Title: John K. Shields Speech

Date/Date Range :   1913

Extent: 0.1 linear feet

Abstract:

This collection consists of a transcript of a commencement address given by Senator John K. Shields in 1913 at Maryville College. Shields praises famous Appalachian settlers and the American constitution, warns of the growth of federal government, attacks immigration for threatening the American way of life, and denounces efforts at building Anglo-American friendship.

Call number: MS-0262

Repository: University of Tennessee Special Collections Library, Knoxville, TN

Aquisition Information:

Collection is property of Special Collections

Access Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Copyright:

The copyright interests in this collection remain with the creator. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library.

Preferred Citation:

[Identification of Item], John K. Shields Speech, MS-0262. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Special Collections Library.

Collection consists of a single folder.

John Knight Shields was born at Clinchdale (near Bean's Station), Tennessee on August 15, 1858. He studied law and was admitted to the Tennessee Bar in 1879. He served as chancellor of the twelfth chancery division from 1893 to 1894 and then returned to practicing law in Morristown, Tennessee. Shields served as an associate justice (1902-1910) and as the chief justice (1910-1913) of the Supreme Court of Tennessee until he was nominated for and elected as a U.S. Senator. Shields was reelected in 1918 and served in the Senate until March 3, 1925. He was unsuccessful in his 1924 bid for reelection. While a member of the U.S. Senate, Shields served on the Committee on Canadian Relations (63rd and 64th Congresses), Committee on Interoceanic Canals (65th Congress), and the Committee on Transportation and Sale of Meat Products (66th Congress). After his time in the Senate, Shields returned to Tennessee to practice law in Knoxville. He died at his Clinchdale country estate near Knoxville, Tennessee on September 30, 1934, and he was interred in the Memorial Cemetery in Knoxville.

This collection consists of a transcript of a commencement address given by Senator John K. Shields in 1913 at Maryville College. Shields praises famous Appalachian settlers and the American constitution, warns of the growth of federal government, attacks immigration for threatening the American way of life, and denounces efforts at building Anglo-American friendship.

Interested researchers may also wish to consult MS-0312: John Knight Shields Letters, 1894-1924; MS-1708: John K. Shields Papers, 1841-1948; and MS-3031: Senator John Knight Shields Letters, 1913 for more information on Shields and his family.

• Maryville College.
• United States -- Politics and government -- 1913-1921.
• Appalachian Region -- History.