Galloway, Jewell M. "The Public Life of Joseph W. Byrns." Master's thesis, University of Tennessee, 1962.
BYRNS, Joseph Wellington
1869–1936
Biography
BYRNS, Joseph Wellington, (father of Joseph Wellington Byrns, Jr.), a Representative from Tennessee; born near Cedar Hill, Robertson County, Tenn., July 20, 1869; attended the common schools; was graduated from Nashville High School in 1887 and from the law department of Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn., in 1890; was admitted to the bar in 1890 and commenced the practice of law in Nashville; member of the State house of representatives, 1895-1901; member of the State senate in 1901-1903; unsuccessful candidate for district attorney general of Davidson County in 1902; elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-first and to the thirteen succeeding Congresses and served from March 4, 1909, until his death; chairman, Committee on Appropriations (Seventy-second Congress); majority leader (Seventy-third Congress), Speaker of the House of Representatives (Seventy-fourth Congress); chairman of the Democratic National Congressional Campaign Committee 1928-1930; was a nominee for reelection to the Seventy-fifth Congress at the time of his death; died in Washington, D.C., on June 4, 1936; funeral services were held in the Hall of the House of Representatives; interment in Mount Olivet Cemetery, Nashville, Tenn.
View Record in the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress
[ Top ]External Research Collections
Alabama Department of Archives & History
Montgomery, AL
Papers:
In the William B. Bankhead Papers, ca. 1875-1952, 33 cubic feet.
Other authors include Joseph Wellington Byrns. Series descriptions and a container listing are available in the repository.
Herbert Hoover Library
West Branch, IA
Papers:
In the Herbert Hoover Papers, 1922-1933, 45 pages..
Much of the material concerns endorsements for public appointments. A finding aid is available in the repository.
Springfield Public Library
Springfield, TN
Papers:
Includes scrapbooks and portions of his library. Most of his papers were destroyed by fire.
Tennessee State Library and Archives
Manuscript Section
Nashville, TN
Papers:
In the Robert Boyte Crawford Family Papers, ca. 1838-1963, approximately 4,500 items.
Correspondents include Joseph W. Byrns. An unpublished finding aid for the papers is available in the repository.
Papers:
In the Walter Wagner Faw Family Papers, ca. 1819-1956, 83.2 linear feet.
Correspondents include Joseph W. Byrns. An unpublished finding aid is available in the repository.
Papers:
In the Cordell Hull Papers, ca. 1901-1932, 750 items.
Correspondents include Joseph W. Byrns. An unpublished finding aid for the papers is available in the repository.
Papers:
In the John Trotwood Moore Family Papers, 1849-1957, 39.48 linear feet.
Correspondents include Joseph W. Byrns.
University of Virginia
Special Collections, Alderman Memorial
Library
Charlottesville, VA
Papers:
In the Thomas Walker Page Papers, 1906-1937, 4 feet.
Correspondents include Joseph Wellington Byrns. A finding aid for the papers is available in the repository.
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Bibliography / Further Reading
------. "Speaker Joseph W. Byrns: Party Leader in the New Deal." Tennessee Historical Quarterly 25 (Spring 1966): 63-76.
Irish, Ann B. Joseph W. Byrns of Tennessee: A Political Biography. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2001.