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American politician
Ibra Charles Blackwood
(November 21, 1878 – February 12, 1936) was the
97th Governor
of
South Carolina
from 1931 to 1935.
Biography
[
edit
]
Born in rural
Spartanburg County, South Carolina
, Blackwood studied at
Furman University
preparatory school and obtained his law degree from
Wofford College
.
[1]
During this time he became a brother of
Pi Kappa Alpha
. He then began to practice law in
Spartanburg
.
At the age of 24, Blackwood was elected to the
South Carolina House of Representatives
in 1902. From 1914 to 1916, Blackwood served as a
tax collector
for the
Internal Revenue Service
after which he became the
solicitor
for the
Seventh Judicial Circuit of South Carolina
.
[2]
Blackwood won a
contested Democratic primary
in 1930 to become the
97th governor
of South Carolina. His term as governor was noted for the creation of the
South Carolina Public Service Authority
in 1934 which provided for a
hydroelectric plant
at
Pinopolis Dam
and the construction of numerous dams on the
Santee
and
Cooper
Rivers. A major
strike
in 1934 by the majority of
textile
workers in the state forced Governor Blackwood to call up the
South Carolina National Guard
. However, the strike was so severe that the Governor had to commission "constables without compensation" and 6 strikers were killed by these special deputies in
Honea Path
on September 6.
[2]
[3]
Blackwood resumed the practice of law in Spartanburg upon leaving the governorship in 1935. He died almost a year later on February 12, 1936, and is buried in Greenlawn Memorial Gardens.
[1]
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