Albert Houston Roberts (July 4, 1868 – June 25, 1946) was Governor of Tennessee from 1919 to 1921.

Biography

A native of the Alpine community

Alpine, Tennessee

Alpine is a small unincorporated community in Overton County, Tennessee, United States. It is served by the ZIP Code of 38543, for which the ZCTA had a population of 497 at the 2000 census....

 in Overton County, Tennessee, Roberts was a graduate of Hiwassee College

Hiwassee College

Hiwassee College is a private, accredited college located in Madisonville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1849, the college offers associate degrees as well as four year degrees, The majority of its associate degree graduates go on to attend, and complete, four-year...

 in Madisonville, Tennessee

Madisonville, Tennessee

Madisonville is a city in Monroe County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 3,939 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Monroe County and the location of Hiwassee College.-Geography:...

. He taught school at the Alpine Institute

Alpine Institute

The Alpine Institute was a Presbyterian mission school located in Overton County, Tennessee, USA. Operating in one form or another from 1821 until 1947, the school provided badly needed educational services to children living in the remote hill country of the Upper Cumberland region...

 in the 1890s and later served as county superintendent of schools before being admitted to the bar. He eventually became a Chancery Court judge

Judge

A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...

 and was serving as such when he received the 1918 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...

 nomination for governor

Governor

A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...

.

Roberts' single two-year term as governor was very eventful. National Prohibition

Prohibition

Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...

 became the law of the land with the ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment

Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution

The Eighteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution established Prohibition in the United States. The separate Volstead Act set down methods of enforcing the Eighteenth Amendment, and defined which "intoxicating liquors" were prohibited, and which were excluded from prohibition...

 and the enabling legislation for it, the Volstead Act

Volstead Act

The National Prohibition Act, known informally as the Volstead Act, was the enabling legislation for the Eighteenth Amendment which established prohibition in the United States...

. Worker's compensation was enacted, and Roberts called a special session of the Tennessee General Assembly

Tennessee General Assembly

The Tennessee General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee.-Constitutional structure:According to the Tennessee State Constitution of 1870, the General Assembly is a bicameral legislature and consists of a Senate of thirty-three members and a House of Representatives of...

 to consider the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment

Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution

The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits any United States citizen to be denied the right to vote based on sex. It was ratified on August 18, 1920....

, national woman's suffrage. The legislature ratified the measure by a single vote, completing the drive for women's suffrage, as 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...

 became the thirty-sixth state to do so, giving the measure the constitutionally-required three-fourths of the then-48 states. The legislature almost immediately tried to rescind its action, but this was disallowed.

After his term, Roberts returned to the practice of law.

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