Page Belcher

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Page Belcher

| image name = Page Belcher (Oklahoma).jpg

| state = Oklahoma

| constituency = 8th district (1951–1953)
1st district (1953–1973)

| term = January 3, 1951 – January 3, 1973

| preceded = George H. Wilson

| succeeded = James R. Jones

| birth_date = {{birth date|1899|4|21}}

| birth_place = Jefferson, Oklahoma Territory, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|1980|8|2|1899|4|21}}

| death_place = Midwest City, Oklahoma, U.S.

| spouse = {{marriage|Gladys Collins|June 16, 1922}}

| profession = Lawyer

| alma_mater = University of Oklahoma

| party = Republican

| allegiance = {{flag|United States}}

| branch = {{army|United States}}

| battles = World War I

| children = 2

}}

Page Henry Belcher (April 21, 1899 – August 2, 1980) was an American Republican politician and a U.S. Representative from Oklahoma.

Biography

File:Page Belcher Courthouse, Tulsa, OK (1974).jpg, Oklahoma.]] Belcher was born in Jefferson in northern Oklahoma to George Harvey Belcher and Jessie Ray.{{cite web |title=Index to Politicians: Belcher |publisher=The Political Graveyard |url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/belcher.html#526.36.20 |access-date=2007-03-27}} He was educated at public schools in Jefferson, and Medford, Oklahoma. Belcher attended Friends University, a private non-denominational Christian university in Wichita, Kansas. He served as a private in the Student Army Training Corps at the University of Oklahoma during World War I. While in college he studied law{{cite web |title=Biographical Sketch of the Creator of the Collection |publisher=The Carl Albert Center |url=http://www.ou.edu/special/albertctr/archives/belcher.htm |access-date=2007-03-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070209015045/http://www.ou.edu/special/albertctr/archives/belcher.htm |archive-date=2007-02-09 }} and played for the 1918 Oklahoma Sooners football team.{{cite web |title=1918 Football Roster |publisher=SoonerStats.com |url=http://soonerstats.com/football/players/roster.cfm?SeasonID=1918 |access-date=2007-03-27}}

Career

After the war, Belcher worked as manager of his father's Oklahoma car dealership. He was admitted to the bar in 1936 and began a legal practice in Enid. In 1934, he was elected county clerk of Garfield County and served from 1934 to 1938. He also served on the Enid Board of Education and as judge of Enid's municipal court.{{cite web |url=http://www.ou.edu/special/albertctr/archives/belcher.htm |title=Page H. Belcher Collection |access-date=2007-03-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070209015045/http://www.ou.edu/special/albertctr/archives/belcher.htm |archive-date=2007-02-09 }} Belcher served as executive assistant to U.S. Representative Ross Rizley during Rizley's first term in Congress (1941–1943) and later managed several of Rizley's reelection campaigns. He served as Republican chairman of the 8th congressional district, and was also the executive secretary of the Oklahoma Republican Party.

In 1950, Belcher was elected to Congress, where he served for two years as the last representative of Oklahoma's 8th congressional district before it was eliminated in congressional reapportionment. After most of the 8th's territory was merged with the Tulsa-based 1st district, Belcher ran for reelection there, and held the seat until retiring in 1973.{{cite web |title=BELCHER, Page Henry, (1899 - 1980) |publisher=Congress.gov |url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B000323 |access-date=2007-03-27}} After his home in Enid was drawn out of the district during a mid-decade redistricting in 1967, Belcher moved to Tulsa.

In Congress, Belcher was a member of the Agriculture Committee and its wheat subcommittee, eventually rising to ranking Republican on that committee. In that role, he facilitated passage of legislation related to the Arkansas River Navigation System.{{cite web |url=http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/B/BE011.html |title=Belcher, Page Henry (1899-1980) |access-date=2009-08-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080906233049/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/B/BE011.html |archive-date=2008-09-06 }}

Breaking with many of his regional colleagues, Belcher refused to sign the 1956 Southern Manifesto, and he voted in favor of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1960,{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/85-1957/h42|title=HR 6127. CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957.|work=GovTrack.us}}{{cite web |title=HR 8601. PASSAGE. |url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/86-1960/h102 |website=GovTrack.us}} as well as the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the Voting Rights Act of 1965,{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/87-1962/h193|title=S.J. RES. 29. CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO BAN THE USE OF POLL TAX AS A REQUIREMENT FOR VOTING IN FEDERAL ELECTIONS.|work=GovTrack.us}}{{cite web |title=TO PASS H.R. 6400, THE 1965 VOTING RIGHTS ACT. |url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/89-1965/h87 |website=GovTrack.us}} but voted against the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968.{{cite web |title=H.R. 7152. PASSAGE. |url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/88-1964/h128 |website=GovTrack.us}}{{cite web |title=TO PASS H.R. 2516, A BILL TO ESTABLISH PENALTIES FOR INTERFERENCE WITH CIVIL RIGHTS. INTERFERENCE WITH A PERSON ENGAGED IN ONE OF THE 8 ACTIVITIES PROTECTED UNDER THIS BILL MUST BE RACIALLY MOTIVATED TO INCUR THE BILL'S PENALTIES. |url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/90-1967/h113 |website=GovTrack.us}} In 1971, Belcher was the sole Republican in the state's congressional delegation to vote for the Equal Employment Opportunity Act.{{Cite web |title=TO PASS H.R. 1746. -- House Vote #176 -- Sep 16, 1971 |url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/92-1971/h176 |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=GovTrack.us |language=en}}

Belcher usually had easy reelection campaigns because the Tulsa area was friendly to Republicans, but was nearly defeated in 1958 due to discontent over the Eisenhower administration's farm policy. He faced another credible challenge in 1970, when former Johnson administration official James R. Jones held him to only 55 percent of the vote. With Jones priming for a rematch in 1972, Belcher announced that June that he was retiring due to age and poor health. Jones then won the seat in the subsequent election.

Personal life

Page Belcher was married on June 16, 1922, to Gladys Collins. The two had a son, Page Jr., and a daughter, Carol. Belcher was a Methodist, a Member of the Kiwanis, American Legion, and Odd Fellows.politicalgraveyard.com/geo/OK/GA.html He was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. Following his retirement, he moved to Midwest City where he died on August 2, 1980, at the age of 81. He is buried at Memorial Park Cemetery, Enid, Oklahoma. After his retirement from Congress, the federal courthouse in Tulsa was named in his honor. In addition, Tulsa is home to the Page Belcher golf course.{{cite web |url=http://www.tulsagolf.org/courses/page-belcher/ |title=Page Belcher |access-date=2010-04-02 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100504121102/http://www.tulsagolf.org/courses/page-belcher/ |archive-date=2010-05-04 }}

References

External links

[https://web.archive.org/web/20080906233049/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/B/BE011.html Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Belcher, Page]
{{find a Grave|11890229}}
[https://arc.ou.edu/repositories/3/resources/3 Page H. Belcher Collection] and [https://arc.ou.edu/repositories/3/archival_objects/535726 Photograph Collection] at the Carl Albert Center

{{US House succession box

|state= Oklahoma

|district= 8

|before= George H. Wilson

|after= none

|years= January 3, 1951 – January 3, 1953}}

{{US House succession box

|state= Oklahoma

|district= 1

|before= George B. Schwabe

|after= James R. Jones

|years= January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1973}}