as a member of the board of trustees of the Department of Archives and History, representing the 3rd Congressional District. Sparks' first bid for governor of Alabama was in 1938, and he was defeated by Frank M. Dixon. Governor In 1942, Sparks defeated James E. Folsom and Chris Sherlock to win the governor's seat, in the process proving himself "an adaptable 'born-aginner' candidate: against organized labor, against social welfare of any kind, against progressive taxation, against anything that smacked of the hated 'collectivist' New Deal." During his administration, Sparks had to contend with the effects of a wartime economy and the dismantling of war-geared programs after World War II. The massive industrial growth in Alabama during the war resulted in numerous labor problems, making it necessary to re-establish the state Labor Department. Sparks achieved noteworthy educational gains by doubling state appropriations and lengthening the seven-month school term to eight months. Nevertheless, the system was segregated, and black education was typically underfunded by the state legislature, as were other black facilities. Under his administration, the University of Alabama School of Medicine (now The University of Alabama at Birmingham) was established in Birmingham, which had become a major industrial city; and a school of forestry was opened at Alabama Polytechnic Institute (now Auburn University). Due to his agricultural background, Sparks was interested in aiding the state's agricultural programs. This included increased appropriations and the establishment of several new farm experiment stations under the auspices of Alabama Polytechnic Institute's Agricultural College. During Sparks' administration, a constitutional amendment was passed requiring the state legislature to convene every two years instead of every four years. The legislature continued to be dominated by rural counties and was not reapportioned to acknowledge changes in the state and movement of population to urban centers until the mid-century. One of Sparks' most significant achievements was his success in reducing state debt by 25 percent. Race relations Sparks was an outspoken opponent of what he terms as "federal encroachments" on what he perceived as states rights issues, especially regarding race relations. Alabama, like other Southern states, had established legal racial segregation in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; it excluded blacks from voting by a variety of devices and had Jim Crow as the custom. During his campaign, Sparks pledged to "keep the federal government's nose out of Alabama business." He believed in "absolute segregation" and said the Alabama