Alva B. Adams
Encyclopedia
- For the Governor of Colorado, see Alva Adams (governor)Alva Adams (governor)Alva Adams was an American politician. He was born in Iowa County, Wisconsin. He served as the fifth, tenth and 14th Governor of Colorado from 1887 to 1889, 1897 to 1899, and briefly in 1905. He died in Battle Creek, Michigan.Adams County, Colorado, is named for Alva Adams, and it's believed the...
.
Alva Blanchard Adams (October 29, 1875 – December 1, 1941) was a 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...
who represented Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
in the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
from 1923 until 1924 and again from 1933 to 1941.
Biography
Adams was born in Del Norte, ColoradoDel Norte, Colorado
The Town of Del Norte is a Statutory Town in and the county seat of Rio Grande County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 1,705 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Del Norte is located at ....
and graduated from Phillips Academy
Phillips Academy
Phillips Academy is a selective, co-educational independent boarding high school for boarding and day students in grades 9–12, along with a post-graduate year...
in 1893, Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
in 1896, and Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School, founded in 1858, is one of the oldest and most prestigious law schools in the United States. A member of the Ivy League, Columbia Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Columbia University in New York City. It offers the J.D., LL.M., and J.S.D. degrees in...
in 1899. He became a county attorney in Pueblo County, Colorado
Pueblo County, Colorado
Pueblo County is the tenth most populous of the 64 counties of the state of Colorado of the United States. The county was named for the historic city of Pueblo which took its name from the Spanish language word meaning "town" or "village". The United States Census Bureau estimates that the...
in 1909, a regent of the State University of Colorado
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
in 1911, and Pueblo
Pueblo, Colorado
Pueblo is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The population was 106,595 in 2010 census, making it the 246th most populous city in the United States....
city attorney in 1911.
During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Adams served as a major in the Judge Advocate General's department in 1918 and 1919. In 1923, he was appointed to fill the vacancy in the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
caused by the death of Samuel D. Nicholson
Samuel D. Nicholson
Samuel Danford Nicholson was a United States Senator from Colorado. Born in Springfield, Prince Edward Island, Canada, he attended the public schools there and moved to Michigan and then to Nebraska and later, in 1881, to Leadville, Colorado.Nicholson became interested in mining, and advanced from...
. He served until a special election in November 1924 (in which he did not run). He ran, but did not win, in the regular election in 1924 for Colorado's other U.S. Senate seat. He ran successfully in 1932 with Oscar L. Chapman
Oscar L. Chapman
Oscar Littleton Chapman was the United States Secretary of the Interior during thelast three years of the Truman administration....
managing his campaign, and again in 1938. He died in office from a myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
in 1941.
The Alva B. Adams Tunnel
Alva B. Adams Tunnel
The Alva B. Adams Tunnel is the principal component of the largest transmountain water project in Colorado--the Colorado-Big Thompson Project . The tunnel transfers water from the western slope of the Colorado River drainage to users on the eastern Front Range of Colorado. The tunnel is long and...
under Rocky Mountain National Park
Rocky Mountain National Park
Rocky Mountain National Park is a national park located in the north-central region of the U.S. state of Colorado.It features majestic mountain views, a variety of wildlife, varied climates and environments—from wooded forests to mountain tundra—and easy access to back-country trails...
is named for him. The Alva B. Adams tunnel is the key component of the largest transmountain water diversion in the state of Colorado--the Colorado-Big Thompson Project
Colorado-Big Thompson project
The Colorado-Big Thompson Project is a water diversion project in Colorado designed to collect West Slope mountain water from the headwaters of the Colorado River and divert it to Colorado's Front Range and plains...
(C-BT). The tunnel is 13.1 miles (21.1 km) long and has a concrete lined diameter of 9.75 feet (2.97 m). The tunnel runs in a straight line under the Continental Divide
Continental Divide
The Continental Divide of the Americas, or merely the Continental Gulf of Division or Great Divide, is the name given to the principal, and largely mountainous, hydrological divide of the Americas that separates the watersheds that drain into the Pacific Ocean from those river systems that drain...
from west to east and passing under Rocky Mountain National Park
Rocky Mountain National Park
Rocky Mountain National Park is a national park located in the north-central region of the U.S. state of Colorado.It features majestic mountain views, a variety of wildlife, varied climates and environments—from wooded forests to mountain tundra—and easy access to back-country trails...
. Senator Adams' father, Alva Adams
Alva Adams (governor)
Alva Adams was an American politician. He was born in Iowa County, Wisconsin. He served as the fifth, tenth and 14th Governor of Colorado from 1887 to 1889, 1897 to 1899, and briefly in 1905. He died in Battle Creek, Michigan.Adams County, Colorado, is named for Alva Adams, and it's believed the...
, served as the Governor of the State of Colorado 1887-1889, 1897–1899, and 1905. Senator Adams' uncle, William Herbert "Billy" Adams, served as the Governor of Colorado 1927-1933.
Committee assignments
Alva Adams was first appointed to the U.S. Senate to vill a vacancy during the first session of the 68th Congress. Even though he had been appointed in May 1923, Congress did not convene its first session until December of that year. A first edition of the Official Congressional Directory indicates he did not serve on any committees that session.After Adams was elected in 1932 to the 73rd Congress, he was appointed to several standing committees. Overall, he served on 5 standing committees and 3 select or special committees. Adams also served as chairman of the Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation during the 73rd and 74th Congresses and chaired the Committee on Public Lands and Surveys from the 75th through 77th Congresses.
| Committee | Congresses | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Irrigation and Reclamation | 73rd 73rd United States Congress The Seventy-third United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from March 4, 1933 to January 3, 1935, during the first two years... – 75th 75th United States Congress The Seventy-fifth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1937 to January 3, 1939, during the first two years... |
Chairman (73rd – 74th) |
| Public Lands and Surveys | 73rd – 77th 77th United States Congress -Major events:* December 7, 1941: Attack on Pearl Harbor* December 8, 1941: Joint Session of Congress met to hear President Roosevelt deliver his "Day of Infamy" speech... |
Chairman (75th – 77th) |
| Appropriations United States Senate Committee on Appropriations The United States Senate Committee on Appropriations is a standing committee of the United States Senate. It has jurisdiction over all discretionary spending legislation in the Senate.... |
73rd – 75th | |
| Banking and Currency | 73rd – 75th | |
| Rules United States Senate Committee on Rules The United States Senate Committee on Rules is a defunct Congressional committee, replaced by the United States Senate Committee on Rules and Administration.-History:... |
73rd – 75th | |
| Survey Land and Water Policies of the U.S. Government (Select) | 74th 74th United States Congress -House:Also 2 Delegates, 3 Resident Commissioners-Senate:*President of the Senate: John N. Garner *President pro tempore: Key Pittman -Majority leadership:*Majority leader: Joseph T. Robinson... |
|
| Senatorial Campaign Expenditures in 1940 (Select) | 76th 76th United States Congress The Seventy-sixth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1939 to January 3, 1941, during the seventh and... |
Appointed October 3, 1940, to fill a committee vacancy |
| Production, Transportation, and Marketing of Wool (Special) | 74th – 77th | Chairman |
See also
- List of United States Senators from Colorado
- United States SenateUnited States SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...