George H. Tinkham

George Holden Tinkham (October 29, 1870 – August 28, 1956) was a member of the United States House of Representatives from the state of Massachusetts.

His parents were George Henry Tinkham, a produce dealer who became a trustee of estates, and Frances Ann Holden. He graduated from Harvard College in 1894.

Tinkham served as a member of the Boston Common Council in 1897 and 1898. After this first venture into politics he resumed his education at Harvard Law School. He was admitted to the bar in 1899 and commenced practice in Boston. He then returned to public office, serving as a member of the Boston board of aldermen 1900-1902.

He spent the next several years working as a lawyer. In 1910 he returned to public service, being elected as a member of the Massachusetts State Senate, where he served from 1910 to 1912.

During World War I he served in the military.

He was elected as a Republican to the Sixty-fourth Congress and to the thirteen succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1915-January 3, 1943). During that time Tinkham was nicknamed "Uncle George". Tinkham took varied and often unpopular stances. He opposed women's suffrage, prohibition, segregation, and abolishing child labor. During the Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, he was a staunch opponent of the New Deal and a non-interventionist. He was interviewed by Will Lang Jr. of Life in 1938. He did not stand for renomination in 1942. He continued to practice law in Boston until his retirement; died in Cramerton, N.C., August 28, 1956; interment in Forest Hills Cemetery, Boston, Mass.

In his spare time, he went on safaris in Kenya. During one of his expeditions, he won a leopard hunter championship.

External links

• George H. Tinkham at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Find-A-Grave biography