James Herman Faulkner, Sr. (March 1, 1916 – August 22, 2008) was an American newspaper publisher, entrepreneur, politician, and philanthropist. He has two schools named after him, Faulkner State Community College, and

Faulkner University Faulkner University is a private Christian university in Montgomery, Alabama. It is affiliated with the Churches of Christ. History The university was founded in 1942 by Dr. Rex Turner, Dr. Leonard Johnson and Joe Greer as Montgomery Bible Sch ...

Newspapers and other media

He was born on March 1, 1916, in Lamar County,

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

. On August 15, 1936, Faulkner bought the Baldwin Times Newspaper in Bay Minette. In 1957 Faulkner joined a group that brought WBCA radio to Bay Minette as well as owning WHEP in Foley.

Support of education

Faulkner was instrumental in getting Faulkner State Junior College built for his town after the Alabama legislature passed a bill in 1964 to build 10 such schools. The pick for Bay Minette's district originally went to Monroeville which received the approval to build the Monroeville campus of the

Alabama Southern Community College Coastal Alabama Community College (also known as Coastal Alabama Community College – South) is a public community college with nine campuses in southern Alabama: Bay Minette, Fairhope, Gulf Shores, Atmore, Brewton, Gilbertown, Jackson, Mon ...

(originally

Patrick Henry Patrick Henry (May 29, 1736June 6, 1799) was an American attorney, planter, politician and orator known for declaring to the Second Virginia Convention (1775): " Give me liberty, or give me death!" A Founding Father, he served as the first an ...

Junior College). Subsequently, Faulkner organized a group to convince the state to build a second junior college in the district at Bay Minette and afterwards a school named for

William Lowndes Yancey William Lowndes Yancey (August 10, 1814July 27, 1863) was an American journalist, politician, orator, diplomat and an American leader of the Southern secession movement. A member of the group known as the Fire-Eaters, Yancey was one of the mo ...

, an American leader of the Southern secession movement, came into existence. In 1971 town residents convinced the governor to rename Yancey in Faulkner's honor. Faulkner University in Montgomery, Alabama (originally known as Alabama Christian College) was renamed in 1983 to honor Faulkner. It was said that the school would have been forced to close several times if Faulkner had not come to the rescue.

Industrial recruiter

Faulkner was involved with bringing several industries to Bay Minette and Baldwin County. These included International Paper Container Division,

Kaiser Aluminum Kaiser Aluminum Corporation is an American aluminum producer. It is a spinoff from Kaiser Aluminum and Chemicals Corporation, which came to be when common stock was offered in Permanente Metals Corporation and Permanente Metals Corporation's ...

, Alpine Industries Laboratories, Baldwin Utility Structures, Baldwin Lighting, Eastwood-Neally Company, Colt Industries, Jinan, Holland Industrial Services, Gulf Packaging Company, Cedartown Paper Board Cores, Baldwin Asphalt, Yellow Hammer Building Systems, Barclay, Bay Minette Mills, Baldwin Pole and Piling, Den-Tal-Ez, and Standard Furniture.

Political activities

Faulkner served as mayor of Bay Minette from 1941 to 1943, and was said to be the youngest mayor in America at that time. He was also a member of the

Alabama State Senate The Alabama State Senate is the upper house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alabama. The body is composed of 35 members representing an equal number of districts across the state, with each district cont ...

and a two-time candidate for governor. He died on August 22, 2008, in

Bay Minette 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 Count ...

, Alabama, at the age of 92.

References

External links

"Mumblings" Column
{{DEFAULTSORT:Faulkner, James H. People from Lamar County, Alabama People from Bay Minette, Alabama Mayors of places in Alabama Alabama state senators American columnists 1916 births 2008 deaths Journalists from Alabama 20th-century American legislators 20th-century American journalists 20th-century mayors of places in Alabama American male journalists