Ross Alexander Collins (April 25, 1880 – July 14, 1968) was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

. Born in Collinsville, Mississippi, Collins attended the public schools of

Meridian, Mississippi Meridian is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, seventh largest city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, with a population of 41,148 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census and an estimated population in 2018 of 36,347. It is the count ...

, and Mississippi Agricultural and Mechanical College. He graduated from the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

at Lexington in 1900 and from the law department of the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

at Oxford in 1901. He was admitted to the bar in 1901 and commenced practice in

. He served as Mississippi Attorney General from 1912 to 1920. He was an unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Mississippi in 1919. Collins was elected as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

to the Sixty-seventh and to the six succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1921 – January 3, 1935). In 1929, Collins successfully proposed the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

's $1.5 million purchase of Otto Vollbehr's collection of

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, including one of four remaining perfect vellum copies of the Gutenberg Bible. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1934, but was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for

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 ...

. Collins was elected to the Seventy-fifth, Seventy-sixth, and Seventy-seventh Congresses (January 3, 1937 – January 3, 1943). In the late 1930s he was the chairman of the House Subcommittee on

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Appropriations; during his time in office, he cut spending on local DC funds for welfare and education stating that "my constituents wouldn't stand for spending money on niggers".
Home Rule or House Rule? Congress and the Erosion of Local Governance in the District of Columbia
' by

Michael K. Fauntroy Michael K. Fauntroy is an American political scientist. He was formerly a professor in the political science department at Howard University, where he has also been the associate chair. In 2018 he became the acting director of the Ronald Walters, ...

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, 2003 at

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, page 94 He was an unsuccessful candidate for election to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

in 1941. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1942, but was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for

. He resumed the practice of law. He died in

, July 14, 1968. He was interred in Magnolia Cemetery.

External links

Ross Alexander Collins Collection (MUM00082)
owned by the University of Mississippi.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Ross A 1880 births 1968 deaths Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Mississippi Politicians from Meridian, Mississippi Mississippi Attorneys General 20th-century American politicians People from Collinsville, Mississippi