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Buford Ellington Papers

Dates

1957-1972

Creator

Ellington, Buford and staff

Summary/Abstract

The Buford Ellington Papers includes articles and journals from 1957 to 1972, books related to Tennessee or U.S. government, speeches given by Ellington, and memorabilia from Ellington’s political career. In addition, the collection has numerous scrapbooks that have articles and photographs from Ellington’s career as governor of Tennessee. There are also photographs of various political events such as gubernatorial and presidential inaugurations, celebrations, and political campaigns.

Quantity/Physical Description

20.0 linear feet

Language(s)

English

Repository

Albert Gore Research Center, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN 37132, (615) 898-2632

Restrictions on Access

None

Copyright

The donors transferred any legal title, copyright, and other such rights as they may have owned to the public through Middle Tennessee State University. It should be noted that the majority of these papers consist of collections of material to which the c

Preferred Citation

(Box Number, Folder Number), Buford Ellington Papers, Albert Gore Research Center, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, Tennessee

Acquisition

John Ellington and Ann Ellington-Wagner, son and daughter of Buford Ellington, donated his collection to the Albert Gore Research Center at Middle Tennessee State University in 1998.

Processed By

Original processor undetermined

Arrangement

The papers are arranged in 12 series by subject. (See scope and content notes.) The memorabilia listed box 10a are large framed items shelved with the rest of the collection. The scrapbooks that are the numbers 9-32 are stored separately.

Biographical Note

Buford Ellington was born on June 27, 1907, in Holmes County, Mississippi. After his early education in Goodman, Mississippi, he studied religion at Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi. While editing a newspaper in Durant, Mississippi, he met and married Catherine Cheek of Marshall County, Tennessee. After ten years of marriage he moved his family to Verona, Marshall County, Tennessee, where he bought a general store. He then spent eight years as a salesman for International Harvester in Memphis. In 1942 he bought a farm and traveled the state for the Farm Bureau Insurance System.

Ellington entered politics by working for Jim Nance McCord in his races for U.S. representative and governor, and serving as Marshall County campaign manager for Joe Ervins in 1946. In 1948 Ellington was elected to the state legislature, representing Marshall County. In 1952 he led Frank Clement’s campaign to defeat incumbent Governor Gordon Browning. After Clement was elected, Ellington became commissioner of agriculture. When Clement could not succeed himself as governor in 1958 Ellington ran, preserving the Clement-Ellington political coalition. He was elected, took office in 1959, and served until 1963.

During the 1960 Democratic primaries for president, Ellington supported Lyndon B. Johnson and served as the chairman of the 1960 Democratic National Convention. After his four-year term as governor, he sat out the 1962 race as required by the state constitution, and once again Frank Clement was elected governor. Ellington served as vice president of the Louisville-Nashville Railroad until he took a position in President Johnson’s civil rights program. He was reelected governor in 1966 and served from 1967 until 1971. Shortly after leaving the governor’s office, Ellington died while playing golf in Florida on April 3, 1972. He was buried in Lone Oak Cemetery in Lewisburg, Tennessee. (The biographical information is from Tennessee: A Political History by Phillip Langsdon.)

Scope and Content

The Buford Ellington Papers contains documents covering primarily the period from 1957 to 1972 and relating to Ellington’s political career comprise the majority of the 20.0 linear foot collection. It includes articles and journals from 1965 to 1972, books related to Tennessee or U.S. government, speeches given by Ellington, and memorabilia from Ellington’s political career. In addition, the collection has numerous scrapbooks that have articles and photographs from Ellington’s career as governor of Tennessee. There are also photographs of various political events such as gubernatorial and presidential inaugurations, celebrations, and political campaigns.

Series 1: Articles/Journals, 1965-1978 (15 Folders)
This series includes many items that are related to Tennessee such as visitors guides, Department of Agriculture reports, and Department of Mental Health Bulletins.

Series 2: Brochures, 1967-1969 (5 Folders)
This series provides biographical directories of various counties in Tennessee, pamphlets from the news show Meet the Press and a souvenir guide of the Tennessee State capitol.

Series 3: Correspondence, 1960s-1970s (2 Folders)
These files contain letters that were sent to Ellington when he was governor of Tennessee. The correspondence is arranged alphabetically by the last names of the senders.

Series 4: Newspaper Clippings, 1961-1979 (11 Folders)
These files contain a varied assortment of items that were collected by Ellington and his family. Some of the materials included in this series are press releases regarding the Tennessee governor’s race and campaign trail in 1966, information on Ellington’s wife, Catherine Cheek, and the governor’s mansion history.

Series 5: Other Printed Materials, 1962-1965 (6 Folders)
This series has a variety of materials that were collected by Ellington. Some of the items are pamphlets on Tennessee governors, a book on Industrial Development in Tennessee and a bulletin on the White House conference on health.

Series 6: Reports, 1965-1970 (8 Folders)
These files contain a varied assortment of items such as Ellington’s report to the Nation during Boy Scout Week, manufacturing growth in Tennessee by industry, and a survey of the political climate in Tennessee in 1966.

Series 7: Speeches, 1958-1971 (10 Folders)
This series provides numerous speeches that were made by Ellington or collected by him during his political career. Some interesting items that are included in the files are a campaign introduction for Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1960s, President Johnson’s Inauguration Address, and various other Ellington speeches.

Series 8: Subject Files. 1958-1971 (48 Folders)
This series is the largest in the collection and contains numerous items that were collected by Ellington. Some of the materials include information on Louisville and Nashville Railroads, Southern Governor’s conference bulletins, Emergency Planning Commission papers and information on Lyndon B. Johnson.

Series 9: Books, 1963-1970 (21 Items)
The items in this series were collected by Ellington. Some interesting sources in this series are a Blue Ribbon Tennessee Walking Horse Official Yearbook, Fifty Years of Primary Elections from 1916-1966, a book entitled Fifty Years of Tennessee Elections 1916-1966 and 2 volumes on the Public Papers of President Lyndon B. Johnson.

Series 10: Audio/Visual, 1959-1966 (10 Items)
This series has numerous items that provide audio or visual insights of Ellington’s campaign for governor. Some items of interest include recordings of Ellington’s campaign music and inauguration speeches.

Series 11: Memorabilia, 1959-1970 (27 Items)
Some of the items in this collection are posters of the interior of the State Legislature building, souvenirs from gubernatorial campaigns and letters from the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce.

Series 12: Scrapbooks, 1958-1970 (27 Items)
This series provides books with various photographs, newspaper clippings and press releases during Ellington’s run for governor and during his years as governor.

Associated Materials

All photographs from the Ellington Papers are stored separately in the Ellington section of the Albert Gore Research Center Photograph Collection.

Related Collections

John Bragg Papers

Subject Terms

Persons/Families

Buford Ellington, Lyndon B. Johnson, Catherine Cheek, Winfield Dunn

Organizations/Corporate Names

Democratic Party (U.S.), Tennessee Department of Agriculture, Tennessee Department of Mental Health, Louisville and Nashville Railroad, Southern Governors�¢ï¿½ï¿½ Conference, Tennessee Valley Authority

Places

Tennessee; Nashville, Tennessee; Tellico Dam, Loudon County, Tennessee

Subjects (General)

Politics, Tennessee Governors, Democratic Party, Tennessee Department of Agriculture, Tennessee Department of Mental Health, Louisville and Nashville Railroad, Industrial development in Tennessee, Tellico Dam, Southern GovernorsÃ�¢ï¿½ïÂ

Occupations

Material Types

Articles, Maps, Brochures, Correspondence, Newspaper Clippings, Reports, Speeches, Books, Audio/Visual material, Subject files, Memorabilia

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Albert Gore Research Center

P. O. Box 193, 1301 E. Main St.
Middle Tennessee State University
Murfreesboro, Tennessee 37132

Main: 615-898-2632
University Archives: 615-898-5202
Director: 615-898-2633

Location

Todd Hall Suite 128

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