Joseph Landon Evins (October 24, 1910 – March 31, 1984) was an American lawyer and politician who served 15 terms as a Democratic U.S. Representative from

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

from 1947 to 1977.

Early life

Evins was a native of the Blend Community of

DeKalb County, Tennessee DeKalb County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 20,080. Its county seat is Smithville. The county was created by the General Assembly of Tennessee on December 2, 1837, and was named ...

, the son of James Edgar Evins and Myrtie Goodson Evins. His father was a Tennessee state senator and a successful local businessman. He was also the namesake of

Edgar Evins State Park Edgar Evins State Park is a state park in DeKalb County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The park consists of along the shores of Center Hill Lake, an impoundment of the Caney Fork. The State of Tennessee leases the land from th ...

near Smithville. One of his brother's children ran a local

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Beca ...

. Another nephew, Dan Evins, was the founder of the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store restaurant chain. Evins graduated from

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million e ...

in Nashville, Tennessee in 1933 and the

Cumberland School of Law Cumberland School of Law is an ABA accredited law school at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. It was founded in 1847 at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee and is the 11th oldest law school in the United States an ...

Lebanon, Tennessee Lebanon is the county seat of Wilson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 38,431 at the 2020 census. Lebanon is located in Middle Tennessee, approximately east of downtown Nashville. Lebanon is part of the Nashville Metropoli ...

in 1934, as well as

The George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , presi ...

.Joe L. Evins
at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress; accessed November 26, 2017. He was admitted to the bar in that same year and began practice in Smithville, the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US ...

of DeKalb County.

Career

In 1935 Evins was named a staff attorney for the

Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction ov ...

, and served in this position until 1938, when he was named the FTC's assistant secretary, a position which he held until 1940. Shortly after

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

entry into World War II, he was commissioned 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, ...

Judge Advocate General Corps The Judge Advocate General's Corps, also known as JAG or JAG Corps, is the military justice branch or specialty of the United States Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps and Navy. Officers serving in the JAG Corps are typically called judg ...

, serving on active duty until 1946, when he resumed his law practice in Smithville. Upon his return, he was also elected chairman of the DeKalb County Democratic Party. Later in that same year, he won the nomination of the Democratic Party for the seat from the 5th District. He won the election easily in this solidly-Democratic area, and was re-elected to fourteen more terms, generally with little or no opposition. His district was renumbered the 4th after the 1950 Census, when Tennessee lost a congressional district. Evins was a powerful figure in

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

. He was chairman of the House Select Committee on Small Business for six years, and for the following Congressional session of the

United States House Committee on Small Business The United States House Committee on Small Business is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It was established in 1941 as the House Select Committee on Small Business. History On December 4, 1941, the U. S. House of ...

, and served on the important

House Appropriations Committee The United States House Committee on Appropriations is a committee of the United States House of Representatives that is responsible for passing appropriation bills along with its Senate counterpart. The bills passed by the Appropriations Comm ...

. He used his influence to make sure that his district, a mostly rural area east and south of

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

, was well taken-care of; Smithville was the smallest city chosen for participation in the Model Cities Program and its major thoroughfare was renamed "Congressional Boulevard". The

Tennessee Technological University Tennessee Technological University, commonly referred to as Tennessee Tech, is a public research university in Cookeville, Tennessee, United States. It was formerly known as Tennessee Polytechnic Institute, and before that as University of Dix ...

Appalachian Center for Craft near Smithville was built with a $5 million federal grant that Evins secured as a member of the Appropriations Committee. Evins, a conservative Democrat, was slow to accept racial

desegregation Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups, usually referring to races. Desegregation is typically measured by the index of dissimilarity, allowing researchers to determine whether desegregation efforts are having impact o ...

. Although he was one of three Tennessee Democratic congressmen not to sign 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 manif ...

, and voted in favor of the

Voting Rights Act of 1965 The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights moveme ...

, he voted against the Civil Rights Acts of 1957,

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Jan ...

, 1964, and

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Jan ...

, while voting present on the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Evins decided not to stand for re-election in 1976, after serving a total of 15 terms. At the time of his retirement in January 1977, his continuous service in the U.S. House of Representatives was longer than that of any other House member from Tennessee.Carroll Van West,
Joseph Landon Evins, 1910-1984
" ''Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture''; accessed November 26, 2017. In a spirited

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

to succeed him,

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic nom ...

won and began his political career.

Personal life and death

His wife, Ann Smartt, with whom he had three daughters, was the daughter of a McMinnville judge.Joe L. Evins
in Tennessee Blue Book, 1975-1978, page 49 Evins died in Nashville on March 31, 1984, and is buried in the Smithville Town Cemetery in Smithville.

References

External links

* *

DeKalb County, Tennessee website {{DEFAULTSORT:Evins, Joe L. 1910 births 1984 deaths American members of the Churches of Christ Burials in Tennessee Vanderbilt University alumni People from Smithville, Tennessee Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee 20th-century American politicians