Prince H. Preston, Jr. Papers, Series V. Audiovisual Materials
Collection DescriptionBiographical NotePrince H. Preston was born on July 5, 1908 in Monroe, Georgia. He attended Statesboro public schools and graduated from the University of Georgia in 1930 with a LL.B. degree. After passing the bar, Preston practiced law in Statesboro. In 1935, he was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives for Bulloch County and was re-elected in 1937. In September 1942, Preston volunteered for the U.S. Army and entered as a private. He had risen to the rank of Captain when he was honorably discharged on October 13, 1945. After leaving the military, Preston was elected Judge of City Court of Statesboro in 1946. He never took this position, however, due to his election to the U.S. Congress as First District Representative. He was subsequently re-elected for the next six terms but he lost his seat in 1960 to Elliot Hagan. Despite receiving a majority of the popular vote, Preston did not receive enough county-unit votes to win. While he was a member of Congress, Preston served on the House Appropriations Committee and was named chairman of the Subcommittee on Commerce and Related Agencies in 1955, passing the budget requests for the Panama Canal, Saint Lawrence Seaway, and others. As head of the Subcommittee, Preston was especially proud of the fact that he was able to reduce the President's budget requests for the 15 agencies under the Subcommittee on Commerce and Related Agencies by 750 million dollars over five years. He was selected by presidential appointment twice to serve as a congressional advisor to UNESCO (United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization). He was interested in rivers and harbors and took an active role in the development of Savannah Harbor and the nine-mile channel connecting Savannah to Augusta. Preston worked to prohibit interstate shipment of slot machines, authoring the Johnson-Preston Law and also authored the Preston Venue Law which guarantees a citizen charged with violating Internal Revenue Laws the right to be tried before a jury of his peers rather than be forced to be tried in a distant court. He was also responsible for a bill that provided for the microfilming of government documents and made microfilm admissible in lieu of the original document as evidence in court. Preston was also, for one term from 1956 to 1958, Assistant Whip for the Democratic Majority. Prince Preston died on February 2, 1961 in Savannah. He was survived by his wife, Myrtice Robinson Preston and their two daughters. Scope and ContentPrince H. Preston, Jr. Papers, Series V. Audiovisual Materials includes 16mm films and quarter-inch open reel tapes, documenting press appearances and campaign activities and featuring Operation Ivy, a film of the first hydrogen bomb test, introduced by Preston. Organization and ArrangementPrince H. Preston, Jr. Papers, Series V. Audiovisual Materials is arranged by format. Administrative InformationAccess RestrictionsThough the collection is open for research, reference copies of the audiovisual recordings are available upon request. Research requests will be filled as soon as possible and will be dependent upon the condition of the recordings. Preferred CitationPrince H. Preston, Jr. Papers, Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Georgia, 30602-1641. Copyright InformationIt is the particular responsibility of the researcher to obtain permission to reproduce material for publication. Persons wishing to reproduce materials in the Russell Library collections should consult the Director. Reproduction or quotation of any item must contain a complete citation to the original. Finding Aid PublicationFinding aid prepared on: 2011. Related Materials and SubjectsSubject TermsRelated Collections in this Repository
Stephen Pace Post Office Papers Richard B. Russell, Jr. Collection |
Special Collections Libraries
University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602-1641