O. C. Fisher
Member of the
U.S. House of Representatives
from Texas's 21st district
In office
January 3, 1943 – December 31, 1974
Preceded byCharles L. South
Succeeded byBob Krueger
District attorney
Texas 51st Judicial District
In office
1937–1943
Member
Texas House of Representatives
53rd District
In office
1935–1937
County Attorney
Tom Green County
In office
1931–1935
Personal details
Born
Ovie Clark Fisher

(1903-11-22)November 22, 1903
Junction, Texas
DiedDecember 9, 1994(1994-12-09) (aged 91)
Junction, Texas
Resting placeJunction Cemetery
Junction, Texas
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseMarian E. De Walsh
ChildrenRhoda
ResidenceSan Angelo, Texas
Alma materUniversity of Texas at Austin Baylor Law School
ProfessionAttorney

Ovie Clark Fisher (November 22, 1903 – December 9, 1994) was an attorney and author who served for 32 years as the U.S. representative for Texas's 21st congressional district.

Early life

Fisher was born in Junction in Kimble County, Texas to Jobe Bazilee and Rhoda Catherine Clark Fisher.[1] He married Marian E. De Walsh on September 11, 1927. A daughter named Rhoda was the couple's only child.

Fisher attended University of Texas at Austin, University of Colorado at Boulder, and Baylor University at Waco, from which he received his LL.B.[2] He was admitted to the bar in 1929.

Career

Fisher practiced law in San Angelo in West Texas for two years.[3] In 1931, he was elected county attorney for Tom Green County.

Fisher represented the 53rd District of Texas in the Texas House of Representatives[4] from 1935 to 1937. From 1937 to 1943, Fisher was District Attorney for the 51st Judicial District of Texas. [5]

In 1942, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives[6] as a Democrat and served in the 78th Congress[7] to the 93rd Congress. In 1972, the Republican Doug Harlan held Fisher to 57 percent of the general election vote. Paul Burka of Texas Monthly said Harlan's success was "one of the first indications that the dominance of the rural conservative Democrats in Texas politics could not be sustained."[8]

Fisher was one of five U.S. representatives from Texas to sign the "Southern Manifesto"[9] in protest of the US Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education.[10] Fisher voted against the Civil Rights Acts of 1957,[11] 1960,[12] 1964,[13] and 1968[14] as well as the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution[15] and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.[16]

After heart surgery[17] in 1973, Fisher announced that he would not be stand for re-election in 1974.[18] His party nominated Robert Krueger as his successor, who defeated Harlan, who made his second and last race for Congress.

Fisher died on December 9, 1994.[19]

Legacy

Baylor University is the repository for the O.C. Fisher Papers.[20]

In 1975, San Angelo Lake, a reservoir managed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers was renamed O.C. Fisher Reservoir in his honor.[21] San Angelo State Park[22] is on the shores of the reservoir.

Fraternal memberships

Fisher had membership in the following organizations:[23]

Works

  • Fisher, O.C. (1937). It Occurred in Kimble The Story of a Texas County. Anson Jones Press. ASIN: B001KCW7DU.
  • Members of the Potomac Corral of the Westerners, (O.C. Fisher) (1960). Great Western Indian Fights. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-585-32514-6.
  • Fisher, O.C. (1963). The Texas Heritage of the Fishers and the Clarks. Anson Jones Press. ASIN: B0007E8BS2.
  • Fisher, O.C.; Dykes, J.C. (1967). King Fisher: His Life and Times. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-0711-1.
  • Fisher, O.C. (1978). Cactus Jack : A Biography of John Nance Garner. Texian Press. ISBN 978-0-87244-066-1.
  • Fisher, O.C. (1980). From New Deal to Watergate. Texian Press. ASIN: B0006XMO1O.
  • Fisher, O.C. (1980). Political Miscellany. Texian Press. ASIN: B0006E26IO.
  • Fisher, O.C.; Pope, Jack; Anderson, Gertrude; Gillman, Geneva (1988). John Berry and His Children. Jack Pope. ISBN 978-0-9621053-0-2.
  • O.C., Fisher (1985). The Speaker of Nubbin Ridge: The Story of the Modern Angora Goat. Talley Press. ASIN: B000712VUO.

References

  1. ↑ Leatherwood, Art: Ovie Clark Fisher from the Handbook of Texas Online. Retrieved June 19, 2010. Texas State Historical Association
  2. ↑ "About O. C. Fisher". Baylor University Waco, Texas. Retrieved June 19, 2010.
  3. ↑ "Fisher, Ovie Clark". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved June 19, 2010.
  4. ↑ Kestenbaum, Lawrence. "Texas: State House of Representatives, 1930s". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved June 19, 2010.
  5. ↑ "Fisher Biographical Chronology". Baylor University Waco. Retrieved June 19, 2010.
  6. ↑ Kestenbaum, Lawrence. "Texas: U.S. Representatives, 1940s". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved June 19, 2010.
  7. ↑ "Committees Served-O.C. Fisher". Baylor University Waco. Retrieved June 19, 2010.
  8. ↑ Paul Burka (November 11, 2008). "Douglas Harlan, RIP". Retrieved February 20, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Southern Manifesto" (PDF). Congressional Record - Senate: 4459–4461.
  10. ↑ "Southern Manifesto on Integration (March 12, 1956)". WNET. Retrieved May 17, 2018.
  11. ↑ "HR 6127. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957. -- House Vote #42 -- Jun 18, 1957". GovTrack.us. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  12. ↑ "HR 8601. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1960. APPROVAL BY THE … -- House Vote #106 -- Apr 21, 1960". GovTrack.us. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  13. ↑ "H.R. 7152. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964. ADOPTION OF A … -- House Vote #182 -- Jul 2, 1964". GovTrack.us. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  14. ↑ "TO PASS H.R. 2516, A BILL TO ESTABLISH PENALTIES FOR … -- House Vote #113 -- Aug 16, 1967". GovTrack.us. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  15. ↑ "S.J. RES. 29. CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO BAN THE USE OF … -- House Vote #193 -- Aug 27, 1962". GovTrack.us. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  16. ↑ "TO AGREE TO CONFERENCE REPORT ON S. 1564, THE VOTING … -- House Vote #107 -- Aug 3, 1965". GovTrack.us. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  17. ↑ "What the Politicians Say". Texas Monthly. 1973 September: 55.
  18. ↑ Brigance, Jim (April 25, 1974). "Contest Looms for U.S. House Seats". The Victoria Advocate.
  19. ↑ "Ex-Rep O.C. Fisher of Texas, Who Served 32 Years in Congress, Dies at 91". The Dallas Morning News. December 11, 1994.
  20. ↑ "O. C. Fisher Papers". Baylor University Waco. Retrieved June 19, 2010.
  21. ↑ "O.C. Fisher Reservoir". Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Retrieved June 19, 2010.
  22. ↑ "San Angelo State Park". Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Retrieved June 19, 2010.
  23. ↑ Kestenbaum, Lawrence. "Kimble Co-The Political Graveyard". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved June 19, 2010.

Sources

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