{{Short description|American politician (1870–1943)}}

{{Infobox officeholder | name = Campbell Bascom Slemp | image = C. Bascom Slemp cph.3b21040.jpg | alt = | caption = C. Bascom Slemp in 1924 | office = [[Secretary to the President of the United States|Secretary to the President]] | president = [[Calvin Coolidge]] | term_start = September 4, 1923 | term_end = March 4, 1925 | predecessor = George B. Christian Jr. | successor = [[Everett Sanders]] | state1 = [[Virginia]] | district1 = [[Virginia's 9th congressional district|9th]] | term_start1 = December 17, 1907 | term_end1 = March 3, 1923 | predecessor1 = [[Campbell Slemp]] | successor1 = [[George C. Peery]] | birth_date = {{birth date|1870|9|4}} | birth_place = [[Seminary, Virginia|Turkey Cove]], Virginia, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1943|8|7|1870|9|4}} | death_place = [[Knoxville, Tennessee]], U.S. | resting_place = Turkey Cove, Virginia, U.S. | party = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] | father = [[Campbell Slemp]] }} '''Campbell Bascom Slemp''' (September 4, 1870 &ndash; August 7, 1943) was an [[American Republican]] politician. He was a six-time United States [[United States Congress|congressman]] from [[Virginia's 9th congressional district]] from 1907 to 1923 and served as the [[Secretary to the President (US)|presidential secretary]] to [[President of the United States|President]] [[Calvin Coolidge]]. As a [[philanthropist]], Slemp set up the "Slemp Foundation", which provides gifts and scholarships to schools and colleges in Southwestern [[Virginia]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.swvamuseum.org/WALKOFFAME/slemp.htm|title=WALK OF FAME, Southwest Virginia Museum|website=www.swvamuseum.org|access-date=2019-12-24}}</ref>

==Early and family life== Slemp was born on September 4, 1870, at [[Seminary, Virginia|Turkey Cove]], Virginia, in [[Lee County, Virginia|Lee County]] to [[Colonel]] [[Campbell Slemp]], who later became a [[United States House of Representatives|United States Representative]] from the [[Virginia's 9th congressional district|9th district of Virginia]] (1903 to 1907). His mother was Nancy (Nannie) Britain Cawood of [[Harlan County, Kentucky]]. His father was an officer in the Confederate army during the American Civil War.

Slemp attended the Methodist-run "Seminary" in Turkey Cove, and had a private tutor (William Davidson of King College), and also at age 9 became a page in the [[Virginia House of Delegates]] after his father's election to the [[Virginia General Assembly]] in 1879.<ref>http://www.swvamusueum.org/cbslemp.htm {{Dead link|date=July 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> In 1887, the 16-year-old Slemp entered the Corps of Cadets at [[Virginia Military Institute]] in [[Lexington, Virginia]]. In 1891, Slemp graduated with the highest grade point average in the school's history — a record that stands today. He also received the Jackson Medal for Most Distinguished Student four years in a row.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.slempfoundation.org/html/cbascomslemp.html|title=The Slemp Foundation.|publisher=[[The Slemp Foundation]]|accessdate=2009-05-09|archive-date=2009-01-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090122131302/http://www.slempfoundation.org/html/cbascomslemp.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Bascom Slemp then studied law for a year at the [[University of Virginia]] in [[Charlottesville, Virginia|Charlottesville]] and was admitted to the Virginia bar in 1901.

He briefly married Roberta Trousdale Barton in [[New Orleans]], on December 26, 1911, but their daughter was stillborn the following year.<ref>North Carolina death certificate dated October 15, 1912 at Mission Hospital, Asheville, North Carolina. Roberta Trousdale Barton may have married Goodyear tire salesman William Warren Council in 1916 with Slemp as a witness, for she was listed on his WWI draft registration card and subsequent census forms indicate they moved to Mississippi by 1929, but the marriage record is not available for online inspection, and ancestry.com records include no divorce record. She bore daughters Roberta Sue and Grace Council in 1919 and 1924, respectively</ref><ref>Bascom Slemp was listed among the lawyer boarders at a Bethesda, Maryland boardinghouse in the 1920 U.S. Federal Census.</ref>

==Early career== Slemp served as Commandant of Cadets at the [[Marion Military Institute]] for one year, after which he was hired as the second principal of the Stonega Academy in [[Big Stone Gap, Virginia|Big Stone Gap]] (1893–1895).<ref>Sharon B. Ewing, Big Stone Gap, p. 67, available athttps://books.google.com/books?id=uGS1UNoQ7rIC&pg</ref> Slemp then taught at VMI as professor of mathematics for several years. In 1901, after Slemp was admitted to the Virginia bar, he resigned his position at the institute to set up a law practice in Big Stone Gap. Slemp became president of the Slemp Coal Company and of the Hamilton Realty Company, among other business interests.<ref>Virginia Biographical Encyclopedia, available online</ref>

==Political career== [[File:CoolidgeSlemp.jpg|thumb|Slemp being sworn in as presidential secretary, 1923]]

Slemp's father served in the [[United States House of Representatives]] from [[Virginia's 9th congressional district]] from 1903 to his death in 1907. Slemp was elected to replace his father and served for fifteen years. He served as the chair of the [[Republican Party of Virginia]]'s state committee from 1905 to 1918, and was its national committeeman from 1918 to 1932.{{sfn|Sherman|1973|p=151}}

Bascom Slemp won the special election to fill his father's vacancy, and also won reelection six times, serving from 1907 until March 3, 1923, after he declined to be a candidate for re-election. As the leading Republican in the Old Dominion, he faced a difficult battle for re-election in 1910, after Democrats persuaded [[Henry C. Stuart]] to run against him, and used the slogan "Redeem the District." [[Theodore Roosevelt]] gave a speech for Slemp, who won by a margin of about 200 votes. Although Stuart initially refused to concede defeat, his contest failed, in part because all 265 precincts had a Democratic registrar, two Democratic clerks and at least two Democratic judges.<ref>Guy B. Hathorn, Congressional Campaign in the Fighting Ninth: The Contest between C. Bascom Slemp and Henry C. Stuart, 66 Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 66 (1958) pp.337-344</ref><ref>According to Brent Tarter, The Grandees of Government: the origins and persistence of undemocratic politics in Virginia (University of Virginia Press 2013), Democrat Ebbie Combs of Russell County arranged to have state auditors from Richmond audit the poll tax lists of eligible voters shortly after the deadline, precluding late payment of poll taxes in the district's 15 counties, all then controlled by Republican clerks.</ref>

Slemp was a close advisor to President [[Warren G. Harding]], especially on the issue of patronage in the South.{{sfn|Sherman|1973|pp=151-152}} President [[Calvin Coolidge]] appointed Slemp as his [[Secretary to the President of the United States|secretary]] on August 14, 1923.{{sfn|Sherman|1973|p=203}}<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,716345,00.html?iid=digg_share|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081222152118/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,716345,00.html?iid=digg_share|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 22, 2008|title=An Appointment|date=1923-08-20|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|accessdate=2009-05-09}}</ref>

The appointment of Slemp to this prominent position stirred anger among African Americans within the Republican party. Black newspapers of the time decried Slemp's leadership of the [[Lily-white movement|"lily white movement"]] to oust black leaders from Virginia's Republican party. During his time in Congress, Slemp was one of only a small handful of Republicans who voted against the [[Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill|Dyer Anti-Lynching bill]] of 1922.<ref>{{cite web |title="TO PASS H. R. 13. -- House Vote #169 -- Jan 26, 1922" |url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/67-2/h169 |website=Govtrack.us}}</ref> An article in the nationally syndicated ''[[Pittsburgh Courier]]'' reported that "The [[Associated Negro Press]] has been informed from a number of sources that Slemp is a member of the [[Ku Klux Klan]] and a strong sympathizer with that nefarious organization."<ref>{{cite news |title=Race in Turmoil Over Appointment |url=http://newscomwc.newspapers.com/image/40092170/?terms=c.%20bascom%20slemp%20colored&pqsid=Yf8RDC1SRhmSfxJTfVSvZg%3A282000%3A611418526&match=1 |access-date=29 June 2021 |work=Pittsburgh Courier |agency=Associated Negro Press |date=25 August 1923 |page=8}}</ref>

Slemp served until March 4, 1925. He resigned early in Coolidge's second term as a result of unresolved friction with the President, and he was succeeded by [[Everett Sanders]].<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,928646,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219123150/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,928646,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 19, 2012|title=A Sanders for a Slemp.|date=1925-01-26|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|accessdate=2009-05-09}}</ref>

==Return to rural life== After leaving the Coolidge administration, Slemp returned to his law practice in [[Big Stone Gap, Virginia]], and Washington, D.C. In 1929, he purchased a now-historic house in Big Stone Gap from his friend [[Rufus A. Ayers]]. In 1930, President [[Herbert Hoover]] appointed Slemp as United States Commissioner General to the [[Paris Colonial Exposition|International Colonial and Overseas Exposition]] in Paris, and at its conclusion in 1931, France awarded Slemp the [[Légion d'honneur|French Legion of Honor Medal]].<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,744520,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101027065027/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,744520,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 27, 2010|title=Honors 1932.|date=1932-10-03|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|accessdate=2009-05-09}}</ref><ref>{{citation|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,752705,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090813201616/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,752705,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 13, 2009|title=Inspiratio0|date=1932-12-15|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|accessdate=2009-05-09}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite news|date=22 September 1932|title=Americans Named To Legion of Honor: Slemp and Associates to Get Ranks for Assistance at Colonial Exposition|page=7|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref> By the 1930 Census, Slemp lived in Big Stone Gap with his sister S. Janie and her husband John W. Newman and several servants.<ref>1930 U.S. Federal Census for Big Stone Gap district 19, Wise County Virginia family 45, house number 820; 1940 census missing or mis-indexed</ref> With Janie's help, Slemp established the [[Southwest Virginia Museum]], and in 1946, after his death, the Commonwealth accepted many pieces bequeathed to it.

==Death and legacy== Slemp often maintained a local residence with siblings, and remained a prominent member of the southwest [[Virginia]] community and political scene until his death. He died at St. Mary's hospital in [[Knoxville, Tennessee]], on August 7, 1943, aged 73.

The Slemp family remained active in political life throughout southwestern Virginia. Current Slemp family members elected to office include Lee County, Virginia Board of Supervisors member Charles Herbert Slemp, Jr. His son Charles Herbert "Chuck" Slemp, III served as Commonwealth's Attorney for Wise County and the City of Norton, Virginia and as Chief Deputy Attorney General of Virginia before joining the Richmond office of an international law firm.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://oag.state.va.us/media-center/news-releases/2734-may-17-2024-attorney-general-miyares-announces-leadership-appointments|title=Attorney General Miyares Announces Leadership Appointment|access-date=2025-01-10}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://results.elections.virginia.gov/vaelections/2019%20November%20General/Site/Locality/LEE%20COUNTY/Index.html|title=2019 November General|website=results.elections.virginia.gov|access-date=2019-12-24|archive-date=2020-01-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200102143831/https://results.elections.virginia.gov/vaelections/2019%20November%20General/Site/Locality/LEE%20COUNTY/Index.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The Slemp Foundation continues to touch many in southwestern Virginia, especially young lives.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.slempfoundation.org|title=The Slemp Foundation.|publisher=[[The Slemp Foundation]]|accessdate=2009-05-09}}</ref> Established in his will, it provides gifts to libraries, schools and colleges in southwestern Virginia. The "Lonesome Pine Regional Library" (which serves Lee, Dickenson, and Wise Counties) has received support from the foundation, and its branch in Big Stone Gap is named in Slemp's honor.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://lonesomepine.boundless.ly/branches/all/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140320194207/http://lonesomepine.boundless.ly/branches/all/ |archive-date=2014-03-20 |title=Lonesome Pine Regional Library {{!}} » all}}</ref> In 1948, his daughter and the Slemp Foundation donated his former home in Big Stone Gap to the Commonwealth of Virginia, which now operates it as the [[Southwest Virginia Museum Historical State Park]]. It hosts folk events and concerts throughout the year, as well as a wintertime Christmas tree exhibit highlighting local charities and crafts.

The Slemp Scholarship, named in honor of the late congressman, is awarded to outstanding college students who graduated from schools in Lee, [[Scott County, Virginia|Scott]], and Wise counties, Virginia.

In October 2003, the long-planned C. Bascom Slemp Student Center<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.wise.virginia.edu/studentcenter/index.html|title=C. Bascom Slemp Student Center.|publisher=[[The University of Virginia]]|accessdate=2009-05-09|archive-date=2009-05-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090522235557/http://www.wise.virginia.edu/studentcenter/index.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> was opened on the campus of the [[University of Virginia's College at Wise]]. This $10.9-million, {{convert|46234|sqft|m2|adj=on}} structure was funded by student fees, as well from a $2.5 million allocation from the Slemp Foundation.

Slemp was a cousin three times removed of the American [[film]] star [[George C. Scott]].

The [[United States Post Office and Courthouse (Big Stone Gap, Virginia)|United States Post Office and Courthouse]] at [[Big Stone Gap, Virginia]], is named the C. Bascom Slemp Federal Building, although regularly scheduled court sessions there ceased during Massive Resistance. A historical marker in [[Seminary, Virginia]], about 6 miles southwest of Big Stone Gap on Alt. Route 58, also honors three Congressmen born within a mile of the marker: Slemp (61st-67th Congresses), his father Campbell Slemp (58th through 60th Congresses) and Congressman [[James B. Richmond]] (46th Congress).<ref>A Guidebook to Virginia's Historical Markers (University of Virginia Press 1994), p. 198</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==Works cited== * {{cite book|last=Sherman |first=Richard |title=The Republican Party and Black America From McKinley to Hoover 1896-1933 |publisher=[[University of Virginia Press]] |date=1973 |isbn=0813904676}} ==Further reading== *Guy B. Haroth, The Political Career of C. Bascom Slemp, (Duke University PhD Dissertation 1950) *Slemp, Campbell Bascom (ed.) Addresses of Famous Southwest Virginians (Bristol: The King Printing Company 1939) ==External links==

* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Campbell Bascom Slemp}} *{{Commons category-inline|Campbell Bascom Slemp}}

{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box | state=Virginia | district=9 | before=[[Campbell Slemp]] | after=[[George C. Peery]] | years=December 17, 1907 &ndash; March 3, 1923 }} {{s-end}} {{VirginiaRepresentatives09}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Slemp, C. Bascom}} [[Category:1870 births]] [[Category:1943 deaths]] [[Category:People from Lee County, Virginia]] [[Category:Commandants of Marion Military Institute]] [[Category:Secretaries]] [[Category:Personal secretaries to the president of the United States]] [[Category:American philanthropists]] [[Category:American people of German descent]] [[Category:Virginia lawyers]] [[Category:Virginia Military Institute alumni]] [[Category:University of Virginia School of Law alumni]] [[Category:Virginia Military Institute faculty]] [[Category:People from Big Stone Gap, Virginia]] [[Category:Republican Party United States representatives from Virginia]] [[Category:Republican Party of Virginia chairs]] [[Category:20th-century United States representatives]]