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Representative Jack Brinkley Collection (MC 4)

Biographical  Information

Born in the South Georgia town of Faceville, Jack Brinkley graduated from Young Harris College and then taught in public schools for two years. After serving as an Air Force pilot from 1951 to 1959, he returned to college, receiving his law degree from the University of Georgia in 1959. Having met his future wife, Lois Kite of Phenix City, while serving at Lawson Air Field, the Brinkleys returned to the Chattahoochee Valley, and he began practicing law in Columbus in 1959. In 1964, he was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives and just two years later won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. He served there until his retirement in 1982. He was the first 3rd District Congressman in the 20th century to live in Columbus, and when he retired was the senior member if the Georgia House delegation. Given his military background and the nature of his district he was alert to the needs of Fort Benning and Robins Air Force Base and to the needs of the military personnel and veterans in his district. He served in prominent positions on both the House Armed Services Committee and the House Veterans' Affairs Committee. In 1970 he was responsible for having the site of National Cemetery shifted from Atlanta to Fort Mitchell, Alabama. Brinkley always thought of himself as an independent Democrat and cast his vote according to the issue rather than according to the party line.

Scope and Content

This collection includes his office files and deals with these issues relating to Columbus/Muscogee County: Columbus Area Wage & Hour Office, 1980, Box 29; Energy - City of Columbus & Fort Benning - Solid Waste Disposal, Folder 2, Issues Correspondence, 1980, Box 64; HEW - Metro Columbus Urban League, Folder 33, Issues Correspondence, 1980, Box 66; Neighborhood Service Center, Folder 22, Issues Correspondence, 1979, Box 98; Housing - Property Tax Records in Muscogee County, Folder 17, & Housing - Metro Columbus Urban League, Inc., Folder 18, Issues Correspondence, 1977, box 130; Transportation-Georgia Projects, included North Columbus Bypass, folder 14, Issues Correspondence, 1977, Box 136; Columbus Housing Authority, Folder 4, Issues Correspondence, 1978; Box 146; Manchester Expressway, Victory Drive, & 13th Street Improvements, Lindsey Creek Bypass, Arrowhead Road, Columbus Metro Urban League (Action Grant Proposal), 4th Street Baptist Church, Rev. J.H. Flakes, HUD Grant, drainage in general, Bull Creek, & Weracoba Creek, Muscogee County Projects, Boxes 197 & 198; food distribution, Columbus Kiwanis Club (anti-crime program), new federal building in Columbus, improved bus transportation, municipal auditorium, Muscogee County Projects, Box 198; Economy and Population, Folder 30, Highways 27 & 280, Columbus-Albany-Brunswick Highway, Grants: UDAG & UMTA, regulation dam, LCAPDC, Muscogee County Projects, Box 240; and J. R. Allen, picture, Muscogee County Projects, Box 291.

The collection also includes files dealing with communities and counties within the district relating to the following types of issues: the Bicentennial celebration; education and de-segregation (circa 1970); water and sewer projects; energy and waste disposal projects; historic preservation and Main Street Projects; federal funding through HUD, HEW, UDAF, UMTA, and FHA; road construction projects including I-185, Corridor Z, and many local projects and related activities at Fort Benning and on the Chattahoochee-Flint-Apalachicola River System and its reservoirs; federal buildings in Columbus and LaGrange; creation of the Fort Mitchell National Cemetery; flood control; health care, especially for cancer, and emergency health facilities; and post offices (1966-1981) within the district.

Permission to Publish

Permission to publish material from the Representative Jack Brinkley Collection must be obtained from the Columbus State University Archives. Use of the following credit line for publication or exhibit is required:

Representative Jack Brinkley Collection
Columbus State University Archives 
Columbus, Georgia

Provenance

Donated by Jack T. Brinkley, September 17, 1982.

Box and Folder List

Box level inventory available in archives; a detailed card index to the papers is also open to researchers.