistical Area. The population was 22 ...

, on March 10, 1966. He was interred in Green Hill Cemetery, Waynesville.

Sources

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Robeson, Edward J. Jr. 1890 births 1966 deaths The Apprentice Builders football coaches People from Waynesville, North Carolina North Carolina Democrats University of Georgia alumni Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia Signatories of the Southern Manifesto