grant that Evins secured as a member of the Appropriations Committee. Evins, a conservative Democrat, was slow to accept racial desegregation. Although he was one of three Tennessee Democratic congressmen not to sign the 1956 Southern Manifesto, and voted in favor of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, he voted against the Civil Rights Acts of 1957, 1960, 1964, and 1968, while voting present on the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Evins decided not to stand for re-election in 1976, after serving a total of 15 terms. At the time of his retirement in January 1977, his continuous service in the U.S. House of Representatives was longer than that of any other House member from Tennessee. In a spirited primary to succeed him, Al Gore won and began his political career. Personal life and death His wife, Ann Smartt, with whom he had three daughters, was the daughter of a McMinnville judge. Evins died in Nashville on March 31, 1984, and is buried in the Smithville Town Cemetery in Smithville. References External links Who was Joe L. Evins?, DeKalb County, Tennessee website 1910 births 1984 deaths American members of the Churches of Christ Burials in Tennessee Vanderbilt University alumni People from Smithville, Tennessee Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee 20th-century American politicians