L.L. Patten oral history interview, August 11, 1971

Item — othertype: Oral History

Identifier: PattenLL_19710811_P1989-34

Staff Only

L.L. Patten oral history interview

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Scope and Contents

Interviewed by Jane Herndon. Among topics discussed: Lint Miller; pardons; Marvin Griffin; Roy Harris; Rivers's financial supporters; the 1936 governor’s race; Patten's Senatorial race in 1936; Rivers life after politics; political loyalties; Herndon's dissertation; 1936 supporters. Brick Blaylock; George Duckworth; John A. Boykin; Rivers's mausoleum; Rivers's newspaper; Eugene Lashley; Rivers in the legislature [this point is the start of the interview]; Jim Gillis and the highway department; Rivers and Gillis; Pattens appointment to the highway board; Lint Miller; reasons for split between Rivers and Miller; Miller's political ambitions; Rivers as an attorney; Rivers as a speaker. Ralph McGill's opinion of Rivers; Rivers's treatment of others; Rivers's last major speech; Marvin Griffin at Rivers's funeral; school buses; "little New Deal"; education reform; tax reform; corruption in the Rivers administration; the I.R.S.; Rivers's political enemies; Rivers's life after politics; Rivers's will; Rivers's family; creation of Lanier County.

Dates

Creation: August 11, 1971

Creator

Patten, L. L. (Lawson Leo), 1896- (Interviewee, Person)

Restrictions on Access

Oral history available for research.

Biographical Note

L. L. Patten served on the highway board under the Rivers administration, from 1939 to 1940. He also served Lanier County in the Georgia House of Representatives from 1929 to 1931, and served in the Georgia Senate from 1937 to 1938.