Description

Carlton Colwell was born in Blairsville, Georgia, on June 27, 1926. He worked for General Motors for twelve years, until Jim Gillis asked him to run for the Georgia Senate. Despite winning the primary, redistricting prohibited him from serving. In 1964, he ran a successful campaign for the Georgia House of Representatives. He represented several North Georgia mountain counties for thirty years. Colwell served on various committees, including Appropriations, Ways and Means, and Fiscal Affairs. He served as chairman of the State Institution and Property Committee, and oversaw the prison system in Georgia. Speaker Murphy appointed him to the constitutional revision commission, and he helped rewrite the Georgia Constitution. Upon leaving politics, numerous highways, prison facilities, and technical schools in North Georgia were funded by and named after Colwell.Colwell discusses growing up in Blairsville and working for Ford. He recalls his friendships with Judge Tom Candler, Ed Jenkins, Phil Landrum, Denmark Groover, Elliott Levitas, and Tom Murphy. Colwell discusses his decision to run for the Georgia General Assembly and how it was influenced by Jim Gillis. He discusses the difficulty of campaigning in a mountainous district. Colwell discusses his appointment to the Appropriations, Ways and Means, and State Institution and Property Committees in the House. He also discusses his opinions of Governors Maddox and Sanders. As the chair of the State Institution and Property Committees, Colwell remembers initially working on the Ports subcommittee and subsequently working on the Penal subcommittee. He recalls his experience working with corrections legislation. Colwell discusses...

Record Contributed By

Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies

Record Harvested From

Digital Library of Georgia