John M. Patterson, a defiant segregationist who defeated and preceded George C. Wallace as the governor of Alabama as the South plunged into the violence and turmoil of the civil rights movement in the late 1950s and ’60s, died on Friday at his home in Goldville, Ala. His daughter, Barbara Patterson Scholl, confirmed the death, The Associated Press reported. In those days, a primary victory was tantamount to election in heavily Democratic Alabama. The youngest governor in Alabama history at 37, Mr. Patterson had only one term, from 1959 to 1963, and was constitutionally barred from a second consecutive term. Klan “welcome” signs were posted in many towns, and Klan leaders called openly at the governor’s mansion in Montgomery.

Source: New York Times June 05, 2021 23:48 UTC