Gregory Tarver
Encyclopedia
Gregory Williams Tarver, Sr., known as Greg Tarver (born March 30, 1946), is an African American
business
man and Democratic
politician
in Shreveport
, Louisiana
, who served on the Shreveport City Council from 1978 to 1984 and as a Louisiana state senator
from the predominantly black District 39 in Caddo Parish
from 1984 to 2004.
and insurance
companies in Shreveport for more than a century. Tarver graduated from Alton Senior High School in Alton
in Madison County
, Illinois
, home of the 19th century abolitionist Elijah Lovejoy. He also attended a business college and Grambling State University
in Grambling
west of Ruston
in Lincoln Parish
. He served in the military from 1967 to 1969. From 1973 to 1975, he was one of the directors of what became the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, formerly known as Confederate Memorial Medical Center or "Charity Hospital". From 1975 to 1978, he held the District 5 seat on the former Caddo Parish Police Jury, subsequently the Caddo Parish Commission, the parish governing board. Tarver was named in 1978 among the "Outstanding Young Men of America". In 1983, he was designated "Black Leader of the Year" in Shreveport. He is a member of the Masonic lodge
and the Baptist
denomination.
Tarver is married to Velma J. Kirksey-Tarver, a Certified Professional Life Coach, the owner of Quality Office Supply, and the chairwomen of VRC Educational Scholarship Foundation. Mrs. Tarver is also the founder of the Institute for Global Outreach, a non-profit organization whose mission is to increase awareness of global suffering and to provide humanitarian services to impoverished children and families in Ethiopia
.
James C. Gardner
.
Tarver won his Senate seat in 1983, when he unseated fellow Democrat Bill Keith
, a journalist
and the author of the 1981 Louisiana law which required balanced treatment in the presentation of creation science
and evolution
in public schools. The measure was struck down in 1987 by the United States Supreme Court. Keith is the last white person to hold this particular Senate seat.
Senator Tarver was chairman of the Insurance Committee and served on the Envronmental Quality and Finance committees as well. He did not seek a sixth term in the nonpartisan blanket primary held in October 2003.
Tarver was unopposed in the senatorial elections of 1987, 1991, and 1999. In 1995, he polled 18,687 votes (56 percent) in the primary against two other Democrats, the Shreveport dentist
C.O. Simpkins and Michael R. Ward.
Tarver is seeking a political comeback in the November 19, 2011, general election, when he again challenges his senatorial successor and fellow African American Democrat, Lydia Jackson. In the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 22, 2011, Jackson led a three-candidate field with 9,393 votes (43.4 percent). Tarver trailed with 9,015 (41.6 percent). A third candidate, the white conservative Republican
Jim Slagle, held the remaining but potentially critical 3,259 votes (15 percent).Both the Tarver and Jackson families are long-time advocates for civil rights
in the Shreveport community.
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
business
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
man and Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
in Shreveport
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....
, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, who served on the Shreveport City Council from 1978 to 1984 and as a Louisiana state senator
Louisiana State Legislature
The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...
from the predominantly black District 39 in Caddo Parish
Caddo Parish, Louisiana
Caddo Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Shreveport; as of 2000, the population was 252,161...
from 1984 to 2004.
Background
Tarver's family has operated the J. S. Williams Funeral HomeFuneral home
A funeral home, funeral parlor or mortuary, is a business that provides burial and funeral services for the deceased and their families. These services may include aprepared wake and funeral, and the provision of a chapel for the funeral....
and insurance
Insurance
In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
companies in Shreveport for more than a century. Tarver graduated from Alton Senior High School in Alton
Alton, Illinois
Alton is a city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, United States, about north of St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 27,865 at the 2010 census. It is a part of the Metro-East region of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area in Southern Illinois...
in Madison County
Madison County, Illinois
Madison County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. Madison County is part of the Metro-East region of the St. Louis Metro Area. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 269,282, which is an increase of 4.0% from 258,941 in 2000. The county seat is Edwardsville, home to...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, home of the 19th century abolitionist Elijah Lovejoy. He also attended a business college and Grambling State University
Grambling State University
Grambling State University is a historically black , public, coeducational university, located in Grambling, Louisiana. The university is the home of legendary football coach Eddie Robinson and is on the Louisiana African American Heritage Trail.-Academics:Grambling State University provides over...
in Grambling
Grambling, Louisiana
Grambling is a city in Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 4,693 at the 2000 census. The city is home to Grambling State University and is part of the Ruston Micropolitan Statistical Area....
west of Ruston
Ruston, Louisiana
Ruston is a city in and the parish seat of Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 20,546 at the 2000 census. Ruston is near the eastern border of the Ark-La-Tex and is the home of Louisiana Tech University. Its economy caters to its college population...
in Lincoln Parish
Lincoln Parish, Louisiana
Lincoln Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Ruston. In 2004, its population was estimated to be 42,382...
. He served in the military from 1967 to 1969. From 1973 to 1975, he was one of the directors of what became the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, formerly known as Confederate Memorial Medical Center or "Charity Hospital". From 1975 to 1978, he held the District 5 seat on the former Caddo Parish Police Jury, subsequently the Caddo Parish Commission, the parish governing board. Tarver was named in 1978 among the "Outstanding Young Men of America". In 1983, he was designated "Black Leader of the Year" in Shreveport. He is a member of the Masonic lodge
Masonic Lodge
This article is about the Masonic term for a membership group. For buildings named Masonic Lodge, see Masonic Lodge A Masonic Lodge, often termed a Private Lodge or Constituent Lodge, is the basic organisation of Freemasonry...
and the Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
denomination.
Tarver is married to Velma J. Kirksey-Tarver, a Certified Professional Life Coach, the owner of Quality Office Supply, and the chairwomen of VRC Educational Scholarship Foundation. Mrs. Tarver is also the founder of the Institute for Global Outreach, a non-profit organization whose mission is to increase awareness of global suffering and to provide humanitarian services to impoverished children and families in Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
.
Legislative matters
Tarver served on the Shreveport City Council when the body was first switched to a mayor-council government from the previous city commission system. He and two other African-Americans, the late Herman Farr, a minister, and Hilry Huckaby, Jr., held three of the seven seats on the council. His white colleagues included former Shreveport MayorMayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
James C. Gardner
James C. Gardner
James Creswell Gardner, I, known as Jim Gardner , was a power company executive best known as the mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana, who served a single term from 1954-1958....
.
Tarver won his Senate seat in 1983, when he unseated fellow Democrat Bill Keith
Bill Keith (Louisiana politician)
Billy P. Keith, known as Bill Keith , is an author of fiction and nonfiction in Longview, Texas, who served from 1980 to 1984 as a Democratic member of the Louisiana State Senate...
, a journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and the author of the 1981 Louisiana law which required balanced treatment in the presentation of creation science
Creation science
Creation Science or scientific creationism is a branch of creationism that attempts to provide scientific support for the Genesis creation narrative in the Book of Genesis and disprove generally accepted scientific facts, theories and scientific paradigms about the history of the Earth, cosmology...
and evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
in public schools. The measure was struck down in 1987 by the United States Supreme Court. Keith is the last white person to hold this particular Senate seat.
Senator Tarver was chairman of the Insurance Committee and served on the Envronmental Quality and Finance committees as well. He did not seek a sixth term in the nonpartisan blanket primary held in October 2003.
Tarver was unopposed in the senatorial elections of 1987, 1991, and 1999. In 1995, he polled 18,687 votes (56 percent) in the primary against two other Democrats, the Shreveport dentist
Dentist
A dentist, also known as a 'dental surgeon', is a doctor that specializes in the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the oral cavity. The dentist's supporting team aides in providing oral health services...
C.O. Simpkins and Michael R. Ward.
Tarver is seeking a political comeback in the November 19, 2011, general election, when he again challenges his senatorial successor and fellow African American Democrat, Lydia Jackson. In the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 22, 2011, Jackson led a three-candidate field with 9,393 votes (43.4 percent). Tarver trailed with 9,015 (41.6 percent). A third candidate, the white conservative Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Jim Slagle, held the remaining but potentially critical 3,259 votes (15 percent).Both the Tarver and Jackson families are long-time advocates for civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
in the Shreveport community.