Thomas Jefferson Steed (March 2, 1904 – June 8, 1983) was an American politician and a U.S. Congressman from Oklahoma.

Early life

Steed was born on a farm near in

Eastland County, Texas Eastland County is a county located in central West Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 17,725. The county seat is Eastland. The county was founded in 1858 and later organized in 1873. It is named for William Mosby Eastland, a ...

(near Rising Star, Texas) on March 2, 1904. His family later moved to Oklahoma, where he attended school (in Konawa, Oklahoma). After only one semester of high school, he began working for the "Ada Evening News". He married Hazel Bennett in 1923, and they had two children, Roger and Richard. Roger was a Marine second lieutenant and fighter pilot and was killed in China in 1947.

Career

Continuing to work in journalism, Steed worked for a number of Oklahoma newspapers including the "Daily Oklahoman". Beginning in 1935 he served as an assistant to three of Oklahoma's U.S. congressmen,

Percy Lee Gassaway Percy Lee Gassaway (August 30, 1885 – May 15, 1937) was an American politician and a U.S. Representative from Oklahoma. Biography Born in Waco, McLennan County, Texas, Gassaway was the son of Rev. B. F. and Elizabeth Scoggins Gassaway. He mo ...

, Robert P. Hill, and Gomer Griffith Smith. In 1938 he returned to Oklahoma and became managing editor of the '' Shawnee News-Star''.

Military service

After the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Steed enlisted in the

U.S. 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, cl ...

on October 29, 1942, and was assigned to the Anti-aircraft Artillery. Steed was released from

active duty Active duty, in contrast to reserve duty, is a full-time occupation as part of a military force. In the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations, the equivalent term is active service. India The Indian Armed Forces are considered to be o ...

in May 1944 with

rank Rank is the relative position, value, worth, complexity, power, importance, authority, level, etc. of a person or object within a ranking, such as: Level or position in a hierarchical organization * Academic rank * Diplomatic rank * Hierarchy * ...

of Second Lieutenant. Steed continued his contribution to the U.S. war effort when he joined the

Office of War Information The United States Office of War Information (OWI) was a United States government agency created during World War II. The OWI operated from June 1942 until September 1945. Through radio broadcasts, newspapers, posters, photographs, films and other ...

on July 1, 1944. Steed also served with the information division in India-Burma Theater until December 1945. He often stated that his experience in

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the " news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (pro ...

, the military and in the

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washin ...

had taught him "knowledge is power".

Political career

Steed ran for

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 ...

in 1948 and 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 ...

, taking office on January 3, 1949. He was re-elected in 1950, and was continuously re-elected until 1980, when he decided to retire. (That year, he also received one vote for president at the 1980 Democratic National Convention.) Steed's final congressional race in 1978 was successful although he faced a spirited challenge in the Democratic primary election from M.E. "Cuffie" Waid, a popular Lawton optometrist and Chamber of Commerce leader. He served a total of 32 years in Congress, longer than any other Oklahoman in Congress at the time, and left office on January 3, 1981. While in Congress, he sat on the Education and Labor, Public Works, Appropriations, and Small Business committees, briefly chairing this last committee during the Ninety-fourth Congress. He also served as chair of the Subcommittee on the Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government and of the Subcommittee on Taxation and Oil Imports. Steed did not sign the 1956 Southern Manifesto, and voted in favor of 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 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

, as well as the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, but not the Civil Rights Act of 1968.

Accomplishments in office

According to the ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture'', Steed's accomplishments while serving in Congress included: *Conducting hearings on price wars affecting the dairy and retail petroleum industries; *Cosponsored the Upstream Conservation Act, enacted in 1954; *Joined with Sen.

Robert S. Kerr Robert Samuel Kerr (September 11, 1896 – January 1, 1963) was an American businessman and politician from Oklahoma. Kerr formed a petroleum company before turning to politics. He served as the 12th governor of Oklahoma from 1943 to 1947 and ...

to realize the

Arkansas River Navigation System Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

; *Cosponsored the 1956 Library Services Act, which established the bookmobile system; *Brought the Postal Service Institute to

Norman, Oklahoma Norman () is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, with a population of 128,097 as of 2021. It is the largest city and the county seat of Cleveland County, and the second-largest city in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, b ...

in 1968; *Helped obtain funds for the education center at

Rose State College Rose State College is a public community college in Midwest City, Oklahoma. History Rose State College was originally named Oscar Rose Junior CollegeBritton, Terry D.,Rose State College" Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture' (accessed M ...

and the Gordon Cooper Vocational Education School in Shawnee.Kosmerick, Todd J. "Steed, Thomas Jefferson (1904–1983)." ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''.
Accessed July 30, 2016.

Death and legacy

Steed returned to Oklahoma and resided in

Shawnee The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...

, where he remained until his death on June 8, 1983 (age 79 years, 98 days). He is

interred Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

at Resthaven Cemetery in Shawnee, Oklahoma. After his death, a portion of

Interstate 40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west Interstate Highway running through the south-central portion of the United States. At a length of , it is the third-longest Interstate Highway in the country, after I-90 and I-80. From west to ea ...

near Shawnee was renamed the "Tom Steed Memorial Highway." Tom Steed Reservoir near Mountain Park is also named after him.

References

External links

Tom Steed at Biographical Directory of the U.S. CongressTom Steed Collection
an
Photograph Series
at the

Carl Albert Center The Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center is a nonpartisan institution devoted to teaching and research related to the United States Congress and, more broadly, to strengthening representative democracy through engaged and infor ...

*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steed, Tom 1904 births 1983 deaths 20th-century American newspaper editors 20th-century American politicians People from Eastland County, Texas People from Konawa, Oklahoma People from Shawnee, Oklahoma United States Army officers Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Oklahoma Journalists from Oklahoma Journalists from Texas People of the United States Office of War Information American male journalists United States Army personnel of World War II Military personnel from Texas