Editing Percy Priest

{{short description|American journalist}}
{{About|the U.S. Congressman|the reservoir named for him|Percy Priest Lake}}

{{infobox officeholder
| name               = Percy Priest
| image              = James Percy Priest, Congressional portrait collection.jpg
| image_size         = 
| caption            = 
| office             = [[Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives|House Majority Whip]]
| leader             = [[Sam Rayburn]]
| term_start         = January 3, 1949
| term_end           = January 3, 1953
| predecessor        = [[John W. McCormack]]
| successor          = [[John W. McCormack]]
| office1            = Member of the<br>[[U.S. House of Representatives]]<br>from [[Tennessee]]
| term_start1        = January 3, 1941
| term_end1          = October 12, 1956
| predecessor1       = [[Joseph W. Byrns Jr.|Jo Byrns Jr.]]
| successor1         = [[J. Carlton Loser]]
| constituency1      = {{ushr|TN|5|5th district}} (1941–1943)<br>{{ushr|TN|6|6th district}} (1943–1953)<br>{{ushr|TN|5|5th district}} (1953–1956)
| birth_name         = James Percy Priest
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1900|04|01}}
| birth_place        = [[Carters Creek]], [[Maury County, Tennessee]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1956|10|12|1900|04|01}}
| death_place        = [[Nashville, Tennessee]], U.S.
| nickname = J. Percy Priest
| party              = [[Independent Democrat]] (1940)<br>[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] (from 1941)
| father             = George Priest
| mother             = Harriet Hastings
| spouse             = {{marriage|Mildred Webster Noland|1947}}
| children           = 1
| relatives          = 
| alma_mater         = [[Middle Tennessee State University|State Teachers' College]]<br>[[Peabody College]]<br>[[University of Tennessee]]
| occupation         = {{Hlist|Teacher|newspaper editor|politician}}
}}
'''James Percy Priest''' (April 1, 1900 – October 12, 1956) was an [[United States of America|American]] [[teacher]], [[journalist]] and [[politician]] who represented [[Tennessee]] in the [[United States House of Representatives]] from 1941 until his death.

== Background ==
Priest was born in [[Carters Creek]], [[Maury County, Tennessee]], the son of George and Harriet (née Hastings) Priest. He attended [[Columbia Central High School (Columbia, Tennessee)|Central High School]] in [[Columbia, Tennessee|Columbia]], and afterward continued his education at State Teachers' College in [[Murfreesboro, Tennessee|Murfreesboro]] (now [[Middle Tennessee State University]]), [[Peabody College]] in [[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]], and the [[University of Tennessee]]. He taught school in [[Culleoka, Tennessee|Culleoka]], in his native Maury County, from 1920 until 1926, when he joined the editorial staff of the ''[[The Tennessean|Nashville Tennessean]]''. In 1937, he began courting Mildred Webster Noland, whom he would marry in 1947. They had one daughter, Harriet.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tsla.tnsosfiles.com.s3.amazonaws.com/history/manuscripts/findingaids/J_PERCY_PRIEST_PAPERS_approximately_1920-1974.pdf|title=J. Percy Priest Papers|work=Tennessee State Library and Archives|access-date=2021-12-31}}</ref>

== Congress ==
In 1940, Priest was encouraged to run for the United States House of Representatives as an [[independent (politics)|independent]] in [[Tennessee's 5th congressional district]], which is based in Nashville. He won in an upset, running as an [[Independent (politics)|Independent]],
defeating the incumbent, one-term [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] Congressman [[Joseph W. Byrns Jr.|Jo Byrns Jr.]]  Upon swearing-in, he immediately joined the Democratic [[caucus]], 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 1956 [[Southern Manifesto]], the others being [[Joe L. Evins|Joe Evins]] and [[Ross Bass]].

At the time of his death, Priest was serving as the chairman of the [[United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce|House Commerce Committee]] and had already secured the Democratic nomination for a ninth term, which had essentially assured him of reelection since no [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] has been elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Nashville since [[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction]].{{Citation needed|date=October 2012}}

== Death and legacy ==
In early October 1956, Priest entered a Nashville hospital for an operation on an [[ulcer]] and was reported in satisfactory condition. However, complications developed and he died in the early morning hours of October 12.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://fultonhistory.com/newspaper%208/Niagara%20Falls%20NY%20Gazette/Niagara%20Falls%20NY%20Gazette%201956%20Oct-Nov%20Grayscale/Niagara%20Falls%20NY%20Gazette%201956%20Oct-Nov%20Grayscale%20-%200412.pdf |title=Priest Dies; Democratic Party Whip |publisher=Niagara Falls Gazette |date=October 12, 1956}}</ref>

Priest was interred at Woodlawn Cemetery in Nashville. [[J. Percy Priest Dam]], a [[United States Army Corps of Engineers]] hydroelectric and [[flood]] control structure just east of Nashville on the [[Stones River]] (and easily visible from [[Interstate 40]]) is named in his honor, as is [[Percy Priest Lake]] (created by the dam) and an elementary school in [[Forest Hills, Tennessee|Forest Hills]], a suburb of Nashville.<ref>[http://www.percypriest.org/ "PPE History" Percy Priest Elementary website]</ref>

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]].<ref>[http://tnsos.org/Press/story.php?item=221 "State Library & Archives Receives Donation of Papers of J. Percy Priest, Prominent Former Tennessee Congressman and Journalist" Tennessee Department of State press release]</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of United States Congress members who died in office (1950–1999)]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{CongBio|P000536}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|us-hs}}
{{US House succession box |
  state=Tennessee|
  district=5|
  before=[[Joseph W. Byrns Jr.]]|
  after=[[Jim Nance McCord|Jim N. McCord]]|
  years=1941–1943
}}
{{US House succession box |
  state=Tennessee|
  district=6|
  before=[[W. Wirt Courtney]]|
  after=[[James Patrick Sutton]]|
  years=1943–1953
}}
{{US House succession box |
  state=Tennessee|
  district=5|
  before=[[Joe L. Evins|Joseph L. Evins]]|
  after=[[Joseph Carlton Loser|J. Carlton Loser]]|
  years=1953–1956
}}
{{s-ppo}}
{{succession box
| title=[[Party whips of the United States House of Representatives|House Majority Whip]]
| before=[[Leslie Cornelius Arends]] (R-IL)
| years=1949–1953
| after=[[Leslie Cornelius Arends]] (R-IL)
}}
{{succession box
| title=[[Party whips of the United States House of Representatives|House Democratic Whip]]
| before=[[John William McCormack]] (MA)
| years=1949–1953
| after=[[John William McCormack]] (MA)
}}
{{s-end}}
{{USHouseMajWhip}}
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{{USCongRep-start|congresses= 77th–84th [[United States Congress]]es |state=[[Tennessee]]}}
{{USCongRep/TN/77}}
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{{USCongRep/TN/80}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Priest, Percy}}
[[Category:1900 births]]
[[Category:1956 deaths]]
[[Category:American newspaper reporters and correspondents]]
[[Category:Schoolteachers from Tennessee]]
[[Category:Middle Tennessee State University alumni]]
[[Category:Journalists from Nashville, Tennessee]]
[[Category:Tennessee independents]]
[[Category:Independent Democrat members of the United States House of Representatives]]
[[Category:Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee]]
[[Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Deaths from ulcers]]
[[Category:20th-century American educators]]
[[Category:20th-century American journalists]]
[[Category:American male journalists]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives]]