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SKC Films Library >> American History >> United States: Local History and Description >> South Atlantic States >> Virginia |
![]() Governor of Virginia James Lindsay Almond, Jr., was born in Charlottesville, Virginia, on June 15, 1898. From a young age he showed an interest in oratory and politics and by the time he was sixteen he was making speeches on behalf of local political candidates. During the First World War, Almond served as a private in the Students Army Training Corps at the University of Virginia (1917-1918), after which he taught school at Locust Grove, Virginia, (1919) and served as the principal of Zoar High School (1921 and 1922). He graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1923, was admitted to the Virginia Bar that same year, and worked in private practice as a trial lawyer in Roanoke, Virginia, until becoming an Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney in 1930. Almond's rise up the political ladder began when he was an active participant in Harry F. Byrd's successful campaign for Governor of Virginia in 1925. He was also part of the Democratic presidential campaigns of Al Smith in 1928 and Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1932. He was rewarded for his work with an appointment as a Judge on the Hustings Court of the City of Roanoke in 1933. During his tenure on the Hustings Court, Almond fought against election fraud, illegal liquor sales, and unequal treatment given to whites and blacks by juries. Almond left the Hustings Court in 1945 to run for the U.S. House of Representatives seat vacated by the sudden resignation of Clifton Woodrum. He won a landslide victory and ultimately served from January 22, 1946, to April 17, 1948. During that tenure he participated in the debates on such major legislative efforts as the Marshall Plan and the Taft-Hartley Act, both of which he vigorously supported. Almond resigned from the House when he unexpectedly became Attorney General of Virginia following the death of Harvey Black Apperson. Much of his time in that office was spent fighting against school integration.
left: Almond being sworn in as Governor
right: Almond tells newsmen he favors postponing school openings until integration question is settled Almond left the Governor's office in 1962 and was appointed to the U.S. Court of Customs and Patent Appeals in June 1963. He served on that body until his death in Richmond, Virginia, on April 15, 1986. He is interred in Evergreen Burial Park in Roanoke. WEB SOURCES SEE ALSO |
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