Alva B. Adams

The Honorable
Alva B. Adams
United States Senator
from Colorado
In office
May 17, 1923 – November 30, 1924
March 4, 1933 – December 1, 1941
Preceded by Samuel D. Nicholson (1923)
Karl C. Schuyler (1933)
Succeeded by Rice W. Means (1924)
Eugene D. Millikin (1941)
Personal details
Born (1875-10-29)October 29, 1875
Del Norte, Colorado
Died December 1, 1941(1941-12-01) (aged 66)
Washington, D.C.
Resting place Roselawn Cemetery
Pueblo, Colorado
Political party Democratic
Alma mater Yale University
Columbia Law School
Occupation Lawyer, Senator
For the Governor of Colorado, see Alva Adams (governor).

Alva Blanchard Adams (October 29, 1875 – December 1, 1941) was a Democratic politician who represented Colorado in the United States Senate from 1923 until 1924 and again from 1933 to 1941.

Biography

Adams was born in Del Norte, Colorado and graduated from Phillips Academy in 1893, Yale University in 1896, and Columbia Law School in 1899. He became a county attorney in Pueblo County, Colorado in 1909, a regent of the State University of Colorado in 1911, and Pueblo city attorney in 1911.

During World War I, Adams served as a major in the Judge Advocate General's department in 1918 and 1919. In 1923, he was appointed to fill the vacancy in the United States Senate caused by the death of Samuel D. Nicholson. He served until a special election in November 1924 (in which he did not run). He ran, but did not win, in the regular election in 1924 for Colorado's other U.S. Senate seat. He ran successfully in 1932 with Oscar L. Chapman managing his campaign, and again in 1938. He died in office from a myocardial infarction in Washington, D.C. in 1941, just days before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

The Alva B. Adams Tunnel under Rocky Mountain National Park is named for him. The Alva B. Adams tunnel is the key component of the largest transmountain water diversion in the state of Colorado—the Colorado-Big Thompson Project (C-BT). The tunnel is 13.1 miles (21.1 km) long and has a concrete lined diameter of 9.75 feet (2.97 m). The tunnel runs in a straight line under the Continental Divide from west to east and passing under Rocky Mountain National Park. Senator Adams' father, Alva Adams, served as the Governor of the State of Colorado 1887-1889, 1897–1899, and 1905. Senator Adams' uncle, William Herbert "Billy" Adams, served as the Governor of Colorado 1927-1933. His grandfather, John Adams, was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly and the Wisconsin State Senate.

Committee assignments

Alva Adams was first appointed to the U.S. Senate to vill a vacancy during the first session of the 68th Congress. Even though he had been appointed in May 1923, Congress did not convene its first session until December of that year. A first edition of the Official Congressional Directory indicates he did not serve on any committees that session.[1]

After Adams was elected in 1932 to the 73rd Congress, he was appointed to several standing committees. Overall, he served on 5 standing committees[2] and 3 select or special committees.[3] Adams also served as chairman of the Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation during the 73rd and 74th Congresses and chaired the Committee on Public Lands and Surveys from the 75th through 77th Congresses.[4]

Committee Congresses Notes
Irrigation and Reclamation 73rd – 75th Chairman (73rd – 74th)
Public Lands and Surveys 73rd – 77th Chairman (75th – 77th)
Appropriations 73rd – 75th
Banking and Currency 73rd – 75th
Rules 73rd – 75th
Survey Land and Water Policies of the U.S. Government (Select) 74th
Senatorial Campaign Expenditures in 1940 (Select) 76th Appointed October 3, 1940, to fill a committee vacancy[3]
Production, Transportation, and Marketing of Wool (Special) 74th – 77th Chairman

See also

References

  1. ↑ Official Congressional Directory. 68th Congress, 1st session (First ed.). Government Printing Office. December 1923. p. 181.
  2. ↑ Official Congressional Directory. 73rd Congress (1933); 75th Congress (1938); 76th Congress (1940); 77th Congress (1941)
  3. 1 2 Canon, David T.; Nelson, Garrison; Stewart III, Charles (2002). Committees in the U.S. Congress: 1789-1946. Vol 4, Select Committees. Washington, DC: CQ Press. ISBN 1-56802-175-5.
  4. ↑ "Chairmen of Senate Standing Committees 1789-Present" (PDF). Senate Historical Office. June 2008. p. 35. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-07.

External links

United States Senate
Preceded by
Samuel D. Nicholson		 U.S. Senator (Class 3) from Colorado
1923–1924 		Succeeded by
Rice W. Means
Preceded by
Karl C. Schuyler		 U.S. Senator (Class 3) from Colorado
1933–1941 		Succeeded by
Eugene D. Millikin
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