{{short description|American politician}} {{use mdy dates |date=March 2021}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Denmark Groover Jr. | honorific_suffix = | image = | alt = | state_house1 = Georgia | district1 = 99th | term_start1 = 1983 | term_end1 = 1995 | state_house2 = Georgia | district2 = 75th | term_start2 = 1973 | term_end2 = 1975 | state_house3 = Georgia | district3 = 27th | term_start3 = 1971 | term_end3 = 1973 | state_house4 = Georgia | district4 = Bibb County | term_start4 = 1963 | term_end4 = 1965 | state_house5 = Georgia | district5 = Bibb County | term_start5 = 1953 | term_end5 = 1957 | predecessor = | successor = | prior_term = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date |1922|6|30}} | birth_place = Quitman, Georgia, United States | death_date = {{death date and age|2001|4|18|1922|6|30}} | death_place = Macon, Georgia, United States | profession = | party = Democratic | other_party = }}
'''Denmark Groover Jr.''' (June 30, 1922 – April 18, 2001) was a Democratic American politician who served in the state of Georgia's House of Representatives.
==Early life== Groover was born in Quitman, Georgia, on June 30, 1922, to Mary Porter McCall and Denmark Groover Sr. He was educated in the public schools in Quitman. His father was a salesman who sold mules, insurance, and watermelons. During World War II, he was a United States Marine Corps aviator who flew with the so-called Black Sheep Squadron, which was commanded by Major Pappy Boyington.<ref name=gahof>{{cite web|title=Captain/Honorable Denmark Groover Jr.|url=http://www.gaaviationhalloffame.com/Hall-of-Fame.48.0.html?avid=46|access-date=October 9, 2018|website=Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame|archive-date=June 2, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170602003003/http://www.gaaviationhalloffame.com/Hall-of-Fame.48.0.html?avid=46|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Political career== [[File:20-02-828-groover.jpg|thumb|right|Plaque of Groover at the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame]]
Groover graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in law which helped him reach his political roles. He was a member of the Georgia House of Representatives from 1953–57, 1963–65, 1971–75, and 1983–95.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/government-politics/denmark-groover-1922-2001|title=Denmark Groover (1922-2001)|encyclopedia=New Georgia Encyclopedia|access-date=8 May 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Former state lawmaker Denmark Groover dies|url=http://onlineathens.com/stories/041901/new_0419010062.shtml#.VU0m7tpViko |date=April 19, 2001 |newspaper=Athens Banner-Herald|via=OnlineAthens |agency=Associated Press |access-date=April 28, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-apr-22-me-54235-story.html|title=* Denmark Groover; Helped Change Georgia Flag|work=Los Angeles Times|date=April 22, 2001 |access-date=8 May 2015}}</ref> He supported the 1956 change to the Georgia state flag but in 1993 he acknowledged it was offensive to some and worked for a compromise design.<ref name="Report">{{cite web|url=http://www.senate.ga.gov/sro/Documents/StudyCommRpts/00StateFlag.pdf |title=The State Flag of Georgia: The 1956 Change In Its Historical Context |access-date=December 4, 2014 |last1=Azarian |first1=Alexander |first2=Eden |last2=Fesshazion |date=August 2000 |work=Senate Research Office |location=State of Georgia |publisher=State of Georgia |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141204200939/http://www.senate.ga.gov/sro/Documents/StudyCommRpts/00StateFlag.pdf |archive-date=December 4, 2014 | pages=29–30 }}</ref> He became infamous when in 1964 during a congressional redistricting bill, he hung from a wall and tried to stop a clock before it signaled the formal end of a session. A photographer captured a photo of the incident, and the photo was printed throughout newspapers which made him an embarrassing icon for Georgia politics.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/government-politics/denmark-groover-1922-2001|title=Denmark Groover (1922-2001)}}</ref>
Groover also authored the 1964 law which moved Georgia elections from plurality to the two-round system, in response to the end of the county unit system and the feared rise of African-American voting power in the state.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Civil Rights in America: Racial Voting RIghts |url=https://www.nps.gov/subjects/tellingallamericansstories/upload/CivilRights_VotingRights.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170409131812/https://www.nps.gov/subjects/tellingallamericansstories/upload/CivilRights_VotingRights.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 9, 2017 |website=National Park Service}}</ref> Later he admitted to federal investigators that this means to dilute Black voting power has been racially motivated and that he has been a segregationist.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/12/05/georgia-runoff-history/ Georgia’s runoff system was created to dilute Black voting power]. Washington Post. December 5, 2022.</ref>
He died in 2001 and was buried in Riverside Cemetery (Macon, Georgia).<ref name=riverside>{{cite web | title=Interment: Denmark Groover Jr. | url=http://genealogy.riversidecemetery.com/genealogy/interment?InterID=16162 | website=Riverside Cemetery | access-date=April 28, 2017 | quote=Lot Designation: Daffodil, Row B, Lot 202; includes photos & obituary. }}{{Dead link|date=February 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref> In 2002, Groover was posthumously inducted into the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame.<ref name=gahof/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Groover, Denmark}} Category:2001 deaths Category:Democratic Party members of the Georgia House of Representatives Category:1922 births Category:People from Quitman, Georgia Category:United States Marine Corps officers Category:United States Naval Aviators Category:United States Marine Corps pilots of World War II Category:20th-century members of the Georgia General Assembly
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