Lister Hill

Joseph Lister Hill, (born December 29, 1894 in Montgomery; died December 20, 1984 in Montgomery), was a 45-year member of the United States Congress. He co-authored legislation, the 1946 Hill-Burton Act, which eventually helped to finance 9,200 medical facilities and was credited with raising the number of hospital beds in low-income states and bringing medical care to rural areas.

Hill was the son of one of surgeon Luther Leonidas Hill, and was named for Joseph Lister, the father of antiseptic surgery. Following his graduation from the Starke University School in Montgomery, he enrolled at the University of Alabama at the age of sixteen. He completed a bachelor of arts and a law degree in four years. While there he founded the Student Government Association and served as its first president. He also founded the Alpha Rho chapter of Theta Nu Epsilon, now more commonly known as "The Machine".

Hill continued his study of law at the University of Michigan Law School at Ann Arbor, Michigan, and at Columbia Law School in New York City. He was admitted to the State Bar of Alabama in 1916 and began his practice in Montgomery.

He interrupted his career to serve as a lieutenant in the 17th and 71st United States Infantry Regiments during World War I. In 1917 he began a five-year term as president of the Montgomery Board of Education. In August 1923 Hill was elected to complete the term of former U.S. Representative John Tyson, who died in office. In 1938 he was appointed to complete Hugo Black' term in the U.S. Senate after the resignation of Dixie Graves. He won election to that seat in 1938, 1944, 1950, 1956, and 1962. He retired in January 1969.

While in congress, Hill was recognized as a moderate, progressive, populist Democrat. He particularly distinguished himself with legislation to improve health care infrastructure and research funding, including the 1946 Hill-Burton Act, the 1963 Hill-Harris Act and the 1964 Nurse Training Act. Hill also sponsored the Rural Telephone Act, the Rural Housing Act, the Vocational Education Act, and the 1958 National Defense Education Act.

Along with other Southern Democrats, Hill opposed the Supreme Court's 1954 unanimous decision in Brown vs Board of Education requiring desegregation of public schools. He was one of 19 senators who signed the "Southern Manifesto" outlining opposition to desegregation, and voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1957.

Hill served as Majority Whip from 1941 to 1947 and chaired the Senate's Labor and Public Welfare Committee. He also served on the Appropriations Committee and the Democratic Policy Committee. He was publicly critical of the Eisenhower administration's attempts to cut funding for hospitals and rural electrification, and to remove federal subsidies for freighting. He also called for more investment in Redstone Arsenal and the Marshall Space Flight Center in the early years of the "Space Race" with the Soviet Union. He helped secure funding for several major public works projects in Alabama, including the dredging of the Mobile Ship Channel, construction of the Gainesville Lock and Dam in Sumter County, and completion of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway.

In his last re-election campaign in 1962, Hill faced an unexpected challenge from Republican James Martin, who criticized Hill's support for foreign aid payments and his ineffectiveness in slowing federal intervention on Civil Rights matters. The race drew national attention as a harbinger of the return of two-party politics to the South. The battle did not drive voters to turn out, however, and Hill won a narrow victory. Some credited Hill's narrow victory on the successful outcome of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Hill retired from his seat in 1969 and was succeeded by former Lieutenant Governor James Allen. Hill was awarded the Public Welfare Medal by the National Academy of Sciences. He died in Montgomery in December 1984 and is buried at Greenwood Cemetery.

The Lister Hill Library and the Lister Hill Center for Health Policy at UAB are named in his honor. He is also the namesake of the community of Listerhill in Colbert County. Hill's great-grandson, Joe Hubbard is an attorney and former Alabama State Representative.

Preceded by: John Tyson	2nd Congressional District of Alabama August 14, 1923–January 11, 1938	Succeeded by: George Grant
Preceded by: Dixie Graves	U.S. Senator from Alabama January 11, 1938–January 3, 1969	Succeeded by: James Allen

References

• Burnham, Walter Dean Burnham (November 1964) "The Alabama Senatorial Election of 1962: Return of Inter-Party Competition." Journal of Politics, No. 26, p. 811
• J. Lister Hill. Wikipedia - accessed August 27, 2018
• Lister Hill at the Encyclopedia of Alabama
• Lister Hill article at the UAB School of Public Health