Albertis S. Harrison, Jr.

Albertis S. Harrison, Jr.
Harrison in 1962
Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia
In office October 23, 1968 – December 31, 1981
Preceded by	Claude V. Spratley
Succeeded by	Charles S. Russell
59th Governor of Virginia
In office January 13, 1962 – January 15, 1966
Lieutenant	Mills E. Godwin, Jr.
Preceded by	J. Lindsay Almond, Jr.
Succeeded by	Mills E. Godwin, Jr.
28th Attorney General of Virginia
In office January 13, 1958 – April 20, 1961
Preceded by	Kenneth C. Patty
Succeeded by	Frederick R. Gray
Member of the Virginia Senate from the 7th district
In office January 14, 1948 – January 8, 1958
Preceded by	Y. Melvin Hodges
Succeeded by	Joseph C. Hutcheson
Personal details
Born	Albertis Sydney Harrison, Jr. ( 1907 -01-11)January 11, 1907 Alberta, Virginia, U.S.
Died	Lawrenceville, Virginia, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Lacey Virginia Barkley
Alma mater	University of Virginia (LL.B.)
Profession	Lawyer
Religion	Episcopalian
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Navy
Unit	U.S. Naval Reserve
Battles/wars	World War II

Albertis Sydney Harrison, Jr. (January 11, 1907 – January 23, 1995) was an American politician and jurist. A Democrat associated with Virginia's Byrd Organization, he was the 59th Governor of Virginia in 1962–66, and the first governor of Virginia to have been born in the 20th century.

Early life, education

Harrison was born in Alberta, Virginia, the son of Albertis S. Harrison, Sr. and Lizzie, née Goodrich. He was related to Benjamin Harrison V, signer of the Declaration of Independence, and to United States Presidents William Henry Harrison and Benjamin Harrison. He received an LL.B degree from the University of Virginia Law School in 1928.

Harrison married Lacey Virginia Barkley c.1940. They had two children.

Legal and political career

Harrison went into legal practice in Lawrenceville, Virginia, where he became town attorney, before being elected commonwealth's attorney of Brunswick County.

He was elected to the Senate of Virginia in 1947. He served there for ten years, before being elected Attorney General of Virginia in 1957.

Harrison resigned as Attorney General in April 1961 to run for Governor, winning election that November with 63.84% of the vote, defeating Republican H. Clyde Pearson. His administration increased educational financing for new schools and laboratories and raised teachers' pay. He promoted the development of state-supported colleges and technical schools as well as improved vocational training. He helped to modernize state banking laws to attract investment and accelerated highway construction.

He sat on the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, later renamed the Supreme Court of Virginia, from 1968 to 1981. In 1968 he chaired the Commission on Constitutional Revision that drafted the 1971 Constitution of Virginia.

Massive Resistance

As Attorney General, Harrison was responsible for defending the state's resistance to school integration, as part of the Massive Resistance strategy endorsed and led by the state's political leader, United States Senator Harry F. Byrd. This culminated in the closing of public schools in Prince Edward County in 1959, with white students going to a private academy at state expense while black students were left to volunteer efforts.

In 1963, a Federal court ordered the Prince Edward County Board of Supervisors to reopen the schools, a decision upheld by the United States Supreme Court. Harrison told the board to comply unless they were willing to risk prosecution. By this time, he, like a number of other Byrd Democrats, had concluded that obstinate resistance to integration could not continue.

Death; legacy

Harrison died of a heart attack at his home in Lawrenceville on January 23, 1995. He is buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Lawrenceville, Virginia

The courthouse in Lawrenceville is named in his honor.