Segregationist Georgia Gov. George Wallace Inscribes Photograph; ALS from Racial Theorist Ripley

Two-piece lot includes a very fine inscribed photograph of segregationist Governor George Wallace and an ALS by W.Z. Ripley, whose work was taken up by white supremacists. 

GEORGE CORLEY WALLACE (August 25, 1919--September 13, 1998) was an American politician and the 45th governor of Alabama, having served four nonconsecutive terms: 1963-1967, 1971-1979 and 1983-1987. He had four failed runs for the U.S. Presidency. A 1972 assassination attempt left Wallace paralyzed, and he used a wheelchair for the remainder of his life. He is remembered for his Southern populist and segregationist attitudes during the desegregation period, convictions that he renounced later in life. Wallace said that he did not wish to meet his Maker with unforgiven sin. He will always be remembered for his 1963 inaugural speech in which he proclaimed "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever."

In a vain attempt to halt desegregation by the enrollment of black students Vivian Malone and James Hood, he stood in front of Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama on June 11, 1963. This became known as the "Stand in the Schoolhouse Door". After being confronted by federal marshals, Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach, and the Alabama Army National Guard, he stepped aside.

Very fine 8" x 10" head-and-shoulders portrait inscribed "To Terry Tobin Best Wishes George C. Wallace."

In excellent condition.

WILLIAM ZEBINA RIPLEY (October 13, 1867 – August 16, 1941) was born in Medford, MA. He was an American economist and racial theorist who is today mostly famous for his tripartite racial theory of Europe. His work was later taken up by white supremacists and eugenicists. In his time, he was also quite famous for his criticisms of American railroad economics and American business practices in the 1920s and 1930s. He received his undergraduate degree in engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1890 and his master's and doctorate from Columbia University in 1892 and 1893. He was married to Ida S. Davis. In addition to lecturing at Columbia on sociology, he was a professor of economics at MIT and later became a professor of political economics at Harvard University.

In 1899, he wrote The Races of Europe: A Sociological Study. Ripley believed that race was the central engine to understanding human history. He wrote: "Race, properly speaking, is responsible only for those peculiarities, mental or bodily, which are transmitted with constancy along the lines of direct physical descent from father to son. Many mental traits, aptitudes, or proclivities, on the other hand, which reappear persistently in successive populations may be derived from an entirely different source. They may have descended collaterally, along the lines of purely mental suggestion by virtue of mere social contact with preceding generations."

His book became very well respected, renowned for its careful writing and criticism of data of many other anthropologists in Europe and the United States. His economic criticisms in 1926 received wide attention, including a full-page spread in the New York Times. He became just as famous for his work on railroad economics. He worked under Theodore Roosevelt on the United States Industrial Commission in 1900, helping to negotiate relations between railway companies and anthracite coal companies. From 1917 to 1918, he served as Administrator of Labor Standards for the U.S. Department of War, and helped to settle railway strikes. Ripley became a major critic of American corporate practices, beginning with a series of articles in the Atlantic Monthly in 1925. He received a full-page profile in the New York Times with the headline, "When Ripley Speaks, Wall Street Heeds".

He suffered a nervous breakdown in 1927 following an automobile accident. One article implied that the accident was part of a conspiracy. He returned to teaching in 1929. In the early 1930s, he continued to issue criticisms of the railroad industry labor practices. In 1932, he appeared at the Senate Banking and Currency Committee, demanding a public inquiry into the financial affairs of corporations.

ALS, 2 pp, on Harvard Club (New York) 27 West 44th Street stationary, "Tuesday." Excellent condition, approximately 4 ½ x 7”, he writes about construction repairs to his home.

"Dear Fred When it comes to finishing off the wood work, take on Hedbund of West Newton (Massachusetts), if you can, will you? He did well before and needs work, so should do it as cheaply as anyone. Will you (as extra) set a storm door on the conservatory to left off hinges easily and to shut toward the house? The frame is built for it. It should match the inside outside door of course.

"Will the face of the window seat, which is satinwood, stand? The top of seat won't show. Better rebuild the face of pine to match, I think. The hot water pipes on right of chimney should be set closer if possible to make room for wood box. Walworth English Flett Co. do all such work for me."

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