# J. Melville Broughton

Joseph Melville Broughton Jr. (November 17, 1888 – March 6, 1949) was an American politician who served as the 60th governor of North Carolina from 1941 to 1945. He later briefly served as a United States Senator from January 3, 1949, until his death in office approximately two months later.

## Early life and education

Broughton was born on November 17, 1888, in Raleigh, North Carolina. He graduated from Wake Forest College, where he also played football, in 1910. Broughton attended Harvard Law School then worked as a school principal and journalist before actively entering the legal profession.

## Political career

He served in the North Carolina Senate from 1927 to 1929. He later served one term as governor from 1941 to 1945. One of his major legacies was the extension of the public school term from six to nine months.
The North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources describes Broughton as the typical white moderate of the time. Broughton advocated for the improvement of the lives of African Americans, such as equalizing the salaries of black and white teachers and improving their housing. In 1941, Broughton deployed the North Carolina National Guard to protect Cy Winstead, a black man accused of raping a white woman, after Winstead was nearly lynched in Roxboro, North Carolina. Afterwards, Broughton had the police investigate the mobs, expressing interest in punishing the ringleaders. Ten white men was charged with unlawful assembly. To local shock, five of the men were found guilty, receiving prison terms ranging from 12 to 18 months. Winstead himself later pleaded guilty to assault with intent to commit rape and was sentenced to two and a half years in prison.
Nevertheless, Broughton resisted threats to segregation. In 1942, he urged African Americans not to start making demands at home as a result of World War II:
   "Negroes are ill-advised if they take the position they are for victory in this war if something is to be done for them. Negroes should put their full energy into the war effort, for failure means slavery of the worst sort for white and Negro alike. The man or woman who uses this emergency as a means of stirring up strife between the races is not a friend to either race and is not a good American."
In 1943, Broughton wrote, "We believe in a policy of purity and high standard as to both races and we recognize the principle that race distinction does not imply race discrimination." He spurned criticism from the NAACP and claimed that racism had no impact on North Carolina's judicial system.
Broughton was among twelve nominated at the 1944 Democratic National Convention to serve as Franklin D. Roosevelt's running mate in the presidential election that year.

## Tenure in Senate

In 1948, Broughton was elected to the United States Senate, after defeating William B. Umstead, an appointed incumbent, in the Democratic primary. In November, Broughton won both a special election to complete the Senate term and an election for a full term. He took office on December 31, 1948, but his service in the Senate was brief.
Appearing healthy, Broughton suddenly collapsed from a heart attack and died in Washington, D.C., on March 6, 1949. Governor W. Kerr Scott appointed Frank Porter Graham to fill his vacant office until the next election.

## Family

Joseph Melville Broughton, Jr. was the son of Joseph Melville Broughton and Sallie Harris. He married Alice Willson in 1916, they had four children. He was the nephew of Needham B. Broughton and a first cousin of Carrie Lougee Broughton. He was also a first cousin of medical doctor and Baptist minister Len G. Broughton. Broughton and his wife lived in the Jolly-Broughton House, a Georgian Revival mansion located in Raleigh's Hayes Barton Historic District, before and after living in the North Carolina Executive Mansion. He was interred at Montlawn Memorial Park in Raleigh.

## Legacy

In 1959, the State Hospital at Morganton for psychiatric patients was renamed Broughton Hospital in his memory. In addition, Broughton Hall at North Carolina State University was named in his honor.
He was a member of Civitan International.