- Collection:
- Georgia Political Papers and Oral History Program
- Title:
- Oral history interview with Ellis Arnall, 1986 May 29
- Creator:
- Arnall, Ellis Gibbs, 1907-1992
- Contributor to Resource:
- Steely, Mel
Fitz-Simons, Ted
University of West Georgia. Georgia Political Papers and Oral History Program - Publisher:
- Carrollton, Ga. : University of West Georgia Special Collections in association with the Digital Library of Georgia
- Date of Original:
- 1986-05-29
- Subject:
- Georgia--Politics and government--1865-1950
Georgia--Politics and government--1951-
Governors--Georgia
Legislators--Georgia
Attorneys general--Georgia
University of the South--Alumni and alumnae
University of Georgia. School of Law--Alumni and alumnae
Georgia. General Assembly. House
Race relations--Georgia
Ku Klux Klan (1915- )
Mercer University
Newnan (Ga.)--History
Steel industry and trade--Georgia
Mills and millwork--Georgia
United Nations
School integration--Georgia
School integration--United States
Voter registration - People:
- Arnall, Ellis Gibbs, 1907-1992
Carter, Jimmy, 1924-
Disney, Roy O. (Roy Oliver), 1893-1971
Disney, Walt, 1901-1966
Maddox, Lester, 1915-2003
Odum, Benton
Poindexter, Clark
Talmadge, Eugene, 1884-1946
Talmadge, Herman E. (Herman Eugene), 1913-2002
Truman, Harry S., 1884-1972 - Location:
- United States, Georgia, 32.75042, -83.50018
- Medium:
- oral histories (literary works)
moving images - Type:
- Moving Image
- Format:
- video/mp4
- Description:
- Ellis Arnall (1907-1992) was born in Newnan, Georgia on March 20, 1907. After earning a degree in Greek from the University of the South, he served as president of his class and the student body at the University of Georgia where he got his law degree in 1931. He was elected to represent Coweta County, as a Democrat in the Georgia House of Representatives in 1932 at the age of 25, where he rose to the position of Speaker pro tempore. At the age of 31, he was appointed attorney general by Governor E.D. Rivers, and in 1942 he defeated Eugene Talmadge to become the nation's youngest governor. Arnall is considered one of the most progressive governors in Georgia history. Among his reforms was an end to the poll tax, lowering of the voting age, a revised state constitution, and paying off the state's debt. His popularity declined due to his support of court decisions allowing blacks to vote in the state's white only primaries. He was a successful lawyer and businessman and served for a short time in the Truman administration. He ran for governor again in 1966, but lost a runoff election to segregationist Lester Maddox. Arnall died of pneumonia at an Atlanta hospital in 1992.; Interviewed in Governor Arnall's Atlanta office on May 29, 1986, by Dr. Mel Steely and Ted Fitz-Simons.; Arnall begins the interview by discussing his educational background, explaining why he did not initially graduate from high school. However, he was allowed to attend Mercer University for a short time, later finishing his AB degree at Suwannee South University. Arnall then describes his perspective on the Two (sometimes known as Three) Governor Crisis of 1947. He discusses some of his ideas behind his campaigns and then begins talking about his law career and his involvement in the life insurance business as well as the motion picture business. He discusses the need for criteria that should be updated among the United Nations, as well as his reactions to the integrations of Georgia's schools. In the interview's conclusion, Arnall states that he is most proud of becoming the nation's youngest governor and the state's youngest attorney general-- that he had the ability to be the right person to make significant changes at such a young age. He gives advice to those planning on following in his footsteps regarding maintaining relationships with people as politicians, and states that he wants mandatory registration for voting in the future.
- External Identifiers:
- Metadata URL:
- https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/id:uwg_phc_arnall
- Digital Object URL:
- https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/uwg/phc/do:arnall
- Language:
- eng
- Bibliographic Citation (Cite As):
- Cite as: [interview title], Georgia Political Papers and Oral History Program oral history interviews. Annie Belle Weaver Special Collections, Irvine Sullivan Ingram Library, University of West Georgia
- Extent:
- 1 videocassette (circa 112 mins.)
- Original Collection:
- Georgia Political Papers and Oral History Program oral history interviews. Annie Belle Weaver Special Collections, Irvine Sullivan Ingram Library, State University of West Georgia
- Holding Institution:
- University of West Georgia. Special Collections
- Rights:
-
