GOVERNOR PRENTICE COOPER - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 08/24/1963 - HFSID 70555

PRENTICE COOPER
The politician signs this typed letter responding to a request for autographs
Typed letter signed: "Prentice Cooper" in blue ink.8½x11.On personal letterhead,Shelbyville, Tennessee, August 24, 1963 to "Dear Mr Hodges:" In full: "Enclosed are the first day cover and two cards, autographed as you requested. [not included] I am glad to do this and think you have a very interesting hobby indeed. Please excuse my delay in returning these. With best wishes to you, Very sincerely". Prentice Cooper (1895 -1969) was an American politician who served as Governor of Tennessee from 1939 to 1945. Cooper graduated from Princeton University in 1917 with a Bachelor of Arts. Following the U.S. entry into World War I, he enlisted in the Army, initially serving with the 307th Field Artillery before being transferred to Fort Monroe in Virginia. He was discharged in January 1919 with the rank of second lieutenant. Cooper enrolled in Harvard Law School in February 1919, and graduated with an LL.B in 1921. He was admitted to the bar in 1922, and began practice in Shelbyville. That same year, he was elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives, where he secured passage of the state's Uniform Declaratory Judgments Act. Cooper left the house after one term, and was elected district attorney of the state's Eighth Judicial District in 1925. He led the state's mobilization efforts for World War II, when over 300,000 Tennesseans joined the armed forces. He later served as a city attorney for Shelbyville. In the 1930s, he helped organize the Duck River Electric Membership Corporation, an electric cooperative. In 1936, Cooper was elected to the Tennessee Senate, representing Bedford, Coffee, and Moore counties. Cooper was Tennessee's governor during World War II. In 1940, anticipating the U.S. entry into the war, he organized the Tennessee State Defense Council, which many other states would later imitate. Toned. Corners rounded. Normal mailing folds. Creases in top left corner. Type is slightly faded. Otherwise, fine condition.