Volume 16 , Issue 33

1962 Oklahoma Democrat Political Photo

[1962 photograph of Democrats posing in campaign photo in Oklahoma: Gene McGill, Carl Albert and W.P. Bill Atkinson.] - This last week I received from a daughter of an old friend of my folks (Gene & Vada McGill), an old 1960's (perhaps 1962) political photo showing my Dad (Gene McGill, on left), with Carl Albert (center) and W. P. "Bill" Atkinson, on right.

I am assuming this photograph was taken on the campaign trail when Carl Albert and Gene McGill were campaigning for W. P. "Bill" Atkinson in the Democratic primary in 1962. Atkinson was running against Raymond Gary that year on the Democratic ticket. While Henry Bellmon was running on the Republican ticket.

It was 31 May 1962, Thursday, that The Lawton Constitution reported that Democratic Raymond Gary conceded as the Democratic party's nomination for governor against W. P. "Bill" Atkinson. With the help of "Little Dixie's" Carl Albert, Atkinson won the Democratic primary for Governor race in Oklahoma, but did not win the governor race against Republican Henry Bellmon. And . . . in 1962, Bellmon became the first republican governor in that State.

You Southern Oklahomans might help point out where "Little Dixie" is in your neck of the woods, huh! Is Southeast Oklahoma still considered "Little Dixie" today? Or has it changed, too? For a quick starter, Little Dixie is the name given to southeast Oklahoma (Kiamichi country) which is/was heavily influenced by southern "Dixie" culture, and settled by southerners seeking a start in the new lands following the American Civil War. Its exact boundaries vary by source, falling mostly within the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma's tribal area as well as some Chickasaw and Muscogee Creek lands. It was during the tenure of Carl Albert that it was considered to be the "old 3rd Congressional District" of Oklahoma.

Several towns and cities in southeast Oklahoma use the Little Dixie name, helping to define the boundaries. A radio station in McAlester is owned by "Little Dixie Radio, Inc." There is/was a band in Tishomingo called "The Pride of Little Dixie." And . . . Harry Truman visited Marietta, in Love County, in 1948, giving a speech saying it was a pleasure to be in the "Little Dixie" region of Oklahoma. There was a 2010 film entitled Leaves of Grass, starring Edward Norton, and is mostly set in Little Dixie.   |  View or Add Comments (0 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

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