John Rankin Rogers
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John Rankin Rogers (September 4, 1838—December 26, 1901) was the third governor of Washington state. Elected to two consecutive terms, he served between January 11, 1897 and his death. He was a Populist Democrat.
John R. Rogers authored many books, pamphlets and articles[1] that followed a Populist and Arcadian Agrarian spirit. Growing up in New England when Jeffersonian ideals were talked about frequently was a strong influence on his political future. He later moved to the South, where he was editor of the Kansas Commoner for several years in Wichita, and was an organizer within the Farmers' Alliance. He was an advocate for The Single Tax Movement[2], based on the American land reformer Henry George's theories, until coming to the conclusion that it would create too much government bureaucracy to institute.
As governor he supported the "Barefoot Schoolboy Act" which he had first sponsored while in the state legislature. The Act provided a mechanism of state funding to equalize support for free public education between counties which had a large tax base and those without. (See note below.)
The former football and track stadium at Washington State, Rogers Field, was named after John R. Rogers in 1902, the year after his death. A fire, a suspected arson, significantly damaged the wooden stadium in April 1970. The stadium was rebuilt and reopened in 1972, with its name changed to Martin Stadium, after Clarence D. Martin, the eleventh governor of Washington (ironically, a graduate of the University of Washington). His son, Dan Martin, a Los Angeles businessman, had pledged $250,000 to the project provided the stadium was named after his father.
Both John R. Rogers High School in Spokane and Governor John R. Rogers High School in Puyallup are named after the governor.
[edit] Further Reading
- Meany, Edmond S (1915). Governors of Washington : territorial and state. University of Washington,.Available online through the Washington State Library's Classics in Washington History collection
[edit] External links
- Examination of the Barefoot Schoolboy Act at Washington Secretary of State website
- John Rankin Rogers at Find A Grave
| Preceded by John Harte McGraw |
Governor of Washington 1897–1901 |
Succeeded by Henry McBride |
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