John David Long (1901–1967) also known as John D. Long II, was an American politician, lawyer, and

state senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...

. The

John D. Long Lake John D. Long Lake is an manmade lake in Union County, South Carolina. It is used for fishing, with largemouth bass, bluegill, shellcracker (redear sunfish), and catfish in the lake. There is a boat ramp and a fishing pier. Location and geograph ...

Union County, South Carolina Union County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,244. Its county seat is Union. The county was created in 1785. Union County is coterminous with the Union, SC, Micropolitan Sta ...

is named for him. Long was a public supporter of

white supremacy White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White su ...

Family background

The Long family was long prominent in Union County. The first was his great-grandfather, John D. Long (1811–1897), who was a

Confederate soldier The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

and the father of James Gideon Long, who also served in the Confederate Army and later organized the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

in Union County and was a sheriff for 20 years. His son, James Gideon Long Jr., had ten children, one of whom was John David Long.

Career

Long became a lawyer, and then later a state senator (D), and one of the best-known and most powerful and influential men in Union County, although also an egregious

alcoholic Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomin ...

given to two-week benders. On March 2, 1944, the South Carolina state legislature resolute a "pledge to White supremacy" in the

Congressional Record The ''Congressional Record'' is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress, published by the United States Government Publishing Office and issued when Congress is in session. The Congressional Record Inde ...

, under the sponsorship of Rep. Long. When in the senate, Long was involved in a 1961–1962 controversy over display of the Confederate Flag, and

racial segregation Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crimes against hum ...

at the

American Civil War Centennial The American Civil War Centennial was the official United States commemoration of the American Civil War, also known as the ''War Between the States''. Commemoration activities began in 1957, four years prior to the 100th anniversary of the comm ...

observances in the state capital. When

President Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

ordered the national Centennial Commission to move its ceremonies from segregated facilities to the integrated Charleston Navy Base, the South Carolina delegation held its own, segregated, events at a downtown hotel, where Long – who had sponsored a resolution to display Confederate flags over the

dais A dais or daïs ( or , American English also but sometimes considered nonstandard)dais
in the Random House Dictionary< ...

es of the South Carolina House and Senate – addressed the crowd with: Long's son, John David Long III, also became a state senator and sponsored the creation of John D. Long Lake in honor of his father. The John D. Long Lake was later the scene of the

Susan Smith Susan Leigh Smith (née Vaughan; born September 26, 1971) is an American woman who was convicted of murdering her two sons, three-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alexander, in 1994 by drowning them in a South Carolina lake. The case gained i ...

murders in 1994.

References

External links

{{commons category 1901 births 1967 deaths People from Union County, South Carolina South Carolina state senators 20th-century American legislators 20th-century American lawyers American segregationists Neo-Confederates