Pulaski-Washington County ArArchives Biographies.....Brough, Charles Hillman 
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Robert Sanchez http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00027.html#0006574 July 31, 2009, 8:14 pm

Source: See Full Citation Below Biography
Author: S. J. Clarke (Publisher, 1922)

HON. CHARLES HILLMAN BROUGH.
    Hon. Charles Hillman Brough, lawyer, educator, statesman and author, has
twice served as governor of Arkansas and has left his impress indelibly upon the
history of the state, his administration, according to many competent to judge,
being characterized by more constructive legislation than that of any other
chief executive of the commonwealth. Governor Brough was born in Clinton,
Mississippi, July 9, 1876, his parents being Charles Milton and Flora M.
(Thompson) Brough, the latter at one time principal of the Central Female
Institute of Clinton, Mississippi. The father was a prominent mining man and
banker of Ogden, Utah.

    In the acquirement of his education, Charles H. Brough completed a course in
the Mississippi College, winning the Bachelor of Arts degree and first honors of
his class of 1894. He then spent a year with his father at Ogden, Utah, while
subsequently he pursued a three years' postgraduate course in the Johns Hopkins
University at Baltimore, Maryland, where he specialized in economics and
history, winning the Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1898.

    Mr. Brough then became an active factor in educational circles, being
unanimously elected professor of philosophy, economics and history in
Mississippi College, where he remained for four years, resigning that position
in order to become a law student in the University of Mississippi, which
conferred upon him the Bachelor of Laws degree in 1903. He has been admitted to
practice in the states of Arkansas, Oklahoma and Mississippi. He did not enter
upon the active work of the legal profession, however, following the completion
of his law course, but accepted the position of professor of history and
economics at Hillman College of Clinton, Mississippi, an institution that was
established by his uncle and aunt, Dr. and Mrs. Walter Hillman, for whom he was
named. His identification with the University of Arkansas dated from 1904, in
which year he was unanimously elected professor of economics and sociology,
filling the chair for twelve years and developing one of the largest departments
of the state university, with an average enrollment of more than three hundred.
It was during his incumbency in that position that Dr. Brough on the 17th of
June, 1908, was united in marriage to Miss Anne Wade Roark of Franklin,
Kentucky, a lady of broad and liberal culture, well qualified to meet the social
demands made upon her as "the first lady" of Arkansas. She ha& taken active part
in promoting many interests which have been of utmost benefit to the
commonwealth, and served as chairman of the Woman's Liberty Loan organization
for Arkansas during the World war.

    In 1916 Dr. Brough severed his connection with the state university, in
order to become a candidate for the democratic nomination for governor; and in
the contest on the 29th of March, 1916, won by a vote of sixteen thousand and
nineteen thousand, respectively, over his two competitors, Hon. Earle W. Hodges
and Judge L. C. Smith. His inauguration as chief executive of the state occurred
on the 10th of January, 1917. He bent every energy toward securing legislation
that would be of the greatest practical benefit to the state and his
administration of public affairs was wise and of a constructive character,
resulting in the introduction of various reforms and improvements. Among the
legislative enactments brought about under his administration was a seven
hundred and fifty thousand dollar note issue, designed to place the state on
absolutely a cash basis; the calling of a convention to frame a new
constitution; the passage of the -bone-dry" bill; the township assessment law;
the conferring of suffrage upon women in primary elections, Arkansas being the
first southern state to confer even limited suffrage upon women; the passage of
the so-called "Millage Bill." so framed as to take higher institutions of
learning out of politics; the state-wide tick eradication law; the creation of a
state illiteracy commission and the honorary board of charities and corrections;
the establishment of a Girls Industrial School and a State Reformatory for
Women; the election of the members of the St. Francis levee board; the creation
of the state auditorial department; the oil inspection department; the state
hotel inspector; a state insurance commissioner and fire marshal and a state
inheritance tax attorney. Governor Brough's friends contend that more
constructive legislation was passed under his administration than has ever been
enacted in Arkansas' history. It is a widely recognized fact that Governor
Brough gave the most thoughtful and earnest consideration to the many vital
questions which came up for settlement, ever looking beyond the exigencies of
the moment to the needs and opportunities of the future and subjugating all
partisanship to the welfare and progress of the commonwealth. He was nominated
for a second term by a majority of more than fifty thousand over his former
opponent, Judge L. C. Smith, and was the first democratic nominee in Arkansas in
many years who had not had a republican -opponent. He is widely known as a
public speaker and as a democratic leader of the country and made campaign
addresses in twelve of the northern states when his former teacher, Woodrow
Wilson, was a second time candidate for the presidency. After taking his seat as
governor of the state he delivered patriotic addresses in more than thirty
states of the Union. He was a recognized leader in all war activities and
following America's advent into the great world strife he delivered more than
four hundred addresses, elucidating the real issues of the war and the
conditions existing in the various countries. In this campaign he spoke in
seventy-four of the seventy-five counties of the state. Since his retirement
from the position of chief executive, Dr. Brough is serving as publicity
director of the Arkansas Advancement Association and is president of the United
States Good Roads Association. During his second term as governor he championed
the cause of good roads in Arkansas and throughout the Union, and his position
upon this extremely vital question led to his selection to the presidency of the
United States Good Roads Association, as the successor of the late Senator John
H. Bankhead.

    In the midst of an extremely busy life, with manifold duties demanding and
engaging his attention, he has also gained nation-wide reputation through his
authorship. A student by nature throughout his life, he has delved deep into
those questions which are of far-reaching effect in connection with public
welfare. His doctor's thesis consisted of a volume entitled Irrigation in Utah.
In the publications of several of the leading societies of the country have
appeared his monographs on such subjects as: Taxation in Mississippi; Historic
Clinton; History of Banking in Mississippi; The Clinton Riot; The Industrial
History of Arkansas; Historic Homes of Arkansas; Historic Battle Fields of
Arkansas; and The Political Problems of the Present. Again and again he has been
heard on the Chautauqua platforms and among his lecture subjects are: The Glory
of the Old South and the Greatness of the New; America's Leadership of the
World; American Patriotism and Preparedness; The Wit and Wisdom of Great
Americans; God in History; and We Study but to Serve. With the interests that
have dominated his life, it is natural that he should become a member of the
American Historical Society, the American Economic Association, the Arkansas
State Historical Society, the Authors and Composers Society of Arkansas, the
Mississippi State Historical Society and the American Political Science
Association. For two years he was chairman of the Southern Universities
Commission, organized to study race problems. He has been a member of the
Missionary Baptist church for more than two decades and although not an ordained
minister he has filled the pulpit of several churches on various occasions. His
connection with fraternal organizations includes the Masons, the Benevolent
Protective Order of Elks, the Eagles, the Woodmen of the World, the Columbian
Woodmen, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Knights of Pythias, the Knights and
Ladies of Security, the Maccabees, the Tribe of Ben Hur and the Moose. Dr.
Brough remains a dominant factor, not only in Arkansas but in the nation, by
reason of his scientific researches and his thorough understanding of the great
political, economic and sociological problems- that confront the country today.
He believes in the fairness of American judgment, if the public can be
thoroughly educated concerning the issues of the day, and he has taken an
important part in bringing to the American public knowledge concerning many of
the most vital interests which affect the general welfare at the present time.


Additional Comments:
Citation:
Centennial History of Arkansas
Volume II
Chicago-Little Rock: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company
1922



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