Portal:Houston/Selected biography/April 2008

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Albert Richard Thomas (April 12, 1898–February 15, 1966) was a Democratic Congressman from Houston, Texas for 29 years and was responsible for bringing the Johnson Space Center to Houston. Thomas was born in Nacogdoches, Texas on April 12, 1898 Lonnie (Langston) and James Thomas. He attended local schools, worked in his father’s store, and served as a Lieutenant in the United States Army during World War II before graduating from the Rice Institute and the University of Texas Law School. He married Lera Millard. Thomas was admitted to the bar in 1927, and he practiced law and served as Nacogdoches County Attorney before moving to Houston in 1930 to become Assistant United States District Attorney for the Southern District of Texas.

By the time of his death on February 15, 1966, at the age of 67, Thomas ranked eleventh in seniority in the House. The voters of Harris County elected his wife Lera to complete his term. Some time after he died, Houston's Albert Thomas Convention and Exhibit Center was named in his honor.