Ross A. Collins

Ross Alexander Collins (April 25, 1880 – July 14, 1968) was a U.S. Representative from Mississippi.

For the Australian cricketer, see Ross Collins (cricketer).
Ross A. Collins
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Mississippi's 5th district
In office
March 4, 1921 – January 3, 1935
Preceded byWilliam W. Venable
Succeeded byAubert C. Dunn
In office
January 3, 1937 – January 3, 1943
Preceded byAubert C. Dunn
Succeeded byW. Arthur Winstead
Attorney General of Mississippi
In office
1912–1920
GovernorEarl L. Brewer
Preceded byShepherd Spencer Hudson
Succeeded byFrank Roberson
Personal details
Born
Ross Alexander Collins

(1880-04-25)April 25, 1880
Collinsville, Mississippi, U.S.
DiedJuly 14, 1968(1968-07-14) (aged 88)
Meridian, Mississippi, U.S.
Resting placeMagnolia Cemetery
Political partyDemocratic
EducationUniversity of Kentucky
University of Mississippi

Born in Collinsville, Mississippi, Collins attended the public schools of Meridian, Mississippi, and Mississippi Agricultural and Mechanical College. He graduated from the University of Kentucky at Lexington in 1900 and from the law department of the University of Mississippi at Oxford in 1901. He was admitted to the bar in 1901 and commenced practice in Meridian, Mississippi. Attorney general of Mississippi 1912-1920. He was an unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Mississippi in 1919.

Collins was elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-seventh and to the six succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1921 – January 3, 1935). In 1929, Collins successfully proposed the Library of Congress's $1.5 million purchase of Otto Vollbehr's collection of incunabula, including one of four remaining perfect vellum copies of the Gutenberg Bible. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1934, but was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for United States Senator.

Collins was elected to the Seventy-fifth, Seventy-sixth, and Seventy-seventh Congresses (January 3, 1937 – January 3, 1943).

In the late 1930s he was the chairman of the House Subcommittee on District Appropriations; during his time in office, he cut spending on local DC funds for welfare and education stating that "my constituents wouldn't stand for spending money on niggers".[1]

He was an unsuccessful candidate for election to the United States Senate in 1941. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1942, but was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for United States Senator. He resumed the practice of law. He died in Meridian, Mississippi, July 14, 1968. He was interred in Magnolia Cemetery.

Legal offices
Preceded by
Shepherd S. Hudson		 Attorney General of Mississippi
1912–1920		 Succeeded by
Frank Roberson
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
William W. Venable		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Mississippi's 5th congressional district
1921–1935		 Succeeded by
Aubert C. Dunn
Preceded by
Aubert C. Dunn		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Mississippi's 5th congressional district
1937–1943		 Succeeded by
W. Arthur Winstead

References
  1. Home Rule or House Rule? Congress and the Erosion of Local Governance in the District of Columbia by Michael K. Fauntroy, University Press of America, 2003 at Google Books, page 94
  • United States Congress. "Ross A. Collins (id: C000642)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
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