John H. Kerr

John H. Kerr

John Hosea Kerr (born December 31, 1873 in Yanceyville , Caswell County , North Carolina , †  June 21, 1958 in Warrenton , North Carolina) was an American politician . Between 1923 and 1953 he represented the state of North Carolina in the US House of Representatives .

Career

John H. Kerr was a great-nephew of Congressman John Kerr (1782–1842) from Virginia . The younger Kerr attended the public schools of his home country and then the Bingham's Military School in North Carolina and until 1895 the Wake Forest College . After studying law and being admitted to the bar in 1895, he began to work in this profession in Warrenton. Kerr was Mayor of Warrenton in 1897 and 1898. Between 1906 and 1916 he served as the district attorney in the North Carolina Third Judicial District. He was then a Superior Court judge between 1916 and 1923 . Kerr was also a curator for the University of North Carolina .

Politically, he was a member of the Democratic Party . In 1932 and 1940 he took part as a delegate at the Democratic National Conventions , at each of which Franklin D. Roosevelt was nominated as a presidential candidate. In 1941 he headed the US delegation to a continental American conference in Mexico City .

After the death of Representative Claude Kitchin , Kerr was elected as his successor to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC , at the by-election due for the second seat of North Carolina , where he took up his new mandate on November 6, 1923. After 14 re-elections, he could remain in Congress until January 3, 1953 . In the 1930s, most of the federal government's New Deal laws were passed there. Since 1941 the work of the Congress has also been determined by the events of the Second World War . After the end of this war, the Cold War began . During Kerr's tenure in the US House of Representatives, the 20th , 21st, and 22nd amendments were ratified. From 1931 to 1939, Kerr was chairman of an election committee ( Committee on Elections No. 3 ).

In 1952 he was no longer nominated for re-election by his party. After leaving the US House of Representatives, he withdrew from politics. John Kerr died in Warrenton on June 21, 1958. Both his son and grandson - both also named John H. Kerr - became members of the North Carolina House of Representatives .

In honor of the MP, a large reservoir on the Roanoke River in Virginia and North Carolina is officially named John H. Kerr Reservoir .

Web links

• John H. Kerr in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• John H. Kerr in the database of Find a Grave (English)