{{Short description|American lawyer and politician (1927–2015)}} {{Infobox officeholder | birth_date = {{birth date|1927|4|29}} | birth_place = Union Hill, Arkansas, U.S. | office = Chairman of the [[Republican Party of Arkansas|Arkansas Republican Party]] | term_start = 1966 | term_end = 1970 | death_date = {{death date and age|2015|3|12|1927|4|29}} | death_place = [[Searcy, Arkansas]], U.S. | successor = [[Charles T. Bernard]] | predecessor = [[John Paul Hammerschmidt|John P. Hammerschmidt]] | party = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] | other_party = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] (until 1956) | alma_mater = [[University of Arkansas School of Law]] }} '''Odell Pollard''' (April 29, 1927 – March 12, 2015) was a lawyer and politician in Arkansas. He switched from being a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] to becoming a member of the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]].<ref name="encyclopediaOfArkansas">{{Cite web|url=https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/odell-pollard-8534/|title=Odell Pollard (1927–2015)|website=Encyclopedia of Arkansas}}</ref> In the 1960s, he chaired the [[Arkansas Republican Party]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1ExEHf--tpsC&dq=Odell+Pollard&pg=PT216|title=The Arkansas Rockefeller|first=John L.|last=Ward|date=May 16, 2011|publisher=LSU Press|isbn=9780807143308|via=Google Books}}</ref> In 1967, he addressed the [[Urban League]] of Little Rock.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yOoYAQAAMAAJ&q=Odell+Pollard|title=The Arkansas Historical Quarterly|date=February 24, 1995|publisher=Arkansas Historical Association.|via=page 37}}</ref> He had a law firm in [[Searcy, Arkansas]], and for many years worked to transform Arkansas from a Democratic stronghold into a two-party state.<ref name="obit">{{Cite web|url=https://www.arkansasonline.com/obituaries/2015/mar/14/odell-pollard-2015-03-14/|title=Obituary for Odell Pollard, Searcy, AR|website=www.arkansasonline.com}}</ref> He was a [[Rockefeller Republican|liberal Republican]] and a close ally of [[Winthrop Rockefeller]].<ref name="encyclopediaOfArkansas" />
He was born in Union Hill, Arkansas. He graduated from [[University of Arkansas School of Law]] in 1950.<ref name=obit/>
==Further reading== *“State GOP Elects Pollard Chairman, Hears Caution Plea.” by Mike Barrier ''Arkansas Gazette'', December 11, 1966, pages 1A and 2A. *“New GOP Chairman Was Once a Democrat, Never Voted That Way.” ''Arkansas Gazette'' December 18, 1966, page 24A. *''Agenda for Reform: Winthrop Rockefeller as Governor of Arkansas, 1967–1971'' by Cathy Kunzinger Urwin, Fayetteville: [[University of Arkansas Press]], 1991
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pollard, Odell}} [[Category:1927 births]] [[Category:2015 deaths]] [[Category:Arkansas lawyers]] [[Category:Arkansas Republican state chairmen]] [[Category:University of Arkansas School of Law alumni]] [[Category:Arkansas Democrats]] [[Category:Arkansas Republicans]] [[Category:20th-century Arkansas politicians]] [[Category:20th-century American lawyers]]