Joseph Melville Broughton Jr. (November 17, 1888March 6, 1949) was an American politician who served as the 60th

governor of North Carolina The governor of North Carolina is the head of government of the U.S. state of North Carolina. The governor directs the executive branch of the government and is the commander in chief of the military forces of the state. The current governor, ...

from 1941 to 1945. He later briefly served as a

United States Senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...

from January 3, 1949 until his death in office approximately two months later.

Early life and education

Broughton was born on November 17, 1888 in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...

. He graduated from

Wake Forest College Wake Forest University is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The Reynolda Campus, the un ...

, where he also played football, in 1910. Broughton attended

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

then worked as a school principal and journalist before actively entering the legal profession.

Political career

He served in the North Carolina Senate from 1927 to 1929. He later served one term as governor from 1941 to 1945. One of his major legacies was the extension of the public school term from six to nine months. Governor and First Lady Broughton

Broughton was among twelve nominated at the

1944 Democratic National Convention The 1944 Democratic National Convention was held at the Chicago Stadium in Chicago, Illinois from July 19 to July 21, 1944. The convention resulted in the nomination of President Franklin D. Roosevelt for an unprecedented fourth term. Senator Ha ...

to serve as

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

's running mate in the presidential election that year.

Tenure in Senate

In 1948, Broughton was elected to the United States Senate, after defeating William B. Umstead, an appointed incumbent, in the Democratic primary. In November, Broughton won both a special election to complete the Senate term and an election for a full term. He took office on December 31, 1948, but his service in the Senate was brief. Appearing healthy, Broughton suddenly collapsed from a heart attack and died in Washington D.C. on March 6, 1949. Governor

W. Kerr Scott William Kerr Scott (April 17, 1896April 16, 1958) was an American Democratic Party politician from North Carolina. He was the 62nd governor of North Carolina from 1949 until 1953 and a United States Senator from 1954 until 1958. A native of ...

appointed

Frank Porter Graham Frank Porter Graham (October 14, 1886 – February 16, 1972) was an American educator and political activist. A professor of history, he was elected President of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1930, and he later became the firs ...

to fill his vacant office until the next election.

Family

Joseph Melville Broughton, Jr. was the son of Joseph Melville Broughton and Sallie Harris. He married Alice Willson in 1916, they had four children. He was the nephew of

Needham B. Broughton Needham Bryant Broughton (February 14, 1848 – May 26, 1914) was an American printer, temperance activist, and politician who served as a North Carolina state senator from 1901 to 1903. He co-owned a prosperous printing business, Edwards & Broug ...

and a first cousin of

Carrie Lougee Broughton Carrie Lougee Broughton (September 16, 1879 – January 29, 1957) was an American librarian who served as the fourth State Librarian of North Carolina from 1918 to 1956. She was the first woman to serve as State Librarian and the first woman to s ...

. He was also a first cousin of medical doctor and Baptist minister

Len G. Broughton Leonard Gaston Broughton (December 5, 1865 – February 22, 1936) was a Fundamentalism, fundamentalist Baptist minister, medical doctor, founder of Tabernacle Baptist Church (Atlanta), Tabernacle Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia and of Tabernacl ...

. Broughton and his wife lived in the

Jolly-Broughton House The Jolly-Broughton House is a historic Georgian Revival-style house in Raleigh, North Carolina. The house, completed in 1929, was the home of North Carolina Governor J. Melville Broughton and First Lady Alice Willson Broughton. History The Jol ...

, a Georgian Revival mansion located in Raleigh's

Hayes Barton Historic District The Hayes Barton Historic District is a neighborhood located northwest of downtown Raleigh, North Carolina. Hayes Barton, an upper class neighborhood designed by landscape architect Earle Sumner Draper, contains 457 buildings on . The neighborhoo ...

, before and after living in the

North Carolina Executive Mansion The North Carolina Executive Mansion (also referred to as the North Carolina Governor's Mansion) is the official residence of the governor of North Carolina and their family. Building began in the year 1883 and it was designed by architects Samu ...

. He was interred at Montlawn Memorial Park in Raleigh.

Legacy

In 1959, the State Hospital at Morganton for psychiatric patients was renamed

Broughton Hospital Broughton Hospital is a psychiatric hospital located in Morganton, North Carolina. It is administered by North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services. ...

in his memory. In addition, Broughton Hall at

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universit ...

was named in his honor. He was a member of Civitan International.

References

Works cited

*
View profile at

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...

External links

Biographical Directory of the United States Congress The ''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress'' (Bioguide) is a biographical dictionary of all present and former members of the United States Congress and its predecessor, the Continental Congress. Also included are Delegates from ...

National Governors Association biographyNorth Carolina Historical Marker

NCPedia - Joseph Melville Broughton
{{DEFAULTSORT:Broughton, Melville Democratic Party governors of North Carolina Harvard Law School alumni 1944 United States vice-presidential candidates Wake Forest University alumni 1888 births 1949 deaths Democratic Party United States senators from North Carolina

Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

Democratic Party North Carolina state senators Politicians from Raleigh, North Carolina 20th-century American politicians