Howard Carwile

Howard Carwile
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from the 35th district
In office January 9, 1974 – January 14, 1976
Preceded by	William F. Reid
Succeeded by	Gerald L. Baliles
Personal details
Born	Howard Hearnes Carwile (1911-11-14)November 14, 1911 Charlotte, Virginia, U.S.
Died	Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
Political party	Independent
Spouse(s)	Violet Talley
Alma mater	Alma White College Southeastern University

Howard Hearnes Carwile (November 14, 1911 – June 6, 1987) was an American lawyer and politician.

Family

Howard Carwile was born in Charlotte County, Virginia, to parents Willis Early Carwile (May 6, 1873 - May 10, 1950) and Allie Taylor (July 2, 1887 - November 23, 1968), they were tenant tobacco farmers. Howard was one of 13 children. He married Violet Virginia Talley (January 28, 1918 – October 21, 1994), daughter of John C. Talley (May 8, 1882 - ?) and Virginia Magnetta Cullingsworth (March 27, 1895 - Feb. 1986).

Howard and Violet had one son, Howard H. Carwile, Jr., and one grandchild, Taylor Lane Carwile.

Both Howard and Violet died in Richmond, Virginia. He is the great-great-grandson of Jacob Carwile, an American Revolutionary War soldier.

Education

• Graduate of Alma White College, Zarephath, New Jersey
• Graduate of Southeastern University Law School, Washington, D.C.

Background

Howard Carwile was known as a fiery, passionate trial attorney in Richmond, Virginia. He opposed the Byrd Organization in his early years, a machine of Conservative Democrats led by Harry Flood Byrd which dominated Virginia's politics from the 1920s until the mid-1960s.

Carwile represented many black clients as a trial lawyer in the 1940s through 1960s in Richmond. He was an ever-vigilant watchdog over the Richmond Police Department and champion for reform of Virginia's prisons and a general political gadfly. He was known for his colorful rhetoric in public, such as calling a city-hall boondoggle he disliked a "horrendous heap of hokum" and his campaign style, including an automobile completely covered in Carwile bumper-stickers. He was appreciated by Richmonders for his verbal theatrics, and in the 1970s it was not uncommon to hear someone say he or she was "shocked and appalled", a frequent Carwile exclamation. His case against Richmond Newspapers concerning an editorial by the Richmond Times-Dispatch reached the Virginia Supreme Court in 1954 and was decided in his favor. A collection of his papers is housed in the Special Collections and Archives section of the library of Virginia Commonwealth University.

• Ran as Independent for Governor of Virginia in 1945 against Democrat William M. Tuck and Republican S. Lloyd Landreth.
• Ran as Independent for Virginia U.S. Senator in 1948 against Democrat Absalom Willis Robertson, Republican Robert H. Woods, Progressive Virginia Foster Durr and Socialist Clarke T. Robbe
• Ran as Independent for Governor of Virginia in 1953 against Democrat Thomas Bahnson Stanley and Republican Theodore Roosevelt Dalton
• Ran as Democrat for Governor of Virginia in 1957 primary against J. Lindsay Almond, Jr. labeling himself a "Jacksonian Democrat". He campaigned for "peaceful compliance with the Supreme Court decision on integration", "preservation of Virginia's free public school system" and poll tax removal.
• Ran unsuccessfully as Independent for Virginia's 3rd congressional district of U.S. House in 1980 against Republican Thomas J. Bliley, Jr., Democrat John Aydelotte Mapp (April 20, 1913 – August 17, 2002) and Independent James B. Turney

Government offices held

• Richmond City Councilman - 1966 - resigned 1973
• Virginia House of Delegates – 35th District, Henrico County, Virginia, 1974-5, defeated for re-election by Gerald L. Baliles 1975

Served on Virginia House committees:

• Health, Welfare & Institutions
• Militia and Police

Memberships

• Association of Trial Lawyers of America
• Richmond Trial Lawyers Association
• Virginia Trial Lawyers Association
• American Bar Association
• Richmond Criminal Bar

Published and broadcast works

• Weekly columnist for the Richmond Afro-American newspaper
• Published Speaking from Byrdland, a compilation of his weekly radio programs decrying racial segregation
• Autobiography Carwile, His Life and Times, published June 1988 ISBN 1-55618-043-8

Clean up City Hall - every crevice and crack;

Purge the parasite and liquidate the quack.
Carwile in Council will be something new;
He will represent all but the privileged few.

"The Taxpayers Candidate"

— Howard Carwile, From his handbill as an unsuccessful candidate for Richmond City Council in 1962

References

• Find a Case: Carwile v. Richmond Newspapers, [1]

External links

• Time Magazine, "Bumpy Road in Richmond", 28 February 1972
• University of Virginia Television News of the Civil Rights Era 1950 - 1970