1. Campaigns

Scope and content:

The Campaigns papers cover the seven congressional elections in which Dudley Hughes ran for office. Most of the material covers the 1906 and the 1908 campaigns when Mr. Hughes challenged the incumbent, Elijah Lewis. These were two difficult campaigns for Hughes. His papers demonstrate the political network he worked to develop and the tactics he and Congressman Lewis employed. (Of note is the change from delegate to a plurality vote which Lewis engineered at the Third District Congressional Convention, causing him to win the 1906 election. Only a few papers have been received covering the 1910-1919 elections. Many of the tactics and issues of the campaigns are covered in the Hughes Family section of this series and in the personal papers. Major issues of the campaigns include corruption of the ballots by use of money and liquor, white supremacy, agricultural concerns, trust regulation, tariff revisions, and internal improvements.

Mr. Hughes received a great deal of help from his relatives. In 1906 Erwin Dennard, brother-in-law to Dudley Hughes served as campaign manager. His letters have been incorporated into the Dudley Hughes correspondence. In 1908 Daniel G. Hughes, Jr. served as manager, and his letters have been filed separately because of the bulk of his correspondence. D.G. Hughes, Jr. often answered letters originally written to Dudley Hughes and a close inspection of the two sections is strongly suggested. Of interest is a file of letters written by Mary D. Hughes to help build her husband's network of political support.

Dudley M. Hughes represented the Third Congressional District (Ben Hill, Crawford, Crisp, Dooly, Houston, Lee, Macon, Pulaski, Schley, Stewart, Sumter, Taylor, Twiggs, Webster, and Wilcox counties) from 1909 to 1912. When the state legislature reapportioned the congressional districts in 1912, Mr. Hughes was transferred to the Twelfth District (Dodge, Emmanual, Houston, Johnson, Laurens, Montgomery, Pulaski, Telfair, Toombs, Twiggs, and Wilcox counties) until his defeat in 1918.

The Hughes campaign files as well as additional files about political party concerns cover Democratic and Republican activities in the state and nation. Of interest is: Democratic conventions of the Third Congressional District; Woodrow Wilson's 1912 victory; poem by H. Cecil Berrien entitled "The Advent of the Bull Moose" (see box 9, Folder 10); Two letters from Dudley Hughes to Woodrow Wilson, July 17 and 19, 1912, recommending his secretary, James L. Fort (a future Georgia Congressman - see box 9, Folder 10).

Contents

Access and use restrictions

Parent restrictions:
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