James Percy Priest was an American teacher

Teacher

A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...

, 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 politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

 who represented Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

 in the United States House of Representatives

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 from 1941 until his death.

Background

Priest was born in Maury County, Tennessee. He attended Central High School in Columbia

Columbia, Tennessee

Columbia is a city in Maury County, Tennessee, United States. The 2008 population was 34,402 according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. It is the county seat of Maury County....

, and afterward continued his education at State Teachers' College in Murfreesboro

Murfreesboro, Tennessee

Murfreesboro is a city in and the county seat of Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 108,755 according to the United States Census Bureau's 2010 U.S. Census, up from 68,816 residents certified during the 2000 census. The center of population of Tennessee is located in...

 (now Middle Tennessee State University

Middle Tennessee State University

Middle Tennessee State University, commonly abbreviated as MTSU, is a public university located in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, United States....

), and the former Peabody College

Peabody College

Peabody College of Education and Human Development was founded in 1875 when the University of Nashville, located in Nashville, Tennessee, split into two separate educational institutions...

 in Nashville

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

. He taught school in Culleoka

Culleoka, Tennessee

Culleoka is an unincorporated community in Maury County, Tennessee, United States.The Culleoka School, enrolling kindergarten through grade 12, is operated as a unit of Maury County Public Schools....

, in his native Maury County, from 1920 until 1926, when he joined the editorial staff of the Nashville Tennessean

The Tennessean

The Tennessean is the principal daily newspaper in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. Its circulation area covers 39 counties in Middle Tennessee and eight counties in southern Kentucky....

.

Congress

In 1940 Priest was encouraged to run for the United States House of Representatives as an independent in Tennessee's 5th congressional district

Tennessee's 5th congressional district

The 5th Congressional District of Tennessee is a congressional district in Middle Tennessee. The most regularly drawn of the state's nine districts, it currently includes almost all of Davidson County, half of Wilson County, and half of Cheatham County...

, which was, then as now, based in Nashville. He won in an upset, defeating the incumbent, one-term 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...

 Congressman Jo Byrns, Jr.

Jo Byrns, Jr.

Joseph Wellington Byrns, Jr. was an attorney and one-term Member of Congress from Tennessee. He was the son of former House Speaker Jo Byrns and Julia Woodard.-Biography:...

  Upon swearing-in he immediately joined the Democratic caucus

Caucus

A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a political party or movement, especially in the United States and Canada. As the use of the term has been expanded the exact definition has come to vary among political cultures.-Origin of the term:...

, and was reelected seven times. The district was renumbered the 6th District in 1943 and became the 5th once again in 1953. He served as the House majority whip between 1949 and 1953. Priest was one of three Democrats in the Tennessee House delegation who did not sign the Southern Manifesto

Southern Manifesto

The Southern Manifesto was a document written February–March 1956 by Adisen and Charles in the United States Congress opposed to racial integration in public places. The manifesto was signed by 101 politicians from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South...

, the others being Joe Evins

Joe L. Evins

Joseph Landon Evins was a Democratic U.S. Representative from Tennessee from 1947 to 1977.Evins was a native of the Blend Community of DeKalb County, Tennessee, the son of James Edgar Evins and Myrtie Goodson Evins. His father was a Tennessee state senator and a successful local businessman.Joe L...

 and Ross Bass

Ross Bass

Ross Bass was an American florist, postmaster, Congressman, and United States Senator from Tennessee.- Background :...

.

At the time of his death, Priest was serving as the chairman of the House Commerce Committee

United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce

The Committee on Energy and Commerce is one of the oldest standing committees of the United States House of Representatives. Established in 1795, it has operated continuously—with various name changes and jurisdictional changes—for more than 200 years...

 and had already secured the Democratic nomination for a ninth term, which had essentially assured him of reelection since no 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...

 has been elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Nashville since Reconstruction.

Death and legacy

In early October 1956, Priest entered a Nashville hospital for an operation on an ulcer

Ulcer

An ulcer is a sore on the skin or a mucous membrane, accompanied by the disintegration of tissue. Ulcers can result in complete loss of the epidermis and often portions of the dermis and even subcutaneous fat. Ulcers are most common on the skin of the lower extremities and in the gastrointestinal...

 and was reported in satisfactory condition. However, complications developed and he died in the early morning hours of October 12.

Priest was interred at Woodlawn Cemetery in Nashville. J. Percy Priest Dam

J. Percy Priest Dam

J. Percy Priest Dam is a dam in north central Tennessee at mile 6.8 of the Stones River, a tributary of the Cumberland. It is located about ten miles east of downtown Nashville. The reservoir behind the dam is Percy Priest Lake....

, a United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 Corps of Engineers

United States Army Corps of Engineers

The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...

 hydroelectric and flood

Flood

A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land. The EU Floods directive defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by water...

 control structure just east of Nashville on the Stones River

Stones River

The Stones River is a major stream of the eastern portion of Tennessee's Nashville Basin region.-Geography and hydrography:The Stones River is composed of three major forks: the West, Middle, and East forks. The West Fork, long, rises in southernmost Rutherford County near the Bedford County...

 (and easily visible from Interstate 40

Interstate 40

Interstate 40 is the third-longest major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States, after I-90 and I-80. Its western end is at Interstate 15 in Barstow, California; its eastern end is at a concurrency of U.S. Route 117 and North Carolina Highway 132 in Wilmington, North Carolina...

) is named in his honor, as is Percy Priest Lake

Percy Priest Lake

J. Percy Priest Lake is a reservoir in north central Tennessee. It is formed by J. Percy Priest Dam, located between miles six and seven of the Stones River. The dam is located about 10 miles east of downtown Nashville and impounds a lake 42 miles long...

 (created by the dam) and an elementary school in Forest Hills

Forest Hills, Tennessee

Forest Hills is a city in Davidson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 4,710 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Forest Hills is bordered by Old Hickory Boulevard on the south, Granny White Pike on the east, Harding Place on the north, and Hillsboro Pike on the north...

, a suburb of Nashville.

In August 2010 it was announced that Priest's papers, along with the research files of Rebecca Stubbs, author of the biography J. Percy Priest and His Amazing Race, had been donated to the Tennessee State Library and Archives

Tennessee State Library and Archives

The Tennessee State Library and Archives , established in 1854, currently operates as a unit of the Tennessee Department of State. According to the Tennessee Blue Book, the Library and Archives "collects and preserves books and records of historical, documentary and reference value, and encourages...

.