B. B. Comer
Braxton Bragg Comer (November 7, 1848 – August 15, 1927) was an American politician who served as the 33rd governor of Alabama from 1907 to 1911, and a United States senator in 1920.As governor, Comer presided over several reforms[1][2][3][4][5] such as railroad regulation and the lowering of business rates in Alabama to make them more competitive with other states.[8] He continued to operate his Barbour County plantation, with his brother John managing it, after he moved his family to Anniston in east central Alabama in 1885.It offered stock to business leaders, such as Frederick Mitchell Jackson Sr., who agreed to commit $150,000 to bring the mills to Birmingham."[9] Accepting the businessman's pledges of financial participation, the Trainers sought a local investor to assume the presidency of the mill.Comer believed giving more power to the state's Railroad Commission was the best way to end the discrimination and lower rates to a level allowing Alabama companies to compete with those in Georgia.The 1906 gubernatorial campaign in the Democratic primary...was notable as the party "dropped the word 'Conservative' from its formal name, demonstrating that it was comfortable with a more progressive platform.Through these new laws, Comer finally achieved lowering the rates to enable Alabama businesses to better compete with their counterparts in neighboring states.Governor Comer issued orders mobilizing the state militia to break up the strikers and their organized camps.[17][verification needed] In mid-August 1908, a delegation of prominent Birmingham citizens visited leaders of the striking miners and issued an explicit threat.They said that unless the strike ended, Birmingham would "make Springfield [Illinois] (where 12,000 whites had burned down the African-American section of the city) look like six cents."."[verification needed][19] Comer's reforms to improve education for whites were funded by increased revenues to the state.[22] The journalist Douglas Blackmon notes that Comer based his improvements for white citizens on funds derived from the slave labor of African Americans.Due to mandatory segregation in educational facilities at the time, only white children could attend the Catherine Comer School.[25] Progressives were divided on prohibition, with some believing it should be decided by local jurisdictions and others supporting the passage of state laws against the sale of alcohol.Other prohibition groups rallied to the League's push for a statewide law, forcing Comer to call the legislature into a special session to decide the matter.The 1909 special session enacted prohibition statewide, "but, not content with a mere statute, they also proposed a constitutional amendment to end the sale of liquor."[24] As state law prevented governors from running for successive terms, Comer was ineligible for the 1910 gubernatorial election.[12] In the spring of 1920, Governor Thomas Kilby appointed Comer to serve the remaining months of the late John H. Bankhead's term in the United States Senate.[31] More recently, Comer has been recognized as a progressive politician who advocated for increasing state revenue sources to benefit residents experiencing low incomes.Described as "no flaming liberal and...flawed like any person in history", Comer is recognized for his progressive stance concerning adequately funding state-provided services.
United States SenatorAlabamaThomas KilbyJohn H. BankheadJ. Thomas HeflinGovernor of AlabamaLieutenantHenry B. GrayWilliam D. JelksEmmet O'NealSpring Hill, AlabamaBirmingham, AlabamaElmwood Cemetery (Birmingham, Alabama)DemocraticHugh ComerJ. W. ComerUniversity of AlabamaUniversity of GeorgiaEmory and Henry CollegeAmericanrailroadDemocratplantationBirminghamtextile millsAvondale MillsenslavedJohn T. CroxtonAthensPhi Kappa Literary SocietyVirginiaCuthbert, GeorgiaBarbour CountyGovernor KilbyAnnistonJ.W. ComerJohn ComerChester, PennsylvaniaGeorgiawhite supremacistEufaula Massacre of 1874White LeagueRepublican PartyprimaryRussell M. Cunninghamchild laborSocialist Party of AmericaTennessee Coal, Iron and RailroadmilitialynchedSpringfieldconvict laborAlabama Polytechnic InstituteAuburnnormal schoolsGirl's Technical School at MontevalloAuburn (University)(The University of) MontevalloElmwood CemeterytuberculosisTheodore Roosevelttextile millB. B. Comer Memorial High SchoolB. B. Comer Memorial LibraryAuburn UniversityB. B. Comer BridgeScottsboro, AlabamaGovernors of AlabamaWayback MachineChisholm, HughEncyclopædia BritannicaFind a GraveU.S. SenateU.S. Senator (Class 2) from AlabamaOscar UnderwoodGovernorslieutenant governorsW. BibbT. BibbPickensMurphyG. MooreS. MooreFitzpatrickMartinChapmanCollierWinstonA. MooreShorterParsonsPattonSwayneLindsayHoustonE. A. O'NealT. JonesJohnstonSamfordE. O'NealHendersonBrandonGravesMillerSparksFolsom Sr.PersonsPattersonG. WallaceL. WallaceBrewerFolsom Jr.SiegelmanBentleyApplegateMcKinstryCunninghamMcDowellMerrillKnightCarmichaelHardwickBoutwellBeasleyMcMillanB. Baxley