John Fulmer Bright (November 17, 1877 – December 29, 1953) was an

American politician The politics of the United States function within a framework of a constitutional federal republic and presidential system, with three distinct branches that share powers. These are: the U.S. Congress which forms the legislative branch, a bic ...

and

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

. Bright received an M.D. from the

Medical College of Virginia The VCU Medical Center is Virginia Commonwealth University's medical campus located in downtown Richmond, Virginia, in the Court End neighborhood. VCU Medical Center used to be known as the Medical College of Virginia (MCV), which merged with the ...

in 1898. He sat in the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

representing the city of

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

in 1922. Bright served as

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

of Richmond 1924–1940. As mayor, He believed in limited government and frequently vetoed development projects. He also opposed the federal housing program during the Great Depression. Largely in response to the way he had used his veto power, in 1948 a new city charter weakened the mayor's power by implementing a

city manager A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city, in a "Mayor–council government" council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are sometimes referred to as the chief execu ...

system and replaced the bicameral city council with a single nine-person body whose members were elected at large. John Fulmer Bright (1877-1953)

Bright died of heart disease on December 29, 1953, and was buried in Hollywood Cemetery, in Richmond.

References

*Robert C. Glass and Carter Glass Jr., ''Virginia Democracy'' (1937), 3:108–109. *John T. Kneebone et al., eds., ''

Dictionary of Virginia Biography The ''Dictionary of Virginia Biography'' (''DVB'') is a multivolume biographical reference work published by the Library of Virginia that covers aspects of Virginia's history and culture since 1607. The work was intended to run for a projected fou ...

'' (1998- ), 2:231-233. *Christopher Silver, ''Twentieth-Century Richmond: Planning, Politics, and Race'' (1984), 90–93, 130–131, 146–150, 176–181, 188–189. *Obituaries in ''Richmond News Leader'' and ''Richmond Times-Dispatch'', both 30 Dec. 1953. Mayors of Richmond, Virginia 1877 births 1923 deaths Physicians from Virginia Medical College of Virginia alumni {{Virginia-mayor-stub

See also

References