Harvey Parnell

Harvey Parnell (born February 28, 1880 in Orlando , Cleveland County , Arkansas , † January 16, 1936 in Little Rock , Arkansas) was an American politician and between 1928 and 1933 governor of Arkansas.

Early years and political advancement

Harvey Parnell graduated from Warren High School. He then worked as a clerk in a hardware store and as an accountant for a company that he bought himself in 1902, but soon sold again. Then he bought land in Chicot County and built a farm. Parnell was a member of the Democratic Party and was elected to the Arkansas state parliament in 1919. He stayed there until 1921. Between 1923 and 1925 he was a member of the state senate. In 1926 he was appointed lieutenant governor ( lieutenant governor elected) of Arkansas. After the incumbent governor John Martineau resigned from his office in early March 1928 to take up a judge's post, Parnell moved up to the new governor.

Arkansas Governor

Harvey Parnell first ended the term started by Martineau and was then re-elected twice, so that he remained in office until January 10, 1933. In his time, the Henderson State Teacher College in Arkadelphia, a training center for the teaching staff. In addition, he promoted the education system by increasing the corresponding budget. It was then that the tobacco tax was introduced. More money was also made available for expanding the road network. A Ministry of Commerce and Industry was also created at that time. His tenure was overshadowed by the effects of the Great Depression following the October 1929 New York stock market crash. As everywhere in the USA and the western world, there was also an increase in unemployment and banking crises in Arkansas in the early 1930s, which led to popular discontent. The crisis reached its peak around 1932/1933. Parnell and his administration were as powerless in the face of the crisis as most governors in the other US states of those years. The New Deal policy introduced under President Franklin D. Roosevelt brought a change .

Another résumé

After the end of his tenure, Parnell initially retired to his farm. He later worked for the Reconstruction Finance Corporation as part of economic rebuilding . Harvey Parnell died in January 1936. He was married to Mable Winston, with whom he had two children.

literature

Robert Sobel and John Raimo (Eds.): Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789–1978. Volume 1, Meckler Books, Westport, 1978. 4 volumes.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Parnell, Harvey
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American politician, governor of Arkansas
DATE OF BIRTH	February 28, 1880
PLACE OF BIRTH	Orlando , Cleveland County (Arkansas)
DATE OF DEATH	January 16, 1936
Place of death	Little Rock , Arkansas