calsfoundation@cals.org
September 13, 2010
Pope County native Lawrence Brooks Hays was one of the most influential congressmen in the postWorld War II years. Beginning in 1942, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives eight times. The turning point in his career came during the Central High School desegregation crisis in Little Rock (Pulaski County), when he attempted to mediate between federal and state officials. Due to these efforts, he was defeated in 1958 in a questionable write-in campaign by segregationist Dale Alford.