Henry Bascom Steagall speeches, MSS.1341

Abstract: A collection of twenty-seven speech texts, plus a small group of miscellaneous papers and a memorial address to this Alabama congressman.Scope and Content Note: Henry Bascom Steagall speechesBiographical/Historical Note: Stegall was a lawyer and congressman from Ozark, Alabama. He was born in Clopton, Dale County, Alabama, 19 May 1873, the son of William Collinsworth and Mary Jane Peacock Steagall. He attended Southeast Alabama Agricultural School, Abbeville, Alabama, 1890-92, and received the LL.B. degree from the University of Alabama, 1893. He was admitted to the Alabama Bar in 1893 and began the practice of law. He subsequently served as the Solicitor of Dale County (1902-08) as member of the Alabama House of Representatives (1906-07) and as prosecuting attorney, 3rd Alabama District (1907-1914). He was simultaneously a member of the Alabama State Democratic Executive Committee, 1906-1910. He was first elected to Congress in 1915 and served there until 1941, representing the 3rd Alabama District in the 64th-76th Congresses. He was the chief architect of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and was chairman of the House Banking and Currency Committee, co-chairman of the William B. Bankhead for President Movement, 1940, and placed Bankhead's name in nomination for President of the United States at the Democratic National Convention, Chicago, Illinois, 1940. Stegall married Sally Mae Thompson, of Tuskegee, Alabama, 27 December 1900. He died 22 November 1943