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Notable Graduates

Richmond Pearson Hobson

Richmond Pearson Hobson

Member of Congress

Class of 1889
  • Member of 60th Congress, 1907-1915 - Alabama(R)

Profile

 

Richmond Pearson Hobson, a representative from Alabama, was born in Greensboro, Hale County, Alabama on August 17, 1870. He attended private schools and Southern University. He was graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1889 and from the French National School of Naval Design at Paris in 1893. He served in the United States Navy from 1885 until 1903. He was special representative of the Navy Department to the Buffalo Exposition in 1901 and to the Charleston Exposition in 1901 and 1902. He served as a naval architect, author, and lecturer. He was elected as a Democrat to the Sixtieth and to the three succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1907-March 3, 1915). He was an unsuccessful candidate for nomination in 1916 to the Sixty-fifth Congress. Following that he moved to Los Angeles, Calif., and later to New York City. He organized the American Alcohol Education Association in 1921 and served as general secretary. He organized the International Narcotic Education Association in 1923 and served as president. He also organized the World Conference on Narcotic Education in 1926 and served as secretary general and as chairman of the board of governors. He was the founder of the World Narcotic Defense Association in 1927, serving as president. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1933 for sinking the collier Merrimac in 1898. He was made a rear admiral by act of Congress in 1934 and was founder and president of the Constitutional Democracy Association in 1935. He died in New York City on March 16, 1937; interment in Arlington National Cemetery.

 
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