12 Facts About Charles Weltner

Charles Longstreet Weltner was an American jurist and politician from the U S state of Georgia.

In 1962, Charles Weltner was elected to represent Georgia's 5th congressional district in the House of Representatives as a Democrat.

Charles Weltner was one of only two Southern members of Congress to condemn the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Ala.

Charles Weltner supported quick implementation of the United States Supreme Court decision to outlaw racial segregation in public schools, the 1954 decision Brown v Board of Education.

In 1966, Weltner refused to run for re-election when the state Democratic Party demanded that he sign a loyalty oath that would have required him to support Lester Maddox, an ardent segregationist who was running for governor against a Republican U S representative, Howard Callaway.

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Charles Weltner described Maddox as "the very symbol of violence and repression".

Maddox ridiculed Charles Weltner for abandoning the House race: "Anyone who would give up his seat in Congress is sick".

Callaway expressed "amusement" over the "foolish" loyalty oath and questioned whether Charles Weltner withdrew from the race because he feared the Republican Fletcher Thompson, a state senator from Atlanta, would unseat him.

Charles Weltner said Callaway viewed Georgia as "a giant company store".

Charles Weltner tried to regain his seat in 1968 on the Humphrey-Muskie ticket but lost to his Republican successor, Fletcher Thompson.

In 1973, Charles Weltner ran for mayor of Atlanta but finished third behind Jewish incumbent Sam Massell and the eventual winner, Vice Mayor Maynard Jackson, an African American.

In 1991, Weltner became the second person to be honored with the John F Kennedy Profile in Courage Award, the first having been former U S Representative Carl Elliott of Alabama, another civil rights advocate.