# Wellborn Jack

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Wellborn_Jack
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Wellborn_Jack.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wellborn_Jack
> Source revision: 1349738635
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

This article is about the Louisiana politician. For his son, the Louisiana lawyer, see [Wellborn Jack Jr.](/source/Wellborn_Jack_Jr.).

**Wellborn Jack, Sr.** (November 27, 1907 – June 1, 1991),[1] was an [attorney](/source/Lawyer) from [Shreveport](/source/Shreveport,_Louisiana), [Louisiana](/source/Louisiana), who was a [Democratic](/source/Democratic_Party_(United_States)) member of the [Louisiana House of Representatives](/source/Louisiana_Legislature) from [Caddo Parish](/source/Caddo_Parish,_Louisiana) serving from 1940 to 1964.[2] He finished in sixth place for five at-large seats in the general election held on March 3, 1964.

## Early life

Jack is descended within the United States from an [Irishman](/source/Irish_people), Patrick Jack, who operated a tavern in [Charlotte](/source/Charlotte,_North_Carolina), [North Carolina](/source/North_Carolina), prior to the [American Revolution](/source/American_Revolution). Jack's father, [George Whitfield Jack, Sr.](/source/George_W._Jack), a native of [Natchitoches](/source/Natchitoches,_Louisiana), Louisiana and a graduate of [Tulane University Law School](/source/Tulane_University_Law_School), was an educator-turned-lawyer who served in Shreveport from 1917 until his death in 1924 as a judge of the [United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana](/source/United_States_District_Court_for_the_Western_District_of_Louisiana). He was appointed to the bench by [U.S. President](/source/President_of_the_United_States) [Woodrow Wilson](/source/Woodrow_Wilson).[3]

## Career

Following his father's steps, he also received a [Juris Doctor](/source/Juris_Doctor) degree from [Tulane University Law School](/source/Tulane_University_Law_School) after completing his undergraduate at [Centenary College of Louisiana](/source/Centenary_College_of_Louisiana).[4]

## Career

Wellborn Jack practiced law with his brother, [George Whitfield Jack, Jr.](/source/Whitfield_Jack), who served as a [colonel](/source/Colonel) under [General](/source/General) [Matthew Ridgway](/source/Matthew_Ridgway) in [World War II](/source/World_War_II). He later founded the law firm, Jack & Jack,[4] with his son, [Wellborn Jack Jr.](/source/Wellborn_Jack_Jr.) (1936–2023). Jack, Jr., a specialist in employment and labor law and an environmentalist[5] recalled that his father had little interest in genealogy and said, "What matters most is not what you sprang from but what you sprang at."[3][6]

## Political career

### State representative

Just weeks after taking his oath of office as a state representative, Jack, along with the former mayor of [Minden](/source/Minden,_Louisiana), [J. Frank Colbert](/source/J._Frank_Colbert), ran unsuccessfully for [Louisiana's 4th congressional district](/source/Louisiana's_4th_congressional_district) seat in the [United States House of Representatives](/source/United_States_House_of_Representatives). He was eliminated from the [runoff election](/source/Runoff_election), with victory claimed by the three-term incumbent [Overton Brooks](/source/Overton_Brooks), also of Shreveport.[7]

Like virtually all of the Shreveport-area politicians during the 1950s, Jack was known for his fervent support of [racial segregation](/source/Racial_segregation_in_the_United_States). In 1956, he opposed a bill which would have exempted the [Sugar Bowl](/source/Sugar_Bowl) in [New Orleans](/source/New_Orleans,_Louisiana) from the state ban on "interracial activities". He supported a bill to require the labeling of blood by race of the donor. The raising of the [Confederate](/source/Confederate_States_of_America) flag at the Caddo Parish Courthouse embodied the sentiments of white segregationists of Jack's era.[8]

In 1962, Jack joined his House colleague, Representative [Parey Branton](/source/Parey_Branton) of [Shongaloo](/source/Shongaloo,_Louisiana) in [Webster Parish](/source/Webster_Parish,_Louisiana), in calling for a change in the method by which Louisiana allocates its [electoral votes](/source/Electoral_votes). The two urged adoption of the framework used by [Maine](/source/Maine) and [Nebraska](/source/Nebraska) under which one elector is allotted for each congressional district to the winner by [plurality](/source/Plurality_(voting)) in that district, and two at-large electoral votes are assigned to the top vote-getter statewide, plurality or majority. The plan was not adopted. It could have enabled Louisiana to choose split electors, as [Alabama](/source/Alabama) did in 1960 and [New Jersey](/source/New_Jersey) in 1860.[9][10]

Jack's House tenure extended from the administrations of Governors [Sam Houston Jones](/source/Sam_Houston_Jones) to the second term of [Jimmie Davis](/source/Jimmie_Davis). During his long career in the House, Jack served alongside numerous colleagues who reached the highest point in state politics, including [Taddy Aycock](/source/Taddy_Aycock), [Bill Dodd](/source/Bill_Dodd), [C. H. "Sammy" Downs](/source/C._H._%22Sammy%22_Downs), [John McKeithen](/source/John_McKeithen), [Louis J. Michot](/source/Louis_J._Michot), [deLesseps Story Morrison, Sr.](/source/DeLesseps_Story_Morrison,_Sr.), [Dave L. Pearce](/source/Dave_L._Pearce), and [William M. Rainach](/source/William_M._Rainach), along with his Caddo colleagues [Algie D. Brown](/source/Algie_D._Brown), [Frank Fulco](/source/Frank_Fulco), and [James C. Gardner](/source/James_C._Gardner).[2]

Jack lost his House seat after twenty-four years because two [Republicans](/source/Republican_Party_(United_States)), [Morley A. Hudson](/source/Morley_A._Hudson) and [Taylor W. O'Hearn](/source/Taylor_W._O'Hearn), led the field of legislative candidates in 1964. Hudson and O'Hearn, the first two Republicans to serve in the Louisiana legislature since [Reconstruction](/source/Reconstruction_era_in_the_United_States), benefited from Shreveport Republican [Charlton Lyons](/source/Charlton_Lyons), who carried the [GOP](/source/Republican_Party_(United_States)) [gubernatorial](/source/Governor_of_Louisiana) banner in a ground-breaking but unsuccessful race against the Democrat John McKeithen of rural [Caldwell Parish](/source/Caldwell_Parish,_Louisiana) south of [Monroe](/source/Monroe,_Louisiana). In addition to Jack, the other Democrat eliminated in the 1964 election was [Jasper K. Smith](/source/Jasper_K._Smith), a lawyer from [Vivian](/source/Vivian,_Louisiana) in northern Caddo Parish.

Days after President [Lyndon B. Johnson](/source/Lyndon_B._Johnson) signed into law the [Civil Rights Act of 1964](/source/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1964), Jack wrote a letter to the former *[Shreveport Journal](/source/Shreveport_Journal)* reaffirming his own belief in segregation: "The white man and the Negro man are happy with their lot here in this area ..."[11]

### Later Public Office

In 1966, two years after his legislative service lapsed, Jack ran unsuccessfully for the [Louisiana Public Service Commission](/source/Louisiana_Public_Service_Commission), a utility regulatory agency, in an attempt to win the seat held by the appointed [John S. Hunt, II](/source/John_S._Hunt_II), of Monroe, a nephew of Governors [Huey Pierce Long, Sr.](/source/Huey_Long), and [Earl Kemp Long](/source/Earl_Kemp_Long). In that campaign Jack declared himself as one opposed to all kinds of "federal encroachment." He was joined in the race against Hunt by two of his former legislative colleagues, Parey Branton and [John Sidney Garrett](/source/John_Sidney_Garrett) of [Haynesville](/source/Haynesville,_Louisiana). Though Branton finished in sixth place in the contest, he led by a [plurality](/source/Plurality_(voting)) in his own Webster Parish.[12] Hunt and Garrett, the two leading candidates, met in a [runoff election](/source/Runoff_election) on September 24. Hunt had enjoyed a considerable [plurality](/source/Plurality_(voting)) in the first primary round of balloting[13] and then defeated Garrett to hold on to the position.[14] John McKeithen was the previous public service commissioner from the district, and as governor had named Hunt as his own successor.

From 1976 to 1984, Jack was an elected member of the final two terms of the former [Caddo Parish Police Jury](/source/Caddo_Parish_Police_Jury), the parish governing body. He lost his position on the police jury, when it was reorganized in 1984 as the [Caddo Parish Commission](/source/Caddo_Parish_Commission).[15]

Jack died of [congestive heart failure](/source/Congestive_heart_failure) and is interred at Forest Park East Cemetery in Shreveport.

## References

1. ["*Shreveport Times* Index: J"](http://www.nwla-archives.org/indexes/times91-95j.htm). nwla-archives.org. Retrieved July 29, 2013.

1. ["Membership of the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1812-2012"](https://web.archive.org/web/20131004235758/http://www.legis.la.gov/legisdocs/members/h1812-2012.pdf). legis.la.gov. Archived from [the original](http://www.legis.la.gov/legisdocs/members/h1812-2012.pdf) on October 4, 2013. Retrieved July 8, 2013.

1. ["Jack 1730, Ireland to North Carolina, March 29, 2003"](https://genforum.genealogy.com/jack/messages/915.html). genforum.genealogy.com. Retrieved July 29, 2013.

1. ["Handbook of North Louisiana online - JACK, WELLBORN"](https://nwla-archives.org/handbook/jackWellborn.htm). *nwla-archives.org*. Retrieved 2019-07-22.

1. ["Wellborn Jack, Jr."](http://www.lawyer-map.com/Wellborn_Jack_Jr_Employment_and_Labor_Law_in_Shreveport_Louisiana_78051). lawyer-map.com. Retrieved July 29, 2013.

1. ["Wellborn Jack, Jr., obituary"](https://www.shreveporttimes.com/obituaries/spt084878). *The Shreveport Times*. April 12, 2023. Retrieved April 13, 2023.

1. "Kennon Will Met Judge Drew in Runoff; Overton Brooks Leads Race", *Minden Herald*, September 13, 1940, p. 1

1. ["State of Louisiana, Plaintiff-Appelee v. Felton D. Dorsey, Defendant-Appellant, p. 10"](https://www.aclu.org/files/assets/ACLU_amicus_brief_in_support_of_new_trail_for_Felton_D._Dorsey_0.pdf). aclu.org/files. Retrieved July 29, 2013.

1. "Branton Predicts Finances, Integration Will Top Legislative Session", *Minden Press*, May 14, 1962, p. 1

1. "Rep. Branton Has the Answer", *Minden Herald*, editorial, February 1, 1962, p. 2

1. *[Shreveport Journal](/source/Shreveport_Journal)*, Letter to the Editor, July 8, 1964

1. *[Minden Press-Herald](/source/Minden_Press-Herald)*, August 15, 1966, p. 1

1. *Minden Press-Herald*, August 15, 1966, p. 1

1. *Minden Press-Herald*, September 26, 1966, p. 1

1. Veta Samuels, *History of Caddo Parish Police Jury - Caddo parish Commission* (government document)

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Wellborn Jack](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wellborn_Jack) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wellborn_Jack?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.