Ralph Nader Congress Project. Citizens Look at Congress: Jack Edwards, Republican Representative from Alabama. Washington, D. C.: Grossman Publishers, 1972.
EDWARDS, William Jackson (Jack)
1928–2019
Biography
EDWARDS, William Jackson (Jack), (great, great grandson of William F. Aldrich), a Representative from Alabama; born in Birmingham, Jefferson County, Ala., September 20, 1928; graduated from Shades Cahaba, Homewood, Ala., 1946; attended the United States Naval School (academy and college preparatory) in 1947 and 1948; B.S., University of Alabama, University, Ala., 1952; LL.B., University of Alabama, University, Ala., 1954; United States Marine Corps, 1946-1948 and 1950-1951; admitted to the bar in 1954; lawyer, private practice; instructor in business law, 1954; member of Transportation Advisory Committee to Mobile City Planning Commission, 1960-1963; delegate, Alabama Republican state convention, 1970; elected as a Republican to the Eighty-ninth and to the nine succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1965-January 3, 1985); not a candidate for reelection to the Ninety-ninth Congress in 1984; resumed the practice of law; nominated by President Reagan to Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, 1987; was a resident of Point Clear, Ala.; died on September 27, 2019, in Fairhope, Ala.
View Record in the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress
[ Top ]External Research Collections
Auburn University
Auburn, AL
Papers:
In Alabama Farm Bureau Federation Records, 1922-1980, approximately 47 cubic feet (1 foot congressional correspondence).
Correspondence between Congressmen and Farm Bureau officials concerning legislation. A finding aid is available in the repository.
University of South Alabama
Archives, Springhill Avenue Campus
Mobile, AL
Papers:
1965-1984, 253 cubic feet.
The collection spans Jack Edwards's twenty-year congressional career and includes congressional office and subject files; constituent correspondence; departmental documents; files related to the operation of his congressional office; appointment books for 1965-1981; and papers related to his district visits. These are supplemented by Republican Party and convention materials as well as speeches, legislation, news releases, voting records, photographs, and audio and video cassettes. Of particular interest are files related to Edwards's Defense Appropriations Subcommittee assignment; his stint as vice chair of the Republican Conference; Vietnam; school busing and desegregation; George Wallace for President campaign; the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway and other waterways in the first district; and matters related to the Watergate scandal, including the impeachment proceedings and later pardon of President Nixon. A finding aid is available in the repository.
Audiotape:
1972-1984, approximately 280 hours of audio tape.
The audio tapes are from the Jack Edwards's Talk Show.
[ Top ]
Related Media
Registering the First Black Voters
Registering African Americans for the first time in the aftermath of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The Honorable William Jackson (Jack) Edwards, U.S. Representative of Alabama
Interview recorded August 23, 2012
–
Deed of Gift
Transcript (PDF)
A States' Rights Lens
Representative Edwards reflects on trying to balance the need for change and states' rights.
The Honorable William Jackson (Jack) Edwards, U.S. Representative of Alabama
Interview recorded August 23, 2012
–
Deed of Gift
Transcript (PDF)
Hiding From "The FBI"
A story that illustrates the tense relationship between the federal government and local officials in Alabama in the 1960s.
The Honorable William Jackson (Jack) Edwards, U.S. Representative of Alabama
Interview recorded August 23, 2012
–
Deed of Gift
Transcript (PDF)
Selma's Impact on the Alabama Delegation
How Selma changed the political landscape of Alabama.
The Honorable William Jackson (Jack) Edwards, U.S. Representative of Alabama
Interview recorded August 28, 2012
–
Deed of Gift
Transcript (PDF)
Alabama Delegation Reacts to Selma
The reaction of the Alabama Members after the attempted march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
The Honorable William Jackson (Jack) Edwards, U.S. Representative of Alabama
Interview recorded August 23, 2012
–
Deed of Gift
Transcript (PDF)
Reactions to Selma
Remembering the varying responses of the citizens of Alabama to the events in Selma.
The Honorable William Jackson (Jack) Edwards, U.S. Representative of Alabama
Interview recorded August 23, 2012
–
Deed of Gift
Transcript (PDF)